If Lenora had ended up committing suicide as a result of the two men raping her, then the two would be doomed.
The three of them continued on their way, going deeper and deeper into the open jaws of the cave.
The ground underfoot was wet and slippery with moldy growth. She could feel something slithering past her feet. It could have been a snake or even a centipede, but neither of those possibilities seemed like something she would be happy about.
Soon they arrived at the entrance. The cave was built into the muddy brown rock of the cliff, the stone guarding the entrance was jagged and uneven, arranged in such a way that it would be difficult for passersby to spot.
To enter the cave was to become engulfed in chilling blackness. The thin man had to move around by following the damp wall of the cave with his hands. All of a sudden, a candle sparked to life, lighting up the tunnel ahead and bathing the entire cavern in a flickering orange glow. He must have had some candles stashed away in preparation for this moment.
There was some dried grass in the far corner, and on the grass were a few threadbare quilts, food and water.
Noticing some movement above her head, Lenora looked up and caught a glimpse of hundreds of bats with their wings tucked in tight. Fright consumed every cell in her body almost immediately, swelling them with terror.
"Aahhh..." A scream escaped her lips and she stumbled backward.
Startled by her shriek, the two men rushed out of the cave with her.
The fat man glared at Lenora angrily and said, "What are you screaming for? You almost scared me to death, bitch!"
"Bats... Did you see how many of them there were?" 'How am I going to live in a place like this for at least a week? This can't be happening to me!' she cried inwardly.
"Damn it! There's nothing to be afraid of. Besides, you didn't seem too afraid when you were bullying other people on campus. You deserve it!" The two men returned to the cave, cursing and laughing at Lenora non-stop.
The fact that there was a clean place with dry grass was proof that someone must have been living in that cave before.
The bats weren't even the most frightening part of the story. Came nightfall, darkness was eternity inside the cave, like an invisible force squeezing the life out of anyone that lived there. Lighting up candles was futile as the cold winds would easily blow them out without much effort.
Fraught with fear, Lenora had no choice but to squeeze to the side of the two men, who on most occasions wouldn't refuse, as long as she allowed them to take advantage of her. After all, she was a young woman.
She could only endure it. After all, she had bigger problems to be worried about.
On Saturday evening, Erica got up early in the morning and dressed herself up in a light blue dress underneath a long white coat. As her skin was naturally fair-toned, the clothes she had picked out for today made her face glow.
At ZL Group
Twirling the red wine in his glass, Sheffield looked at Matthew with squinted eyes. "Your birthday is coming up, huh? You know, we've signed up with a few young models at the Theo Group who have just turned eighteen years old. They are so sweet and innocent. How about I send them here so you can have a good time with them?"
Matthew cast a cold glance at him and said, "You can have them if you want. Don't use me as an excuse. I bet my sister will be okay with it."
'Not again!' Sheffield whined inwardly. "Matthew Huo, will you stop mentioning Evelyn? Every time we talk, you use your sister to threaten me." Sheffield really hated Matthew every time Matthew snitched on him to Evelyn, because she would make him kneel on the keyboard of his computer as punishment.
"My wife will be here soon. You can leave now," Matthew said.
"Oh really? Rika is on her way? Then I'm not leaving until I get to see her." Sheffield just wanted to annoy him.
Thinking of his trump card, Matthew unlocked his phone and brought up Evelyn's phone number to text her.
Judging from the years of knowing him, Sheffield immediately knew that Matthew was about to snitch on him to his wife again.
After he finished the remainder of his wine in one swig, Sheffield stood up and buttoned his suit jacket, gritting his teeth angrily. "Fine! You win, Matthew Huo! You'd better not ask for my help again or I won't hesitate to let you know that I can be a bad-tempered man too."
"Mr. Tang, good-bye!"
Sheffield pushed his hair behind his ear with his right hand and strode forward, waving his hand. "You don't have to see me off, Mr. Huo. I know the way out."
Silence returned to the office once again and Matthew was happy to get back to his work.
As soon as Sheffield went downstairs, he ran into Erica, who had a camera in her arms. Pretending to be surprised, he said, "Hey, Rika, what a coincidence!"
As soon as Erica saw him, she stopped and asked, "Sheffield, what are you doing here?"
Staring at Erica's innocent face, Sheffield began to plot something in his mind. He decided to let Matthew know how it felt to kneel on the keyboard as payback. He lowered his voice and said, "Let me tell you a secret, but don't tell anyone that you heard it from me."
Erica nodded seriously. "Okay! Don't worry! I won't tell anyone."
"Matthew's birthday is coming up in a few days, isn't it? I don't know where he got the news that my company had just recently signed with several young models. He hinted that I should send them to him on his birthday."
'Young models? Is Matthew really going to date young models?' she wondered.
Sheffield looked sympathetically at the silly girl and asked, "Rika, is Matthew always like this? You have to discipline him before it gets out of hand. Actually, you could learn a lot from Evelyn. Just make Matthew kneel on durian shells or something like that."
'I'd like to see Matthew kneel on durian shells, ' he thought with amusement.
"That's an interesting thought!" Erica nodded blankly.
"Anyway, go on, don't let me keep you! Just don't tell Matthew that you met me," Sheffield said with a smug smile on his face.
"Okay! Bye, Sheffield."
When Sheffield saw Erica nodding her head foolishly, a sense of guilt suddenly crept up in his heart. 'Dear God, please forgive me. I'm sure it's a sin to lie to an innocent girl like this.
But Matthew needs to be taught a lesson! I can't let him get away with everything!'
In Matthew's office
Erica opened the door quietly and poked her head in. She didn't come in until she was sure that there was only one person inside.
Matthew raised his head to look at the woman who had just walked in and he tried to draw his sights back, but he couldn't. The expression on her face told him that something wasn't right. "I'll be done in two minutes," he said.
Erica nodded. She walked to his desk and stared at the expressionless man. "Matthew," she said seriously.
"Hmm?" He preferred her to call him honey instead of Matthew.
"I want to ask you a question."
Matthew signed his name on the last page of the document; the project was worth more than a hundred million dollars. "Go ahead!" he said curtly.
"Have you gone to visit Phoebe recently?"
"No, I haven't." 'Why would I see Phoebe? I'd rather be with Rika and spend the rest of my life bickering with her, ' he thought.
As long as Phoebe's baby was safe and healthy, there was no need for him to see her.
"Oh! No wonder..." 'Phoebe is pregnant so he can't have sex with her. Since I won't allow him to have sex with me, I'm not surprised that he wants to date young models, ' she thought.
Puzzled, Matthew asked, "And then?"
"Well..." Erica moved closer to him and in a low voice, said shyly, "Don't forget to take protective measures when you are out there having fun. It's not easy to raise a child. If one day several children start showing up in front of you, claiming you to be their dad, both of us will be in a lot of trouble."
Matthew sat there in utter amazement, finding it difficult to process Erica's words. He stopped sorting out the documents and frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"I heard about the young models. Apparently, they're only eighteen years old. I feel bad for them because you are so much older than them. Be sure to give them extra money for their trouble! You shouldn't cheap out on something like that." Money wasn't something Matthew was particularly short of, and the only reason those women would be willing to sleep with him was because of his money.