After my best friend, Amber Stone, gets addicted to gambling, she excitedly tells me that she wants to take me to Las Gavas on a trip all of a sudden.

"I just won a huge sum of money! I'll treat you to a night in a grand, luxurious hotel there!"

But after the plane lands on the tarmac, Amber leads me into a private room tucked away in the depths of a casino.

"The truth is, the casino's boss is looking for a woman with a crescent-shaped birthmark. If she's found, all debts will be cleared on the spot.

"Don't you have one on your belly? I saw it when you were taking a shower in the past! I'm so sorry, bestie, but I really don't want to die!"

While I get pinned on the couch by four men, I suddenly notice a child's doodle being hung on the wall.

It was a doodle I had drawn for my father before I got kidnapped. He viewed it as his treasure and told me that he'd cherish it forever.

I perk up immediately at the sight. A sneer appears on my face soon enough.

Oh, Amber… You definitely have won this time. Unfortunately for you, you won't gain anything.

When I realised that something was wrong and tried to leave, it was already too late.

"Roxy, it's 50 million dollars! 50 million! I'll never be able to pay back, even if I were to work for the rest of my life!" my best friend, Amber Stone, exclaimed. "But you'll be able to save me! God gave you this crescent moon-shaped birthmark on your stomach so that you could help me pay off my debt!"

I gasped as fear gripped my neck, unable to breathe.

"Did you just sell me off, Amber Stone?" I cried. "We've known each other for more than a decade! You're my best friend! But you sold me off just to pay off your debt of 50 million dollars!"

My questions made her back away as she kept shaking her head.

"No, don't look at me like that. The casino boss is very wealthy. He just has a kink for women with crescent-shaped birthmarks on their bodies, and he'd waive off any gambling debts as long as they can bring him a woman with that birthmark…

"Since he has a fetish for women like that, and you have a birthmark just the way he likes them on you, I'm only doing this for your own good! What if he really likes you? You might even turn out to be the next owner of his casinos!"

An image of an old man with a disgusting, lewd expression on his face immediately flashed before my eyes. I shuddered hard and pushed Amber away, trying to leave.

"You can go ahead and be the boss' wife for all I care! I'm going back!"

However, before I could even grab the doorknob, I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head.

Amber had just hit me with a wooden stick.

"You forced me to do this, Roxanne Sweeney!" she gritted out loud.

I immediately felt dizzy and stumbled a few more steps before collapsing onto the ground.

She then crouched over and took the pink pendant from my pocket.

"I know that you didn't follow me here to Las Gavas for sightseeing. You're only here to search for your biological parents!

"But since you're already here, you will help me pay off my debts, and I will help you find your parents. But if you dare to run away again… Forget about ever reuniting with your family!"

The back of my head hurt a lot, and the pain was excruciating. I struggled to move my lips as despair settled into my heart.

I had been kidnapped by child traffickers when I was merely five years old. The kidnappers had been afraid that I'd be found too easily and immediately made me change out of my clothes, shaved my head, and threw away all of my belongings.

The only thing that remained was this pink pendant with my nickname engraved on it in the back, which I'd hidden under my tongue.

16 years had passed, and I'd forgotten the way home. My memories before the age of five were also fading away. Yet, this pendant was the only thing I had left that connected me to my parents.

But now that I no longer had the pendant, all hope was lost.

"Be good and behave yourself."

Amber had only just finished speaking when the door to the private VIP room was opened.

A couple of fierce-looking thugs entered.

"Amber Stone, right? I heard that you brought something to settle your debts."

She hurriedly pointed at me and said, "Yes, Bobby. Hasn't the boss been looking for women with crescent-shaped birthmarks?

"This is my best friend, Roxanne Sweeney. She has the same birthmark on her stomach!

"See, I've already brought her here. So about my 50-million-dollar debt—"

The head of the thugs, the one she'd referred to as "Bobby", didn't even bother looking at her before pulling up a chair and sitting down.

"What's the rush? We're inspecting the goods first."

One of his lackeys immediately pounced on me, dragging me over to the couch and yanking my jacket off my body. Another tried to yank off my shirt, and I mustered whatever strength I had left to kick him on the shin.

"Let go! Don't touch me!" I screamed.

"You bitch! How dare you kick me!"

The lackey spat at me and raised his hand in the air before slapping me hard, twice.

I was slapped so hard that I saw stars. However, before I could even protest, a frightening gunshot was heard, and the man's leg immediately began to bleed. He let out a painful howl before falling backward onto the floor.

