The rest of our classmates were equally furious and looked like they wanted to rip me apart.

"Zach went through all that effort to get us this opportunity! If you refuse to go, we'll report you for abusing your authority as the class president to bully us, thereby forcing the university to kick you out!"

"That's right! We're still hoping to get management jobs at his father's factory later on! If you dare ruin our futures, we'll definitely not let you go!"

They stalked toward me like a possessed crowd, as though they would immediately tear into me if I refused to nod.

Zachary quirked a brow smugly and pressed, "Adrian, you won't be the only one affected by your refusal. You're also ruining everyone else's chances! Do you want the whole class to hate you for the rest of your life?"

Clenching my fists, I finally nodded as a way to buy myself some time.

"Fine, I agree to work at his family's factory for the summer."

After returning home, I instantly bought my flight tickets to Carula. Since I clearly knew Zachary was after my compensation money, there was no way I would still work there this time around! Once I left the country, I would be able to avoid my previous life's fate!

However, the day I was supposed to fly off, I discovered that the entire class had come to my home.

Natania was all smiles as she dragged me out of the house while telling my parents, "Mr. and Mrs. Locke, we'll be working at the Fullers' factory this summer, so Adrian won't be back home for the next two months!"

My parents had always trusted Natania since we were young, and when they saw our entire class was also there, they didn't suspect a thing and readily agreed.

Zachary dragged me toward the bus, waving at my parents with fake politeness so that they would be at ease.

Natania, worried that I would run off, quickly bound me with the safety belt.

"Don't worry, Adrian. The factory is located in a rather remote area, so even if those Carulans come, they won't be able to find you! Once you've finished working for the two months, you'll be able to pay off your debt, and that's all thanks to Zachary! You should be immensely grateful to him for providing you with this opportunity, you know!"

Zachary waved a hand with a guffaw of laughter. In a meaningful tone, he said, "No, we should be grateful to him! After all, he'll be the one paying our salaries then!"

Our classmates roared with laughter. They all assumed that he was just deliberately mocking me.

Only I knew that he was simply stating the truth!

It wasn't long before the bus entered the highway. If I didn't get out soon, I wouldn't be able to escape once we reached the factory's entrance.

Forcing myself to appear calm, I yelled, "Tell the driver to stop for a moment. I need to use the toilet!"

Zachary glared at me and responded impatiently, "Just hold it in! We're almost there."

"It's your family's factory, so what's the issue with being a few minutes late? We haven't even started working there yet, but they're already so strict with the time? Then how are we any different from slaves?" I retorted through gritted teeth.

The others agreed with me and instantly chimed in with their two cents.

In the end, Zachary had no choice but to tell the driver to stop at a gas station.

"Alright, you guys can go ahead and relieve yourselves. However, everyone has to hand over their phones to me to prevent anyone from sneakily escaping. This is just a form of trust between us, right?"

Grinding my teeth, I glared at him furiously. This idea was clearly meant to deter my escape!

Natania was the first to pass him her phone. Then, she turned to frown at me and snapped, "Hurry up and hand your phone over! Ugh, you're just so troublesome!"

Everyone's eyes were locked onto me as they urged, "Go on! We've all handed our phones over already. Zachary is just trying to put us at ease."

Right now, we were on the outskirts of the city, so the airport wasn't too far away. As long as I could get out of this bus, I would be able to make it onto the plane if I ran.

I reluctantly took out my phone and tossed it at Zachary, then swiftly turned to run out of the bus.

However, Zachary suddenly yelled, "Seize him!"

Immediately, Natania and the others grabbed hold of me.

He threw my phone at my head viciously and let out a cold snort. "I knew he was up to something! He bought a ticket for Carula that will depart at two in the afternoon! He's clearly using this opportunity to escape!"

When the others saw the flight reminder message that I received on my phone, they yanked me back to my seat by my collar and flung me back onto it.

"Adrian, don't blame us for what we'll do if you dare ruin this opportunity for us to get rich!"

"You'd better behave! Otherwise, we'll do anything necessary to get you there, even if that means tying you up and abducting you!"

Natania procured a length of rope from who knew where and proceeded to tie me tightly to the seat.

"I just knew you wouldn't behave! Don't even think about running! Zachary has already promised that our whole class will be there for the interview, and that means all of us, including you!"

I struggled for a while, but the ropes showed no signs of loosening.

My body went cold, and I could only stare at Natania's back as she eagerly sought out Zachary to claim credit for her actions.

With an order from Zachary, the bus driver turned back onto the highway.

As the bus sped up and left the city further behind us, my heart plummeted to my feet.

…

Upon arriving at the factory, our classmates chattered and laughed happily as they took their luggage from the bus.

Some were discussing what they planned on doing with the salary after the two months were up, while others were already smiling widely at the thought of how they would be getting management positions in the company once they graduated.

Only I stood there, staring at the oddly run-down-looking factory while my guts quivered in fear.

No matter what, I had to escape from here by today. Otherwise, tomorrow, I'd die here just like I did in my previous life!

