The factory was in chaos with so many henchmen running around the ce, searching for a particr someone.


    Everywhere was busy and the cacophony of noise affected the surrogates, so they woke up from their sleep to gossip about what could have transpired in their sleep.


    "You still haven’t found them?!" Samantha questioned, her green eyes darker than usual as she red at the henchman whose head was bowed low on the ground. "You mean to tell me you were here Avery and Anastasia escaped?!!" Her question was followed by a p that shended on the henchman’s neck.


    Julian was by the side watching the scene intently with a nk expression that made it impossible for anyone to read what was going on in his hand.


    Beside Samantha was Xander, who was not satisfied with the news that’d been delivered to him after he and Samantha came back from dealing with the suspicious vehicle.


    He feared that Xavier had managed to find a way into the factory and had taken his wife back, but knowing the intensity of the rage that coursed through Xavier’s body even though he wasn’t standing face to face with thetter, the factory still wouldn’t be standing in one piece.


    There would have already been bloodshed, and not a single one of his men would be standing to narrate their findings.


    Also, Xavier didn’t need Avery for anything. Did Xavier help Anastasia and Avery escape? That didn’t sound right to him at all.


    As if to answer the question that lingered in his thoughts, two henchmen barged inside the room.


    "We found a body at the back gate but the face is quite difficult to recognize because it’d been damaged."


    At first, they were shocked but wasted no second before Samantha, Xander, and Julian ran to the said back gate, and indeed there was a body lying there and the face was badly damaged.


    Blood had pooled underneath the corpse and it was still red and fresh.


    "Anastasia and Avery had simr ck hair and they were wearing the same clothes. How are we going to identify who this is?" Julian asked, facing Xander who was lost in thoughts.


    His heart still raced at the thought that Xavier had figured out his factory and was going to attack him soon.


    "Avery has a scar on her shoulders. If this is Avery, then that scar should be there." Samantha was the one to reply instead, her eyes darting to Xander for a brief second before itnded back on the body, ready to find out the identity.


    Samantha shoved the bloodied gown to the side, and the scar came into view.


    Her teeth gnashed together in rage. "Get her buried." The henchmen dragged Avery’s body away with the trail of flood trailing behind them. "And for you," she continued, words directed to the ones that were still on standby. "Continue the search!" And they bolted away.


    "That suspicious vehicle that you saw earlier must have been some kind of a distraction to lure you away from here. Now, Avery’s dead," Julian started.


    "The people who came and took Anastasia away are working for Xavier. Xander, what do you think? Should we leave from here—"


    "We can’t!" Xander snapped as soon as those words flew out of her lips as if he already knew she was going to ask such a thing. "If Xavier is here, then I’m going to fight him. He’s mad at me for what I’ve done to his wife. We also need to double our security."


    Samantha huffed, her hands on her hips as frustration etched across her face. "What about the clients now?" she muttered angrily. "Avery is dead, and Anastasia is gone. What the hell are we supposed to tell them?"


    "We have several girls, Samantha! I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if another girl became their surrogate," he replied.


    Samantha nodded in understanding.


    Suddenly, the men came back, ready to deliver another news.


    "After searching for a while, we found the body of another girl. Her face was damaged just like the first girl. She could be Anastasia," one informed.


    The news had caught them off guard unlike Avery’s because they already concluded that Anastasia had escaped with the help of Xavier. And now, her body was in the forest.


    Samantha quickly changed into sneakers before they departed into the forest.


    The factory was hidden in the thickest bush of Xattlewood with trees taller than the mansion itself, which made the location difficult but not impossible to detect.


    It wasn’t long before the trio arrived at the location where the body was.


    And just as the henchmen had informed, there truly was a girl wearing a simr purple gown as Anastasia, her face damaged beyond.


    "Now, how are we going to know if this is Anastasia?" Julian asked, squatting down to the level of the body to examine it properly.


    "Anastasia has wavy ck hair, and this matches her height perfectly. This has to be her," Samantha said, shock shing across her face. But as much as the realization hit her, there was nothing that could be done. "She’s dead."


    A faint grin pulled on Julian’s lips when he heard her words.