2: 2

I looked up, and froze.

It was the upperclassman who had shown me the way that afternoon while I was doing my enrollment paperwork. Tania Gilbert.

She was wearing the diner's apron, her thin frame trembling, but she still planted herself in front of me and wouldn't move.

"Sir, she's a new student, she doesn't know anything. Let it go, just let her leave."

Every pair of eyes in the diner snapped toward us.

The owner swung his leg up and drove a kick hard into Tania's stomach.

"Let it go, my ass. Tania Gilbert, you're a broke student washing dishes for tips. Who the hell asked you?"

Tania let out a muffled grunt, doubled over, and dropped to the floor, the color draining from her face.

"Tania!"

I lunged forward to help her, but two waiters seized my arms and held them fast.

Tania lay clutching her stomach, dragging her head up to force a faint smile at me, her eyes full of panic.

"Don't be scared. I'll hold them off, you run—"

Before she could finish, heavy footsteps came down the stairs.

The owner's face flipped in an instant. "Oh, Mr. Jennings! What are you doing coming down yourself?"

A middle-aged man with a beer belly came swaying down from the second floor.

The stink of liquor came off him, and three small-time thugs who looked like bodyguards trailed behind.

Anna Lambert bent forward too, smiling to smooth things over.

"Mr. Jennings, don't you worry. The girl's just a little shy. We'll bring her right up to you."

Terry Jennings's little eyes raked over me from head to toe. He licked his lips and made a clicking sound of approval.

"Ha. Good taste this time. A real fresh one."

Then he threw a disgusted glance at Tania on the floor, a contemptuous smile twisting his mouth.

"Who's this?"

The owner scurried up, bowing and scraping.

"Just a temp. She doesn't know her place, tried to spoil your evening. I'll deal with her right now."

Terry Jennings walked over to Tania, crouched down, and patted her cheek.

"Little girl. You can't even save yourself, and you've got the nerve to butt into Grandpa Terry's business?"

With that, he sneered, reached over, and grabbed an empty beer bottle off the next table.

He smashed it down on Tania's head with a crack.

The shatter of glass exploded through the whole diner, shards flying everywhere.

Tania screamed, blood pouring from her forehead in an instant, smearing across her whole face.

"Tania!"

I wrenched free of the waiters and threw myself down, pressing my hands over the wound gushing blood.

But the blood welled up between my fingers, and there was no stopping it.

Eyes burning, I lifted my head and screamed at Terry Jennings.

"Are you insane? You're going to kill her!"

Terry Jennings stamped a foot on my shoulder and kicked me down hard, laughing without a care.

"In Riverside, if I finish off some broke laborer, it costs me a little medical money. That's all."

His leering eyes moved back and forth between me and Tania, and then an even filthier smile spread across his face.

"Pretty little thing, I'll give you one more chance. If you still won't play nice, then your upperclassman here can keep me company instead."

"My brothers in the private room happen to be short on fun. Clean this girl up and she'll do well enough."

Tania reached out from the floor, trying to grab hold of Terry Jennings's trouser leg, her voice hoarse as she begged.

"Please, don't... don't hurt her..."

Terry Jennings didn't even glance at her. He only jerked his chin.

The bodyguard behind him stepped up, raised his foot, and brought it down hard on Tania's hand.

Tania let out a scream that tore through the room, her body convulsing on the floor.

I watched her fingers bend into shapes they should never make, and my mind went blank with a single roar of noise.

Around us, some of the diners clapped hands over their mouths and dropped their heads lower.

I bit down on my lip until I tasted the rust of blood filling my mouth.

Terry Jennings crouched down, gripped my chin, and forced me to look at him.

"You see that clearly? That's what happens when you cross me."

"Now, come upstairs with me nice and quiet, and I promise I won't let my brothers touch this little girl. Otherwise—"

He stood and jerked his chin at Tania's other hand, the one still whole.

"She's still got five fingers left. Enough for me to stomp on for a while."

On the floor, Tania was nearly passing out from the pain, shaking all over, blood and tears running together.

But she still forced the words out through her ruined voice.

"Priscilla, forget about me, run—"

I closed my eyes, and the tears slid from their corners.

She was only an ordinary student, working her way through school like anyone else.

Shaking with fear herself, and yet, because she couldn't stand to watch another girl fall into the pit,

she'd used that thin body of hers to shield me, and taken all of this for it.

I drew in a deep breath, slowly raised my head, and fixed my eyes on Terry Jennings.

"I'll go upstairs with you."

Terry Jennings raised an eyebrow.

I went on. "But first, you take her to the hospital."

3: 3

When Terry Jennings heard me give in, he let out a satisfied laugh and waved a hand at his bodyguard.

"There we go. Now that's more like it. You're a loyal little thing, sticking up for your friend. I like that."

"Call an ambulance. Get this eyesore of a girl out of here."

Tania Gilbert lay on the floor, her face covered in blood, clutching at the leg of my pants. Her eyes were full of terror and self-blame.

"Don't… go up there…"

I crouched down, gently squeezed her uninjured hand, and gave her the smallest shake of my head.

The bodyguard dragged Tania toward the door the way you'd haul a dead dog, leaving a smeared trail of blood across the floor.

A cleaner came forward at once and wiped it clean, not even blinking, like it was nothing new.

I was still staring at the scene, dazed.

Then Anna Lambert suddenly stepped up, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and yanked me straight off the ground.

"See? Wouldn't it have been easier to be smart about this from the start?"

She dragged me up the stairs by my hair, and every single step left a fresh bruise on my knees.

"Quit playing the innocent. I've seen plenty of innocent girls. Once they're upstairs, they're all the same."

"You know what kind of man Mr. Jennings is? Even people from Henson Group have taken him out to dinner."

The words snapped me back to attention.

