Some people, even if they were given a second chance at life, could never change their fundamental nature. She was just as repulsive as that bitch Evadne; it ran in the family.


    "Hans was right. Only the Ace is a truly honored guest here," Chad mused, his eyes narrowing slightly. "While I may not be one, I am quite well-acquainted with one of the Spades."


    As he spoke, the attendant led them to a pair of massive, imposing doors. With a low groan, the doors swung open, revealing a world of swirling smoke and decadent indulgence, a stark contrast to the silence outside.


    Tiered viewing boxes rose from the second floor, each shrouded in dim light that obscured the faces of their upants, making them look like rows of silent, eerie puppets. But what was happening on the stage below made Alexia gasp in shock. Even Hans, a man with a heart of stone, felt his pupils contract at the sight.


    Several naked girls were trapped in ss cages, suspended high above the stage. They wore cors around their necks, and inside their transparent prisons, they crawled, trembled, or huddled in corners, stripped of all dignity, treated like animals.


    It was a perfect illustration of the old saying: the rich are without virtue, treating the people as nothing more than straw dogs.


    “Is this..... human trafficking?!” Alexia''s eyes widened. She was no stranger to wickedness, but this scene of depraved evil shattered what little was left of her moralpass.


    "It''s a transaction, but they''re not selling people." Chad''s voice wasnguid, a hint


    of impatience in his tone. "These girls, their bodies alone aren''t worth much. But


    the blood in their veins, their organs-those are priceless. Their blood, for example."


    Having spent time at the research center after joining him, Alexia immediately understood his implication. A chill ran down her spine Some of the top oligarchs in their pursuit of longevity and eternal youth, were rumored to drain the blood of healthy young girls to transfuse into themselves, or to extract certain substances for consumption.


    The evil was staggering, utterly terrifying.


    Hans''s brow furrowed as he looked at the desperate girls. A knot of unease tightened in his chest, and he had no desire to step further inside. But as Chad''s bodyguard, he had to stay by his side.


    The attendant led the three of them up to one of the viewing boxes. "Mr. Frederic, if you please."


    The attendant pulled back a heavy velvet curtain, and Chad stepped through without a change in expression, in the instant before the


    curtain fell, Alexia and Hans both


    caught a glimpse of the middle-aged man sitting inside.


    He had deep-set eyes and an aquiline nose, his hair slicked back. He was dressed in an expensive, well-tailored red velvet suit. Though he was in his fifties, he had been. meticulously groomed to look a decade younger. <fnd77e> Content originallyes from fι?dnοvel</fnd77e>


    "Uncle," Chad said, inclining his head slightly with the polite smile of a junior greeting an elder.


    The man grinned, revealing teeth so perfectly white they looked like polished bone. "Nephew. Long time no see. Your legs are looking much better."


    Alexia''s heart leaped. This man... it was the notorious murderer from years ago, the brother of Chad''s mother—Mason! Wasn''t he supposed to be serving a life sentence in prison? What was he doing here?