Anastasia wanted to believe him, but everything was moving too fast. Her mind raced with questions, doubts, and fears, tangling together into an overwhelming knot. She couldn’t bring herself to trust him—not yet.


    "Once you’re out of here, I can take you to your husband, Xavier, do you understand?" He asked her, but she made no attempts to nod or reply.


    This was Samantha and Xander’s friend, after all. The same man who had once intended to buy her like she was somemodity at an auction. The same man who had smirked in amusement when Samantha recounted her failed escape attempt during the Crimson, treating her desperation as a punchline to a cruel joke.


    "Take this." He stretched out the phone towards her, and still, she didn’t make any attempt to take it.


    She weighed the possibilities of what would happen if she decided to listen to Julian.


    Judging from his attire, Julian was rich and must have connections that would assist him in making her untraceable if she sessfully fled from here. He would bring her to her husband.


    <i>Husband. Dirty. Disgusted.</i>


    Michelle’s words from the night Anastasia had snuck into Samantha’s room echoed in her mind.


    She averted her mind away from the possibility of her husband epting her back.


    The worst-case scenario was clear: if Julian was indeed working with Samantha to bait her into trying to escape, it would be a death sentence. If she failed, the punishment would be unimaginably cruel—perhaps even fatal if they deemed it necessary.


    Anastasia’s heart pounded as her mind raced through the possibilities. She wanted to believe there was some truth in his words, some glimmer of hope in his offer, but the risks loomed toorge. Samantha’s sadistic nature and Xander’s ruthless control made failure too dangerous to even consider. Trusting Julian could very well mean sealing her own fate.


    If she were to be caught and killed, they had given her the freedom she desired.


    Slowly, Anastasia took the burner phone as if she was still contemting about the n.


    Julian sighed in relief after she took the phone from his hands.


    "We’ve been here for too long. I’ll be heading out. A couple of minutester, you cane out so no one finds anything suspicious," he exined and Anastasia vigorously nodded in understanding, her hands clenched on the phone as if it was the sliver of hope that kept her sane at the moment.


    Julian snuck out of the restroom after making sure no camera was positioned at the entrance of the restroom.


    Anastasia decided to open the phone, only to find one contact was saved on it. She assumed it must be Julian’s phone number.


    A tear streamed down Anastasia’s eyes. The only reason she’d used the downstairs restroom was because her room was upstairs, and climbing those flights of stairs just to get to her room was a lot of work.


    Now, she wondered if she hadn’t used this one, would Julian have seen her and offered to help her escape.


    Quickly, Anastasia kept the phone hidden in her bra. She was no longer wearing the ragged clothes she’d worn when she’d been brought there.


    She was currently wearing a simr gown to the surrogates, but hers was in purple with two front pockets but it would be stupid of her if she hid the phone in those pockets. So, she hid it in her bra.


    Just when Anastasia was about to step out, the same surrogate she’d met on her first day barged into the restroom.


    "There you are, I thought you were lost again," the woman teased, her smile stretching on her lips.


    "Of course not, Nadine," Anastasia replied, subconsciously wiping off the sweat that coated her forehead. She was d she’d hid the phone before Nadine would see it, else, she would be in trouble. "Let’s go."


    Nadine’s nurse was right outside and the trio left the restroom.


    They went to the garden to take in some evening fresh air before they retired for the night. Just like the house, the factory also had a curfew for the women and they were forbidden from going outside as from 9pm.


    They could still roam inside the house if they wanted to take some walks, but stepping outside the house after the curfew was activated was highly prohibited.


    Anastasia learned this from Nadine, who shocked Anastasia by telling her she’d been in the factory, being a couple’s surrogate for three whole years.


    All of a sudden, she saw the very same car she’d been dropped off from on her first day. Two girls were dragged out, and once Anastasia’s blue eyesnded on those familiar empty dark ones, a cold chill ran down her spine.