“Rx, it’s not poison.” Olivia calmly wiped her fingers, her face unreadable.
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“Alright, folks in the livestream, that’s it for today. See you next time.” She tapped her earring twice, and the feed went dark.
If she kept streaming, the ount would get banned.
Viewers were far from satisfied, flooding her page withments.
[Hey, why’d you cut it off like that? Come on, MysticHealer, get back here!]
[So is that little boy good or bad? I really thought this trafficker’s kid was different, actually caring about the girls who got tricked here. Guess he was faking it, just as bad as his parents.]
[What a night! That was insane. I could watch this forever. You’re way too good at keeping us hooked.]
[Can’t wait for the next part. You better win, Mystic Healer.]
In just a few hours, MysticHealer’s followers had shot up to twenty million.
Not even half a minuteter, Bobby’s knees buckled, his eyes going ssy. Olivia caught him gently andid him on the ground.
“Y–you drugged him?” Ang’s eyes widened, guilt creeping in. “He’s just a kid…”
“Kindness is good,” Olivia said evenly, “but don’t waste it on the rotten. Bad parents rarely raise good children.”
“Right, buddy?” She tossed the question to Edward.
Edward gave a faint nod. “That kid set me up,” he said in a weak voice.
The Monroe family raised their kids well–so well that Edward found it hard to believe a child this young could be twisted into working with criminals.
Silence fell between them.
Kids were shaped by their environment. They would learn from whoever raised them.
“So what do we do now?” Ang finally broke the quiet.
“They’lle looking soon. We need to move.” Olivia pointed at the tracker watch on Bobby’s wrist. “The pressure point I used won’t keep them still for long. We have to get out.”
There were too many girls trapped here. The three of them alone couldn’t save them all.
11:52 pm O
“The exit is guarded,” Edward said simply.
Everyone here stuck together. Getting out through the town’s exit was nearly impossible.
At that, Olivia’s eyes lit up. “I have an idea.”
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She led Edward and Ang back to the hospital, dragging Steven out with them. She struck his pressure points so he couldn’t move, then shoved him into the van’s passenger seat.
She twirled a scalpel between her fingers, letting the de glint in front of his face. “Dr. Lewis, I don’t need to tell you what to say or not say, do I?”
Steven blinked rapidly, stammering, “I–I know.”
He knew that if he didn’t cooperate, she’d kill him without hesitation.
Then he tried again, his tone oily. “Miss, listen to me, I–I was forced into this too. If I help you, maybe you could help me and let me go, alright?”
His groveling now was a far cry from the arrogance he’d shown earlier.
“That depends on you, Dr. Lewis.” Olivia’s eyes curved with the ghost of a smile. She patted his cheek. “I’ve got a temper. If you do badly, I’ll lose it.”
“O–Okay. I’ll do my best,” Steven said, shivering.
Olivia swung her long legs into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “Lose that pathetic act,” she ordered Steven. “I want the smug, untouchable Dr. Lewis back. Now.”
Steven had no idea what she was nning. All he could see was the injured man in the back, leaning heavily on Ang, pale and barely conscious.
The van’s windows were frosted, and with night pressing in, no one outside would be able to make
out who was inside.
The road out of town had five checkpoints–each manned by different groups.
The first four were a breeze. The moment the guards heard Steven’s voice, they waved them right through.
But at the final checkpoint, the guards were annoyingly thorough. They insisted everyone in the van get out for inspection.
One of them even reached for the door handle.
Olivia flicked her eyes toward Steven–a silentmand. He caught on instantly.
“I’d like to see you try opening my door,” he snapped, slipping into his usual haughty tone. His cold re cut through the night. “What’s wrong with you? You don’t recognize me?”
<b>11:53 </b>pm
The guard froze. “D–Dr. Lewis, sir! What are you doing leaving so early? Finished with surgeries already?”
“My schedule is none of your business,” Steven growled.
“N–no, of course not,” the man stammered, stepping back. “Opening the gate now<i>.</i><i>” </i>
The barrier lifted, and the guards stered on nervous smiles as the van rolled away.
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It wasn’t until the vehicle had disappeared into the distance that one of them scratched his head.
“Doesn’t Dr. Lewis usually work until way past midnight?” The man looked at the car in confusion. “And doesn’t he ride in a ck executive car? That van looked… different.”
Back in town, Gina suddenly felt her strength returning. She pushed herself up and rushed to Donald. “Donald, are you okay? See? I knew that bitch was bluffing. Look at me–nothing’s wrong. What could some little girl possibly do to us?”
Donald’s voice was trembling. “Forget me. Go find Bobby. He’s with her–I’m worried—”
Gina didn’t let him finish. She bolted straight to the room where Edward had been held.
Outside the hut, Bobbyy sprawled on the ground.
Gina rushed forward and scooped him up, her eyes hard with fury. Without hesitation, she mmed her hand against the nearest rm switch. “Two women have escaped, and they’ve freed the hostage. Seize them all!”
She would never forgive Olivia for hurting her son.
The entire town lit up in a hellish red glow. Everyone went out to hunt down Olivia and the others.
Ang’s heart skipped a beat at the sound. Dread crawled over her skin like ice.
Olivia didn’t understand the meaning of that rm–she’d never heard it before–but Ang knew.
She’d tried to escape once, long ago. When the sirens went off, it meant a girl was on the run. Everyone in town would join the hunt. And when they caught the girl, they would beat her mercilessly.
Ang’s trembling wouldn’t stop. Terror hollowed her out from the inside.
She couldn’t go back. She didn’t want to be tied up on the cold hospital bed and treated like livestock again.
Everyone heard the rm. Doors flew open, and people poured out–men, women, even the elderly and children–brandishing torches as the streets roared to life.
11:53 pm a
Olivia saw the fear in her eyes. Her voice softened. “Don’t worry. You’re not going back.”
Edward backed her up, his tone low but steady as he patted Ang’s shoulder. “Trust her.”
By “her,” he meant Olivia.
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Even Edward, who had always been told to be cautious, didn’t quite understand why his guard slipped so easily around Olivia.
Maybe it was her eyes–so much like his aunt’s–that made it feel like he could trust her.
11:53 pm