His brows furrowed, ''Why not? They'd be overjoyed to—''
''There's no disputing that they would be glad to hear I'm alive. But there's a chance the news might get out of hand, attract unnecessary attention, and put both you, the others, and I in danger. It might even stop my revenge before I even start.''
''That's true,'' Mr agreed. ''But since you don't want your identity revealed, I take it you'll change your name then?''
''Why would I?'' Genevieve deadpanned. "You said it yourself that to the world and the people in that secret meeting, I am Stellina Valenciara. They don't know Genevieve Armani. And anyone who does is either the culprit or one of the attendees from that day; someone who saw my name on the invite."
Her gaze darkened with determination. "So I'm keeping my name. And when I succeed, I'll finally be worthy of answering the name Stellina Valenciara."
A heavy silence settled over the dimly lit basement room, stretching for minutes until Mr. Rick finally spoke.
"I truly hope you succeed, Young Miss." His voice was firm, sincere. "And if you ever need us, don't hesitate to reach out. The attack that day didn't just take your family from you, it also took our comrades and left some of us permanently scarred. We'll help in any way we can… as long as it doesn't put us in immediate danger."
At his words, Genevieve's lips curled into a genuine smile for the first time in over two years. "Thank you," she said softly. "I won't hesitate."
Rick gave a slight bow, first to her, then to Anna, before making his way toward the door. His one good hand gripping the knob, he turned back to face the two ladies,
"May I ask though, Young Miss… how do you plan to infiltrate the underworld?"
Genevieve's expression faltered, as if the thought had only just occurred to her. She opened her mouth, then shut it, shaking her head. But before she could respond, Anna spoke up.
"I uh... I have an idea." Her voice was calm, but her next words sent a chill down the room. "As the director of this orphanage, I've had… uhm, what I would call offers recently. From certain shady men with ties to the underworld. They wanted me to supply them with 18 year old girls from my orphanage." She hesitated, then admitted, "They promised to pay me for each girl I hand over."
"What?" Genevieve and Rick exclaimed in unison, their heads snapping toward Anna in shock and staring at her like it was the first time they were seeing her.
A nervous chuckle escaping her lips, Anna's gaze alternated from Genevieve's face to Rick's.
''What? Why are you two looking at me like that?" she laughed. "Wait... it's because of what i said? Of course, I always say no to the men. But for my own safety, I always tell them I'll reach out to them if I find someone suitable.''
As soon as they heard that, Genevieve let out a huge sigh of relief while Rick smiled.
"I was scared for a moment there," she murmured.
Anna patted her on the back as if to reassure her, ''It's not a new thing in the industry. They always approach orphanage directors with deals like that, but I'd die before dabbling in something like that.''
Her expression suddenly went serious, ''If Eve is serious about infiltrating the underworld, I think that would be the best and easiest way to get in. Drugs? There's risk of getting caught and going to jail. Even if you are lucky and you don't get caught, you'll have to work as a trafficker for a while before gaining enough reputation to work with real bosses. But with this method I have, I think you'll go straight to working with bosses, at least from what the man who approached me told me about his clients.''
''Uh… so, what business does this man do? What will I be expected to do if I agree?''
Anna shook her head slightly at that.
''I can't believe I'm suggesting this to my beloved niece,'' she said, tears welling up in her eyes. ''Eve… he uhm... he will sell the girls through an auction, then they have to go with their buyer to his or her home. For the unlucky girls, they will be considered a sex slave by their buyers, while the lucky ones can be elevated to the status of a mistress by their buyers."
Genevieve's jaws slacked in stupefaction.
Anna shut her eyes tightly as if bracing herself, before continuing.
"He told me that while some of them might treat you like a human being, you won't have a choice when it comes to sex. It will be on their terms, not yours. And age won't matter... some could be much older, some younger." She swallowed hard. "He also mentioned that some of his clients operate in groups, so..." she trailed off, leaving a suffocating silence in her wake.
Rick broke the silence.
''You mean, Young Miss may need to have group sex with some of them when they buy her?" he asked tentatively, as if merely speaking the words meant it was already happening. When anna nodded, he exclaimed, ''What the hell, Miss Anna?! Even if Young Miss had been the one to bring this suggestion, you are supposed to go against it with all your strength. How come you are the one proposing it instead?''
''It's alright. Don't blame her.'' Genevieve stopped him. ''Like Aunt Anna said, I'd have gone for worse options if she didn't bring this up.'' She turned to her aunt and asked, ''You say his clients are all bosses? I won't have to waste my body?''
Anna nodded, a bit too eagerly, ''I will make him swear it. But we'll not tell him we are related, so he doesn't grow suspicious on why I'm offering my niece to him and think I want to sabotage his business or something."
Genevieve hummed thoughtfully. ''That makes sense. Can I think about this for a while, though?''
''That's what I want,'' Anna said, ''For you to think twice about this. Because if you go in, there's no coming out easily except you are already dead. Not only will there be no way for us to see each other frequently, but you'll also be risking your life with each step you take. Besides… the uh… activities you'd have to partake in, are you emotionally strong enough for it?''