Zachary pulled me forward by the rope. Since I couldn't break free of the restraints, I could only warn my fellow classmates with vague words.

"Why are the machines here all so old and shabby looking? Zachary, are they even safe to use?"

The others paused briefly when they heard that, but Natania quickly jumped to Zachary's defense.

"You're just overreacting! The Fuller family is the wealthiest family in the entire city of Bayville! Those machines just look old, but are definitely the most advanced machines around!"

A worshipful look entered the others' eyes as they added, "That's right! As if the Fuller family would have anything subpar! Zachary was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, so how dare a broke nobody like you slander him?"

"Zachary is giving you a great opportunity by offering you this job. If you dare say another bad word about him, we're going to ostracize you!"

Zachary initially panicked a little at my questions, but when he heard how everyone was defending him so vehemently, he laughed arrogantly and yanked me closer by the hair.

"Adrian, I'll forgive you this time since I know you come from a poor family and haven't seen much. However, for slandering my family, you'll have to get down on your knees and lick my shoes when it's time to receive your salary!"

I hissed at the pain radiating from my scalp. Watching the others gleefully fill in the job application forms, I finally lost all hope.

As they were all busy, none of them had any mind to pay me any attention.

Sure, Zachary had taken away my phone, but I still had a smart watch that could make calls!

Hunkering down in a corner, I stealthily dialled 911.

The instant a voice came over the line, I said lowly, "Help! There's illegal labor activity going on here, and I'm in danger! We're currently at Peach Street—"

Before I could finish saying the address, Zachary rushed over, ripped my watch off, and smashed it against the ground.

"Adrian, how dare you call the police!"

The others stopped filling in the forms and swung around to shoot me resentful gazes.

Natania crushed my watch under her heel before slapping me across the cheek.

"You idiot! Are you trying to get us all in trouble? You just can't stand seeing us do well, can you?"

The slap left me momentarily dizzy, my ears ringing at the force. After I recovered, I demanded through gritted teeth, "If there's nothing fishy about this factory, why won't you let me call the police? Could it be that you guys are planning something illegal here? And that's why you're afraid of the police getting involved?"

The moment I saw Natania's eyes dart away guiltily, my heart sank to the bottom of my stomach.

So, she was in cahoots with Zachary!

She was well aware that the whole reason I was brought here was so I would be brutally killed by the equipment, then everyone could get a share of the compensation money!

However, Zachary wasn't the slightest bit panicked. He insisted, "The Fuller family is the wealthiest family in the city! As if there's anything we can't handle! I'm just worried that the police coming to investigate will delay everyone from getting to work.

"Will you be able to reimburse them for every second spent not earning money? Besides, we already signed a contract stating that we'll only get to intern at my family's company after graduation if we work the full two months!"

Enraged, our classmates surged forward and began shoving me.

"You piece of shit! You just want to ruin everything for us!"

One hard shove sent me crashing to the floor, my head bashing against one of the machines. A sharp pain shot through me.

Stomping on my head, Zachary cried out in a self-righteous fashion, "We can't let him ruin our bright futures! I suggest we have him sign a contract stating that he'll have to pay each of us six thousand dollars if he leaves this factory. That way, he won't have the guts to leave anymore!"

My eyes widened at his words.

"That's illegal! That sort of contract isn't viable in the eyes of the law!"

Chuckling maliciously, Zachary brought a hand-written contract over and thrust it in my face.

"As long as you sign it, why wouldn't it be viable? Adrian, could it be that you're feeling guilty about something, and that's why you don't dare to sign it?"

Natania and a few others seized me and forced me to grab a pen.

"Zachary just wants you to give us a guarantee. It's no big deal. As long as you don't leave, nothing will happen, so just sign the contract!"

"Adrian, Zach is simply looking out for us! There's a limit to our patience, you know!"

My hand was forced closer and closer to the paper, and in an act of desperation, I lunged toward a nearby beaker of acid.

Knocking the beaker over, I dipped my hands into the spilled acid. In an instant, the acid had corroded my hands.

Relieved at finding a way out of this, I spoke in a trembling voice. "With my hands like this, there's no way I can sign the paper, nor do I want to!"

A frosty look entered Zachary's eyes as his lips curved into a sneer. Ripping the paper to shreds, he said coldly, "I originally thought that having you sign this would be enough to serve as an assurance to the others, but it now seems like I have to resort to drastic measures."

With that said, he fished out a syringe from his bag and stalked closer to me.

"This is a special drug my family came up with specifically to deal with disobedient people like you. Once it's injected into someone, that person will be reduced to a docile simpleton who only knows how to repeat the same motion over and over again."

My teeth chattered in fear as I struggled wildly.

However, Natania and the others gripped my arms tightly, not allowing me any room to resist.

Just as the needle was about to plunge into my arm, the loud wailing of police sirens rang out from the outside.

Instantly panicking, Natania and Zachary fled and were gone in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, I seized this opportunity to escape the factory and ran as fast as I could to the airport.

Thankfully, the flight was slightly delayed, and I was able to make it onto the plane in time.