Allison kept her head down and tried to slip past him, but the man snatched her arm in a tight grip.
"Hey! Isn't this one of the star pupils from finishing school? How'd you manage to get out already?"
His oily stare slid all over her body like something dirty she couldn't wipe off.
"You've got the wrong person," Allison managed, fighting the sick taste of blood rising in her throat.
"No chance I'm wrong!" The man's face flushed deep red from the booze as he threw his head back and laughed. "Back when I was teaching you, you sure didn't act this shy. I saw every inch of you in that school, didn't I? You used to be such an obedient little thing, like a scared rabbit. Now that you're free, you suddenly don't know your old teacher anymore?"
"What did you just say?"
The private room door flew open. Damian stepped out, his face frozen like ice. His friends crowded behind him, whispering and grinning at the unfolding drama.
"Sir," Bella stepped out from behind Damian with a sweet, concerned look. "You must have mixed her up with someone else. My sister couldn't possibly be that kind of woman. She spent four whole years studying at finishing school, not out selling herself. Please watch your words."
"Watch my words?" The man arched an eyebrow and let out a nasty chuckle. "You people really don't know what finishing school actually is, do you? First lesson every girl gets is to strip naked right there in front of the whole staff and prove she's still a virgin."
He gave a sleazy little laugh. "Every single class after that teaches them exactly how to please a man—hands, mouth, whatever it takes. As long as the guy walks away happy, she's done her job right. Your sister here? She was one of the best in the class."
"What!" Bella covered her mouth in exaggerated shock, but her eyes sparkled with cruel delight. "Allison, how come you never told Damian and me how terrible it was in there? How can you even look Damian in the face after everything you did?"
"No... that's not true..." Allison's face went paper-white. She shook so hard her teeth chattered. She never dreamed she would run into someone who knew her from those nightmare days.
They had forced her. Every single time. She had only gone along with it to stay alive. Nothing more.
She had believed that once she walked out those gates, the memories would stay locked inside. She had hoped she could at least die with some shred of dignity left. But life refused to give her even that.
"Shut your filthy mouth!" Damian slammed his fist straight into the man's nose. Blood exploded across the floor.
He tackled the guy down and kept pounding him, fists flying. "Damn you! Keep that rotten mouth closed! Allison is not like that!"
"She is! She's a cheap w***e!" The man twisted under him, yanked out his phone, and hit play at full blast.
"Listen, everybody! Hear how this slut practiced her bedroom sounds!"
The hallway filled with Allison's recorded voice—crying, whimpering, terrified, yet clearly the practiced moans of a woman learning how to satisfy a man.
Damian's face drained of all color. He turned slowly and stared at Allison like he was seeing a stranger.
The thick smell of liquor rolled off him as he grabbed her wrist hard enough to bruise and dragged her into the nearest empty private room.
The door slammed shut. The lock clicked like a gunshot.
"You w***e!"
No warning, no gentleness. He took her from behind right there on the cold floor.
"It hurts. This is my first time... please, it hurts..." Allison sobbed, begging him to stop, but Damian only drove into her harder, angrier.
"First time? You think I'm an i***t?"
"How many men have already had you? Stop pretending to be innocent!"
In that exact moment, the last frayed string holding Allison together snapped clean in two inside her head.
She stared up at the spinning ceiling with empty eyes, unable to make even the smallest sound of pain.
She had no idea how long it lasted. When Damian finally finished and pulled away, he noticed there was no blood. His eyes turned even darker.
He snatched a piece of clothing off the floor and threw it roughly over her face.
"We're going home right now. From today onward, you belong to me and only me."
Aksara