Genevieve bit down on her lower lip.
''I will think about it all.''
''Don't do this, Young Miss,'' Rick tried to intervene, but she held a hand up to stop him.
''Thanks again, Mr Rick. I promise I will be fine." She paused, snickering, "Well, maybe not fine but we just have to pray I get lucky enough to be sold into a powerful family. My soul? It's nothing as long as I get to avenge my family and find out more about them. I have nothing to lose otherwise.''
Seeing that she had already made her decision and was dead set on it, Rick sighed deeply before extending his one hand, prompting Genevieve to step in for an embrace.
''I guess there's nothing I can say to stop this then. I wish you good luck.''
''It's far too late to stop anything,'' she murmured into his chest before disentangling herself from him and turning to her aunt, ''I'll come up to join you when I decide on what to do, Aunt."
"I will be waiting." Anna nodded and accompanied Rick out, leaving the younger lady alone in the basement room with her turbulent thoughts.
☆♡♡♡☆
Later that night, when the clock struck midnight and the moon hung high at the apex of the sky, Genevieve jolted awake, drenched in sweat from a nightmare. Her usually vibrant blue eyes were void of life, dull and haunted. As she lifted her gaze to the window, a single tear slipped silently down her cheek.
Even if she chose not to avenge her parents, she'd be haunted by the nightmare of the day she lost them all for the rest of her life, so why waste time?
Without hesitation, she pushed off the covers, stepped out of bed, and made her way straight to her aunt's room. She only knocked on the door twice before the door swung open, revealing her aunt standing there in a crumpled nightgown and disheveled hair.
"I agree," she said, her voice steady but hollow. "Call that man now. Tell him to promise that I'll be sold in an auction where only one person can buy me. I... I don't think I'd survive being passed around. This... this will be the end of it."
Anna didn't answer right away. Instead, she pulled her niece into a tight embrace, holding her as if she could shield her from the cruel path she had chosen.
"I'll make sure he sells you to a buyer who won't harm you," she whispered. "He said he can arrange that."
"Good," Genevieve murmured.
And so, the following night, Genevieve Stellina Armani... or rather, Valenciara was auctioned off to Roberto Visconti.
Back To Present Time…
"Good morning, Aunt Anna," she greeted.
Unable to hide her excitement, Genevieve got out of her seat to meet her aunt halfway, pulling the older woman into a hug. Anna, however, didn't seem to share the same sentiment as she quickly pushed her niece away and pulled her to their booth instead.
As soon as they were seated, she didn't waste time before scolding, ''How could you do that, Eve? This is public space. Anyone could have been watching and noticed us together!"
''Well, no one was,'' Genevieve stated, gesturing with her hand around the cafe. ''That's why we chose the private booth, isn't it?''
Anna sighed.
''It's alright. Forget about that and let's discuss serious matters." She leaned forward, lowering her voice into a whisper, "How come you are here already when you just left yesterday? Don't tell me you are giving up already when it's barely 24 hours. Reynolds will be very annoyed!''
Geneveieve shrugged.
''Well, he can't be annoyed because one, he's dead and two, I've been purchased. Actually, the one who killed him is the one who bought me…" she trailed off, rephrasing her sentence when she noticed it was wrong "No, the one who bought me is the father of the one who killed him.''
''What?! He's dead… Why was he killed?!" Anna exclaimed, her hands trembling beneath the table. She could not help but cast a quick glance around the café to see if there was any suspicious person watching them until Genevieve's calm voice filtered into her ears, alleviating her worries.
''The man… the one who killed Reynolds gave a stupid reason that Reynolds was breathing the same air as Mrs Visconti."
At the confusion vividly expressed all over her aunt's face, Genevieve quickly filled her in on everything that had happened the previous night, and by the time she was done talking, Anna was staring at her with eyes widened in disbelief.
''So now… you have been purchased?'' she asked, just to confirm.
Genevieve nodded.
''By an old man who is more than fifty years older than you?''
She nodded again.
''And this old man has a son?''
''That's right.''
''And this son killed the auctioneer because he was breathing the same air as Mrs Visconti, which is you... your new position..."
Another nod.
''And when you asked what air was the man supposed to breathe, the son did like he just realized that and said he must have been bored then?''
''Exactly!'' Genevieve nodded vigorously. "Isn't that outrageous?"
Anna let out a huge exhale.
''He must be crazy. If he's klling someone because they bored him, what would he do to the one who really offended him?"
''Let's pray we don't find out," Genevieve grimaced, forcing herself not to think of Adrian's face and failing hopelessly. "You must see his eyes, Aunt Anna, they show that he's absolutely crazy and emotionless. To think I would have to live with him for the rest of my life.''
''Wait… that's true,'' Anna exclaimed like she was just realizing something. "You are already bought for life, so how come you are out now? Your owner didn't… use you and discard you, right?''