Poppy''s heart clenched. Under Evangeline''s cold gaze, she felt a prickle of fear. Mr. Howard had said this was her chance to get rid of Evangeline, but it was just as much Evangeline''s chance to get rid of her. If Evangeline decided to act...


    Before her thoughts could spiral, Evangeline was behind her, using a small knife she''d taken from one of the guards to slice through her ropes.


    Seeing Poppy''s surprised expression, Evangeline guessed what she was thinking. When she had first picked up the knife, the thought of avenging her daughter had indeed crossed her mind. But she had quickly pushed it aside. She was still in danger and needed Poppy''s help to escape. Besides, Poppy had not only cost her a child but had also framed her multiple times. Simply letting her die would be too easy.


    Poppy, oblivious to Evangeline''s thoughts, breathed a sigh of relief. But it vanished as quickly as it came, the grim reality of their predicament came crashing back.


    "What do we do now? Call Soren?" Poppy asked, already moving toward the unconscious guards.


    "I already checked," Evangeline said. "They don''t have phones on them. Not even walkie-talkies."


    "Then what do we do?" Poppy asked, her voiceced with panic. Without a way to contact the outside world, freeing themselves from the ropes meant nothing. They were still trapped. The moment the guards woke up, or someone else found them, their escape attempt would only make things worse.


    Poppy rushed to the door and peered through a crack, cautiously scanning the area outside. As far as she could see, it was empty, but she still felt uneasy.


    "What are you doing?" she asked, turning back to see Evangeline dragging a chair, tires, and a gasoline can to the wall beneath the high window.


    Poppy looked from the pile to the window and finally understood.


    The makeshift tform would be just high enough for someone to reach the window. But...


    "Even if we can climb up there, it''s covered in iron bars. We can''t get out," Poppy pointed out.


    "Keep watch at the door," Evangeline said, ignoring her.


    Poppy could tell Evangeline wasn''t in the mood to talk. Seeing her words were having no effect, she gave up and went back to the door.


    Evangeline rummaged through a pile of junk on the floor and pulled out a dirty, water-logged towel. Poppy watched, frowning, with no idea what she was nning. A few


    secondster, Evangeline grabbed


    broken, three-legged stool and


    smashed it against the ground.


    "Keep it down Poppy hissed, ncing nervously outside. Fortunately, it seemed Mr. Howard was so confident in their ability to escape that he hadn''t posted any guards outside. The noise hadn''t attracted any attention.


    Poppy let out a breath and turned back just in time to see Evangeline climbing onto


    the tform, holding the dripping towel and one of the stool''s legs.


    Evangeline twisted the towel into a rope, threaded it through two adjacent bars on


    the window, and tied the ends together. Then, she slid the stool leg through the loop of the towel.


    With everything in ce, she


    grabbed the leg and began to twist it forcefully in one direction. The two iron bars began to bend under the pressure Poppy''s eyes widened in understanding.


    Evangeline ignored her, repeating the motion over and over. The gap between the bars grew wider, until finally, it wasrge enough for a person to squeeze through.