Bobby held a gun in his hand, his face expressionless as he said, "How dare you lay a finger on her before we were even done inspecting the goods! Trying to get yourself killed, Edd Poole?"

"Drag him out. Don't let him dirty the boss' rug," Bobby said to the other men, who responded quickly in fear and hurriedly dragged Edd away.

I was freed from his constraints, yet I remained frozen in place, afraid to move a muscle.

They had guns on them. If I continued struggling, then maybe the next one to get shot would be me instead.

Amber was also so shocked that she curled up in a corner. However, there was a newfound determination in her eyes.

"I swear she has a crescent moon birthmark on her stomach, Bobby! It's the exact same one that your boss has been searching for!"

Bobby glared at her coldly, and Amber immediately shut up.

He then looked at a few of his men and said, "Examine her. Stop wasting my time."

Four more men lunged toward me. I did my best to back away as much as possible, but while doing so, I suddenly caught sight of a familiar kid's doodle hanging on the wall.

It was a drawing of a family of three flying kites in the field. Written above the girl's head in the drawing was a nickname I would never, ever forget.

"Rosie."

That had been the drawing I'd made just before I was kidnapped! Mom loved it very much, and Dad even promised that he would hold on to it and cherish it for the rest of his life!

It was Dad!

He had still been looking for me even after so many years!

Overwhelmed with emotion, I tried to sit up and leaned back on the couch.

"Does your boss have the last name of—"

"Trying to talk your way out of this again, lassie? That can only mean that you're up to no good," Bobby said impatiently, cocking his gun and pressing the barrel against my forehead.

"Shut up, you. And all you others, take off her clothes and inspect her!"

I felt my scalp crawl.

If he didn't hesitate to shoot his own men, he most definitely would hesitate to shoot me either!

Meanwhile, Amber kept mumbling under her breath, trying to talk sense into me or something.

"Behave yourself, Roxy. I'll only be able to leave after they're done inspecting you. But if you keep struggling like this, I'm going to have to die along with you as well!"

How could she still be thinking of herself at a time like this?

I glanced at the drawing on the wall and decided to hold my horses for now. If Dad were coming over once they were done "inspecting" me, then we would finally be able to meet, reunite, and everything would be over.

I gritted my teeth and put up with the shame as they yanked my shirt upward.

The crescent moon birthmark on my stomach was as clear as day.

"Bobby! This one looks real enough!"

Bobby immediately strode over and looked at the birthmark on my stomach with a look of surprise on his face. He exclaimed quietly, "Wow, it's exactly the same as the one the boss drew…"

When Amber saw that the cat was now in the bag, she came over with a fawning smile on her face. "Since you're done inspecting the goods, Bobby, then about the 50 million dollars—"

Bobby's eyes were still glued to my birthmark as he waved his hand dismissively at her.

"All clear. You can get lost now."

"Alright, alright. I'm getting lost…" Amber said with a hard nod, turning to run away.

But my pendant was still with her!

I immediately jumped off the couch and grabbed her by the shirt.

"Amber! You can't go—"

"Don't let her get away!"

At Bobby's words, the lackey who was the closest to me immediately kicked me in the stomach, sending me flying backward as I lost my balance and hit the corner of the table on the back of my head.

Bobby flew into a rage at once.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed? How many times have I told you that you're not to lay a finger on her until she's been confirmed?"

The blow Amber had delivered to me with the stick was still throbbing from before, and now, I could feel something warm and sticky flowing out from the back of my head.

I leaned back against the table leg, limply, while reaching up to touch the wetness. My hand was covered in blood at once.

My vision was also beginning to blur. I could feel my consciousness slipping away, and I couldn't even control my limbs at will anymore.

But I couldn't pass out now… I still hadn't seen Dad yet…

"Shit! Bobby, she's bleeding!" someone shouted, pointing at me in horror.

Bobby's brows furrowed together in a deep frown. "You two, get the doctor. And you two, go and find the boss. Tell him the birthmark looks very similar this time, and that he should come and take a look.

"As for the rest of you, be more careful with her. If she ends up being the one the boss has been looking for the entire time, and now that she's been treated like this, she could very well complain to him, and we're all going to be in huge trouble!"

Bobby's men immediately set off to find the right people and ran into Amber, still frozen at the door.

She trembled for a long while before finally asking, "Bobby… Isn't your boss just looking for a mistress? Why is she so important to him?"