Henson Group? Wasn't that my own family's company?

The door of the private room slammed shut behind me.

Bodyguards stationed themselves on either side of it, sealing off any way out.

Anna gave me a shove, and I stumbled a few steps before crashing down in front of the coffee table.

My knee struck the glass corner of the table, and another wave of piercing pain shot through me.

Several men sat on the couch, and the moment they saw Anna dragging me in, they started jeering.

"Mr. Jennings, tonight's dish looks nice and fresh."

"Still a student, too. Worth every penny."

Terry Jennings picked up a glass of liquor from the table and pushed it in front of me.

"Drink it. Then it's a good night for you and a good night for me."

The color of that liquor was wrong. The liquid inside was cloudy and pale, obviously spiked with something.

I stayed where I was and stared coldly at the glass.

Anna picked up my student ID off the floor and sneered at it.

"Priscilla Henson? And from New York, no less. No wonder she's got such an attitude."

"Drop the act. Mr. Jennings is willing to touch you, so you should count yourself lucky. Do you know how many people can't even get on the list to meet him?"

Terry Jennings took the ID and glanced at it twice.

"Priscilla Henson? Your last name's Henson?"

The diner owner spoke up at once. "Mr. Jennings, there are plenty of people named Henson. No way she's connected to the Henson family."

Terry tossed the ID back onto the table.

"True enough."

Seeing that flicker of caution in him, I decided to bait him on purpose.

"You've made quite a scene tonight, Mr. Jennings. Aren't you afraid Henson Group might trace it back?"

The whole room burst out laughing.

"This little blonde girl knows about the Hensons? Who do you think you are? You actually know anyone at Henson Group?"

"She's a college kid. Reads a little news and thinks she understands the whole world. Hears a name once and acts like she's met the man."

Terry lit a cigar, exhaled slowly, and let out a scornful snort.

"Trying to scare me with the Hensons?"

"I don't mind telling you. The reason I get to walk around Riverside like I own it is because of the Hensons."

"The whole Riverside Development District? Henson Group only invested in it because I brokered the deal."

My eyelid twitched.

The more Terry Jennings talked, the more worked up he got, leaning forward, waving his cigar through the air.

"Henson Group. You've heard of it, right? That's the company of Humphrey Henson, the number one magnate in New York."

"Me and Douglas Finch, Mr. Henson's right-hand man, his personal assistant? We're sworn brothers. Drank a blood toast together and everything."

"In Riverside, what I say is what Henson Group says. I'm Mr. Henson's mouthpiece here."

My eyes went completely cold.

That untouchable backer he kept bragging about was my own father.

Douglas Finch was my father's personal secretary.

And this man had the nerve to throw my family's name around, lording it over people, even trampling on me.

Seeing me fall silent, Terry Jennings figured his connections had scared me stupid, and he flicked his ash with a smug little tap.

"Well? Scared now, aren't you?"

"Little girl, in Riverside, I tell you to stand, you stand. I tell you to lie down, you lie down."

He picked up the glass, walked over to me, seized my chin, and forced my face up.

"Be a good girl and drink it. I'll take real good care of you tonight."

I turned my head away and stared at him, cold.

"You're not good enough to touch me."

The look in my eyes enraged him, and he slammed the glass down on the table.

"You little bitch. Tonight I'm going to show you exactly who runs this town."

He pulled out his phone, slapped it onto the table, and put it on speaker.

"I'm calling the top brass at Henson Group right now."

"You can listen for yourself and see whether they've come to investigate me, or to bring me a girl!"

4: 4

Once the call connected, Terry made a point of putting it on speaker, his voice oily with flattery.

"Douglas, it's Terry. I'm at that Riverside diner where we ate last time."

"I caught a college girl tonight. About to enjoy her."

"Bit of a temper on her, though. Kept asking if I was scared of the Henson Group finding out."

The diner owner was fawning right along beside him.

"That's Mr. Jennings for you. Even Douglas gives him face."

Anna jumped in too.

"This little brat gets to meet all these big shots in one night. Her ancestors must be smiling down on her."

Terry glowed under all the praise and got even bolder into the phone.

"This chick's still got attitude. Even tried to threaten me, said some big boss would come deal with me."

Anna cut in at once.

"Mr. Jennings, she said she'd make our diner disappear too."

The room broke into laughter again.

"Douglas, isn't that a riot? A schoolgirl, trying to scare me with the Henson Group."

"So I figured I'd call, let you hear it, let her know Douglas Finch's brother is no pushover."

He finished and shot me a smug look.

I said nothing, just stood there quietly.

The line went dead silent. The voice that might have chimed in a few words was simply gone.

Every smile in the room slowly stiffened. The mood turned strange.

Terry frowned and pressed the phone.

"Hello? Douglas? You there?"

A burst of frantic footsteps came through the line, like someone running like mad.

After a moment, a different voice came through, low, with a heat behind it that wouldn't stay down.

"What's her name?"

That voice, I knew better than any other.

It was my father, Humphrey Henson, the top magnate of New York.

Terry, three sheets in, didn't catch it. He frowned and muttered.

"Why'd someone else pick up for Douglas?"

But he didn't dwell on it. He just glanced at me.

"You little slut, what's your name?"

He cocked his head, thought about it, then slapped his thigh.

"Oh, right. Saw it on her student ID just now. Priscilla Henson."

"A freshman at Easton University, no less. Real pretty little thing. Just needs putting in her place."

A sharp crack came through the phone.

Like something very hard being crushed in someone's grip.

Then a long, dead silence.

Nobody in that room dared to breathe. Even the air had frozen.

The hand holding the phone began to sweat.

"Hello? Hello? Say something, damn it."

The next second, my father's voice came out of the receiver again.

"It's Mr. Jennings, isn't it? Stay right there. Don't move."