Chapter 92

The guide leaned in. "This way, we're almost there."

I covered my ears, trying to block out the gut-wrenching cries of the innocent girls, but their voices relentlessly pierced through. The real horror lay ahead.

At the hallway's end, several stern-faced men stood, their gazes icy, clutching AK-47s. Even knowing I was already dead, their bloodthirsty eyes sent chills down my spine.

The guide exchanged words in the local language. After assessing Chase and his group, the men produced a key and unlocked the door. I noticed the tension etched on Chase's face; even my dad's fingers gripped his pants tightly. Had I not known I was already dead, their anxiety would have been unsettling.

The door creaked open. Inside, the dim light revealed twenty or thirty women huddled together.

The guide shrugged. "This is the latest batch. There were delays due to sea trouble and a civil war en route. You're lucky; we haven't touched them yet."

Chase's eyebrows relaxed slightly. The sight of the women tugged at his heart. Their hair was matted, their faces filthy and trembling; too terrified to look up. Stripped to their underwear, their dignity was violated even before being touched. Each head hung low, resigned to their fate, fearing being dragged away like commodities.

The guide grabbed an electric baton and casually struck the leg of a woman. "Lift your head!" he barked. They were like lost lambs facing a wolf; huddling offered no protection.

Shaking, they lifted their heads, their faces etched with helplessness, tears glistening in their eyes. As a woman, my heart ached for them, especially when I recognized a familiar face: Ann, the daughter of our neighborhood nanny. A hardworking girl, I remembered seeing her in the snow, rubbing her hands while memorizing vocabulary. She was a senior, top of her class, with a secured scholarship. The last time we met, she'd smiled, hoping for a part-time job to help her mother.

Had she been lured here while job hunting? She was the girl in Robert's missing person case. It broke my heart. A bright, ambitious girl, she'd changed her fate through education, only for fate to cruelly mock her.

I wasn't the only one with a tragic story. Ann sat in the corner, her eyes vacant. I hoped she could find strength. If my dad recognized her, perhaps he could intervene. But her eyes were unfocused, resigned.

Chase scanned each woman's face. The guide would grab those who didn't cooperate, forcing them to look up by their hair or with his gun. As the crowd thinned, Chase and my dad grew more anxious; they hadn't spotted me.

Finally, my dad asked coldly, "Is that all?"

"What? Didn't find who you were looking for?" The guide seemed equally disappointed.

"Were there no other women? I thought there was one more."

Chase had been in contact with Gregory, who'd confirmed someone resembling me, but none matched.

"Oh, right, someone else was taken away."

"Why didn't you mention that earlier? Where is she now?"

"That bitch, she's a bit wild…"

Before he finished, Chase grabbed him by the collar. "Watch your mouth!"

Tension flared; my dad's mercenaries and the park's men reached for their weapons, poised for conflict. My dad intervened. "Let go. Let's find her first."

They followed the guide to another building, clearly more upscale than the others, with significantly better conditions. Even before approaching, muffled sounds of a man and woman could be heard.

"Come on, louder! Don't you know how to moan? Do I have to teach you everything? Such an idiot."

Before the guide could knock, Chase kicked the door open. "Amanda!"

He rushed in. In the dim room, a man mercilessly held a woman's hair. At Chase's entrance, they froze.

"Who are you?"

The guide whispered something in the man's ear; the man pulled up his shorts. Chase heavily walked towards the woman, her back to him. He didn't know how to face me; my father stood by the door, too ashamed to look.

"Amanda?" Chase called my name, his voice trembling.