Bobby's sharp eyes immediately landed on her.

"Nonsense. Why else would he say that whoever brought a woman with this birthmark on her would have their debts cleared?

"But whether the debts can actually be settled is not something they can decide."

Bobby continued, "Other women with crescent moon-shaped birthmarks have also been brought in before, but they didn't know where the birthmark should be located on the person that the boss was trying to find. So they would just randomly tattoo a mark on their bodies and show up.

"Meanwhile, the boss has already gotten rid of all those people."

Amber shuddered hard when she heard that. However, Bobby then added, "You're lucky that this woman's birthmark is exactly where the boss wants it to be.

"Just wait and see. If she really is the person the boss wants, then your 50-million-dollar-debt won't just be waived off—both you and your friend here will be living like royalty for the rest of your lives."

Amber's eyes darted around, her expression suddenly changing.

I had a bad feeling about this and opened my mouth with whatever consciousness I had left.

"I… I am…"

"Bobby, I'm sorry!"

Amber suddenly rushed toward me and dug her sharp nails into my thighs. "Her birthmark is fake! I can't lie to the boss like that! I'll pay back every penny of the 50 million dollars I owe! I don't want to get it waived anymore!"

Bobby flew into a rage.

"You're really asking for death, Amber Stone!"

He pointed his gun at her, and she immediately fell to her knees.

"I don't know where she heard about the correct location of the birthmark, and she went to get it tattooed on herself! She even forced me to bring her here! She said that she wanted to take advantage of the boss' wealth and enjoy a life of luxury forever!

"I'm telling the truth! She threatened to kill my parents if I refused to do this for her!"

Amber wouldn't stop begging and pleading for mercy, crying hard as her tears ran freely.

Meanwhile, I could only gasp for air as I weakly shook my head.

"I didn't… I am—"

"Stop lying, Roxanne Sweeney! You might be able to fool them now, but you won't be able to keep them fooled for the rest of your life! What if the boss found out that your birthmark was fake? You'd die an even worse death!"

Bobby glared down at us condescendingly, his sharp eyes scrutinizing the birthmark on my stomach as if he was trying to discern who was telling the truth.

However, he didn't seem to know that Dad was simply looking for his daughter, not a mistress.

If only he'd take a good look at my face, he would probably realize that I looked quite similar to Dad.

Suddenly, there was a loud shout at the door.

"Bobby! Those guys from before are causing trouble again in the casino!"

Bobby took his gun and walked out of the room.

"You, and you, stand guard at the door and don't let either one of them leave. I'll be right back."

The door closed shut afterward, leaving only Amber and me behind.

Amber lowered her voice and said, "I can't believe that the casino boss would have such a strange fetish, even letting any woman with the matching birthmark be his wife!"

I fought to stay conscious, but my body wouldn't stop sliding downward. Blood continued pouring from the wound on the back of my head, and I knew that I couldn't hold on much longer.

"What… What are you planning to do…"

A flash of deranged madness crossed Amber's face, her chest heaving as she spoke.

"I was wrong. I thought all he wanted was just a mistress… But no. I can't let you be his wife. You can't.

"Otherwise, you'll never let me go for this, just like how I would never let you go!"

I panted heavily and shook my head.

"We're best friends. If you'll let me go, I won't hold this against you."

"Impossible! You'd hate me to death for this!"

"I'm telling the truth… Just think about it. You can't pay back the 50 million dollars without me. They'll probably just sell you to North Cavada as a slave, and it's going to be even worse for you there!"

Amber froze, her eyes darting around rapidly as she looked everywhere around us.

Seeing that there was still a glimmer of hope, I continued, "If you let me go, I swear that I won't say a single word about this. I'll let you enjoy your life with me. As for the 50 million dollars… I'll pay it back for you instead."

Something finally changed in her eyes. She licked her dry lips, and I silently heaved a sigh of relief.

However, I hadn't even finished sighing when she suddenly clenched her fists and said, "No way!

"You've always been a stubborn one, and you've never stopped searching for your biological parents for years! You'd never forgive me for this!

"I'll think of another way to pay back the 50 million dollars, but I'm going to have to sacrifice you anyway!"

Then, she suddenly produced a penknife and stabbed it straight into my birthmark.

I screamed in pain, but she clapped her hand over my mouth to muffle it.

She then carved out the outline of the birthmark on my stomach before taking out a vial of transparent liquid and forcing it into my throat.