The hooligan attempted to bounce at Anastasia and beat her up to teach her a lesson, but Michelle surprisingly raised her hand, stopping him.


    "Now, now... don’t do that, Turac! I brought Anastasia here to chat, not to have her beaten up." The words dripped with feigned sweetness, making Anastasia’s skin crawl; anyone listening might have mistaken Michelle’s tone for protectiveness, though Anastasia knew just how twisted that pretense was. "Our dear Anastasia," Michelle continued, her voice sickly soft, "still hasn’t recovered from her week in the basement. If you touch her now, she..." Michelle trailed off, lifting a hand to pat Anastasia’s head as if she were a pet, "...might die."


    Before Michelle’s fingers coulde in contact with Anastasia’s locks, thetter had already swatted her hands away as if she were some mere annoying fly, catching Michelle off guard.


    "I don’t need your pity!!" Anastasia had to hold back the tears that tried to fall from her eyes. She didn’t want to remember how her life had turned out in thest week and things she had to go through every single night.


    "You’d better watch your tongue." Tibo pulled Anastasia’s hair, forcing her to release a pained yelp. "Know whom you’re speaking to. She’s favored by the boss."


    "She’s only favored because she keeps warming his bed for him, which is practically the only thing she’s good at, right Michelle?"


    This was the first time Anastasia had called Michelle’s name since she’d had amnesia and hearing Ana call her name like that made her suddenly get the sense of feeling that Anastasia had remembered something from the past.


    "What did you just say to me?" Michelle questioned, smacking Anastasia across the face. "I’m above you here and I deserve respect!" She smacked Anastasia across the face again.


    "If you think you can make me cower or treat you like some kind of god, Michelle, you’d better wake up from that fantasy—it’s never going to happen!" Despite Tibo’s iron grip on her hair, Anastasia fought through the pain, her voice fierce and unyielding.


    "Even if I die, my ghost will haunt you, Samantha, and Xander until you’ve paid for everything you’ve done to me." There was a force in her words that struck a chord, and for a fleeting moment, Michelle believed her.


    In the past, Anastasia had vowed to take everything Michelle held dear—and she had seeded. Thinking back, Michelle realized there wasn’t a single promise Anastasia had made that hadn’te to pass, each one a calcted blow that had stripped away more of Michelle’s world.


    Michelle nced around, remembering Anastasia had no one in this ce to help her, there was no way she was going to be able to escape and exact her revenge on them.


    However, despite assuring herself several times, something still didn’t feel right.


    "Take her to her room and lock her in there," Michelle ordered, shocking both Tibo and Turac.


    "Aren’t you going to punish her for speaking to you so rudely?" Tibo asked with confusionced in his tone.


    "Just do what I told you!’ Michelle snapped, her re searing into the two hooligans before she turned on Anastasia, her eyes narrowing with disdain. ’Get. Out."


    Both Tibo and Turac rushed Anastasia to her room and locked her inside as instructed.


    "I think you should have punished her so that next time she can think twice before she opens her mouth and says anything stupid," said Turac.


    "Xande wouldn’t like that. She’s already gotten more bruises than she can handle as it is. He’s also not been listening to metely. Anastasia is up for sale to Julian, and he wants her healed as fast as possible so he can sell her to him," she replied, biting her nails in anxiousness


    She wasn’t sure what the situation looked like, so she just spewed what she’d gathered. Xander did promise he was going to make Anastasia’s life a living hell. Seemed like he was already satisfied by how much trauma he’d given her. However, Michelle wasn’t satisfied one bit. She still wanted Anastasia to continue to suffer until the day she died.


    "I don’t think the boss is going to give her to Julian just yet. I overheard him speaking with Miss. Samantha one time and they n to take her to the factory," said Turac.


    "The factory," Michelle repeated, her heart dancing in joy. "Now, that’s a much better n. Once Xander arrives, I’ll discuss this with him. The factory would be the best ce for Anastasia to continue living her worthless life," she added, a satisfied grin stretching on her lips.