C1 Learning the Truth

In a dilapidated alley, several thugs with shifty eyes were leering at a young woman cowering in the corner.

"Boss, this chick ain't half bad! Hehehe..."

The thug with bleached hair grinned salaciously at the woman across from him, his sinister intentions clear as day.

"Who are you... Don't come any closer... I'll scream for help..."

Ilyana huddled against the wall, her gaze full of alarm, but her quivering frame gave away her fear.

"Hahaha... Go ahead and scream your lungs out; it won't help. You should feel lucky that I've taken a liking to you..."

Seizing a moment of distraction, Ilyana mustered her courage and dashed forward, desperate to escape the perilous situation. But she was quickly seized by the men flanking her.

"Slut, you think you can run?"

The blond thug snapped to attention, furiously charging at her and delivering two vicious slaps. Ilyana fell to the ground, her face streaked with tears and swollen from the blows, eliciting pity from any onlooker.

"Please, just let me go. I belong to the Munro family of Vethrin. I can pay you whatever you want, just please don't harm me," she sobbed, pleading for mercy.

"The Munro family of Vethrin, you say?" The burly man in black smirked in a way that sent shivers down the spine.

"We've been looking for you!"

Ilyana's panic rose, "If anything happens to me, the Munro family won't let you off the hook!"

"Oh, really?" The man's indifferent reply only heightened Ilyana's sense of dread, yet she insisted,

"Yes, of course! I am the second daughter of the Munro family!"

"Dear sister Ilyana, you're as overconfident as ever!"

At the sound of the familiar voice, Ilyana's face brightened with hope, as if spotting a lifeline, upon seeing the girl in the floral dress.

"Sister, stay back! And hurry, go tell Mrs. Slater and father to rescue me!"

Ines, however, seemed oblivious to her plea, a smirk playing on her lips as she casually leaned to one side, enjoying the spectacle.

"Sister, you've arrived?" The obsequious blond thug immediately stepped forward to greet her.

Seeing that no one had made a move, Ines furrowed her brow in impatience. "Why hasn't this started yet? Hurry up and deal with this wild girl!"

The yellow-haired lackey squirmed guiltily, "Right away, it's starting right away!"

As Ilyana listened to Ines's easy banter with the thugs, her heart clenched. "Sister, you're involved with these people..."

"My dear sister, after the disgraceful things you've done, you still expect our parents to rescue you? You've lost your virtue and brought shame to the Munro family. Who do you think will come to your aid now?"

Ines's lips curled into a smug smile, her composure unnerving, as Ilyana looked on in a panic.

Ines's sense of triumph grew as she watched Ilyana's stunned expression. She let out a cold laugh and continued, "Dad already knows about your premarital pregnancy. He's planning to disown you from the Munro family!"

A sense of dread washed over Ilyana. She had confided only in Ines, who had sworn to keep this secret at all costs.

"You betrayed me!"

Ines let out a mocking laugh. "And what if I did? It's not the first time, after all." She casually twirled a strand of her hair and spoke with a detached tone, "Do you know who drugged you and took your innocence? Or who spread those obscene videos of you with your lovers all over the school?"

Ilyana's head snapped up as realization dawned on her. "It was you! You're the one who ruined me!"

The sweetness of Ines's smile remained, her face still radiant, yet it sent a chilling fear through anyone who beheld it.