"My dear girl, you already had your 'first time' yesterday. Are you really still worried about this skirt being too short?" Eve said, looking at her with a hint of exasperation.
To be honest, she did feel some sympathy for Leah Sinclair. But in this world, sympathy alone gets you nowhere. Leah was forced into this by her circumstances, but Eve had seen countless girls come here just to afford luxury goods.
The desire for money caused so many girls to lose their way here. They'd start by whimpering if a man so much as touched them, and end by actively asking to be taken out for the night. She wondered how long Leah could hold on.
Poor Leah. She really thought she could buy her freedom just by paying back that eight hundred thousand. Eve looked at Leah, who was frowning in front of her, and sighed internally.
"Alright, hurry up and change. By the way, how was Young Master Keating last night? He's been here before, but he's never once paid to take a girl out. You're the first. So... is he any good?" Eve started to gossip with Leah.
"Any good at what?" Leah asked, a bit lost.
"What do you think? In bed, of course! You silly girl, you have no idea how many women here are jealous of you. Look at Young Master Keating—he's handsome, he's generous... The kind of money other girls have to drink themselves sick for all night, you could earn from him without taking a single sip."
Eve poked her on the forehead, frustrated by her naivete. "Why aren't you seizing this opportunity? If you could lock him down so he only ever asks for you, think how much easier your life would be."
Leah's face was burning. Not daring to argue, she mumbled an excuse about changing and fled. Eve sighed as she watched her go. 'What an idiot.'
Ethan Shaw had tried to get Asher Keating to come to Azure Bay again tonight, but Asher refused. He wasn't the type who enjoyed clubbing to begin with, and after yesterday's events, he was even less inclined to go.
He stayed in his room. That afternoon, his assistant, Sean Yates, had delivered a file on Leah Sinclair. Having just returned to the country, he'd been too busy to look at it. Now that he finally had a moment, he pulled it out and began to read. He wasn't naive enough to be completely taken in by a few words from her; he needed to verify her story for his own peace of mind.
Leah Sinclair's background was simple. Her only family was her grandmother. The report didn't say where her parents were, but Asher wasn't concerned with that detail.
As he read on, he confirmed her story: she had indeed signed a contract with Azure Bay and owed them eight hundred thousand. Sean's investigation revealed that Leah had turned over the entire sum to a hospital where her grandmother was waiting for money for surgery. Eve had also confirmed that the drug had, in fact, been prepared for Leah.
Eve had been afraid Leah would back out, so the drug was her insurance policy. She assumed Sean was asking questions because Leah had taken the drug and then latched onto Asher. She had no idea it was Asher who had ended up drugged. The whole incident did indeed appear to be a complete accident.
Asher Keating lit a cigarette, his gaze falling on the photograph of Leah that had come with the file. It was one of the glamour shots Azure Bay used for clients to make their selection. He recalled the night before—the way she was beneath him, stubbornly biting her lip to keep from crying out in pain, and then how, later, she'd lost all control, unable to stifle her moans. He lifted his hand and set the file ablaze, the growing flames flickering in the reflection of his glasses.
He took a quick shower. Just as he got out, Ethan Shaw called again. The moment Asher answered, he was hit by the sound of deafening music. Ethan shouted over the line, "Hey, Third Master Keating! You want your girl or not?"
"What girl?" Asher asked, confused.
"What do you mean, 'what girl'? The one from last night!"
"What's that got to do with me?" Asher was exasperated. 'I sleep with her one night and suddenly she's 'my girl'? What kind of logic is that?'
"We were just about to request her for drinks, but we were a step too slow. Ben Coleman and his crew got to her first. But hey, if you don't care, I'll let it go. I can't stand that group of guys anyway," Ethan said, sounding disappointed.
Asher Keating was silent for a moment.
"Hello? Third Master Keating? You still there?" Ethan called out a few times.
"The room number."
"Huh? Oh, the usual spot. Room 8888."
By the time he reached the entrance of Azure Bay, Asher couldn't figure out why he was there. He'd just headed over without a second thought when he heard Ben Coleman had taken Leah. He knew that Ben Coleman had a... physiological defect. The man was impotent.
And because of it, his "games" were notoriously twisted. It was an open secret in their circle. In fact, Ethan had stopped hanging out with that crowd because their idea of fun was just too depraved.
Meanwhile, inside Azure Bay, Leah was starting to feel scared. She had been assigned to Ethan Shaw's private room, but on her way there, a man from the room next door, 6666, had spotted her. Without a word, he'd dragged her inside.
One of the other hostesses saw that something was wrong and went to get Eve, but her arrival did no good. The man simply threw a thick wad of cash at her and declared that he was booking Leah for the night.
Leah knew the clients in these particular rooms were not people you could afford to cross. At first, she thought it would just be for drinks, and that wad of cash certainly looked like a lot more than her standard five-thousand-a-night fee.
But the look in Eve's eyes as she left had filled Leah with an inexplicable unease. And now, the stare of the man in front of her, the one they called Young Master Coleman, made her skin crawl.
She forced herself to stay calm, her mind racing for a way to escape. 'Maybe I could pretend to be drunk?' While she was still calculating, Ben Coleman closed in, sniffing at her like a dog. The action made the hair on her arms stand on end.
"Heard you were with Third Master Keating last night?" Ben Coleman asked, a sinister smirk on his face.
"Yes..." Leah swallowed hard, forcing herself to remain calm.
"So all these marks on you... Third Master Keating put them there?" As he spoke, his finger began to trace the bruises on her neck. Leah tried to pull back, but she was already pinned in the corner of the sofa with nowhere to retreat. Her mind raced. 'Does this guy have a grudge against Third Master Keating? Why else would he be looking at me like he wants to eat me alive?'
"Young Master Coleman... I—I'm only here to drink with you," Leah said, pushing his hand away.
"Heh, just for drinks? Since when do the girls here get to make the rules?" Ben Coleman grabbed her wrists, pinned them above her head, and pressed his body down on hers. Once again, he leaned in close and sniffed her like an animal as the others in the room began to hoot and cheer.
"Let go of me!" A wave of panic washed over Leah, quickly followed by a surge of rage. She began to struggle, but Ben Coleman had her completely pinned, her limbs immobilized.
"Let you go? In your dreams, sweetheart, hahaha! Listen, last night was just two hundred thousand. You treat our Young Master Coleman right, and there's another two hundred thousand in it for you today, got it?" a man with shifty, rat-like eyes chimed in with a lewd laugh.
Ben Coleman added, "Please me, and if I'm in a good mood, I'll even buy out your contract."
As he spoke, his free hand started groping its way up Leah's thigh while his mouth lunged toward hers. Revulsion washed over her. She hadn't felt this way at all yesterday, when Asher Keating had kissed and touched her.
But the moment this man's fingers landed on her leg, she felt sick to her stomach. In a desperate, violent motion, she slammed her head forward, smashing it directly into Ben Coleman's nose. Blood gushed instantly.