Chapter 706:
A piercing scream tore through the room as she collapsed to the floor.
Waldo’s mother hurried forward to intervene, but Rylie’s voice, cold and unyielding, froze her in place. “Your son is dead. Shouldn’t you see for yourself?”
The old woman stiffened, then staggered toward the doorway. The moment her gaze fell on the body outside, a broken wail ripped from her throat.
Rylie lowered herself onto a chair, calm and deliberate. Across the room, the girl huddled breathlessly in the corner, her chest heaving. Wide-eyed, she fixed her stare on Rylie and forced the words out. “I was lured here last year. My name”
“My name is Nanette Delgado, and I’m a student at Maplewood University.”
Rylie had already drawn her own conclusions. Resting her cheek lightly against her hand, she asked in a steady tone, “With your education, you should have known better. How did you allow yourself to be deceived?”
Nanette’s gaze blazed as she fixed it on Abram’s wife, who was still struggling to regain her footing on the floor. “She once served meals at our university cafeteria. Her true name is Renata Deleon. Lacking education and burdened with a sick mother and a handicapped brother, she took work at Maplewood to survive. I fell for her stories of hardship and often sought her out for food. Over time, I considered her a close friend.”
Rising unsteadily, Nanette pointed a shaking finger at Renata, fury quaking through her voice. “But everything was a lie! She pretended to be pitiful, earned my trust, and played the part of a companion only to lure me here to this village, to bear children for these men, to serve the twisted desires of the local elite! What I will never understand is how someone who once claimed to be a victim of trafficking herself could join them in carrying out such monstrous acts.”
Blinded by rage, Nanette stomped hard on Abram’s wife’s back. “Because of you, my education was cut short, my dignity trampled, and my future destroyed!”
Rylie’s eyes narrowed, her tone low and cutting. “Serve the local elite? What do you mean?”
LⱯŦe$† Ç♄ΔÞŦəRŞ 1π ɢ𝓪lnovels.c𝓸m
Brad hauled the woman off the floor and forced her against the dining table, his hand clamped tightly around her throat. The crushing pressure stole her breath, snapping her into awareness as she thrashed in panic.
Rylie seized a fruit knife from nearby and drove it into the table, the blade sinking just inches from the woman’s hand. The sudden strike froze her in terror.
“How old are you this year?”
“Thirty-five.”
Rylie studied her intently. Beneath the roughened skin and weary expression, her face still carried a trace of youth, which explained why no one had doubted her story.
Rylie fixed her gaze on her. “How long have you been tied to Patrick?”
Renata kept her lips sealed. The knife slid closer, grazing her skin, and her terrified shriek broke the silence. “Since I was ten!” she cried. “Abram’s family bought me when I was a child. They ran a dye workshop with Patrick back then, and I was used for my youthful face to lure outsiders.”
Rylie’s next question cut even sharper. “Did you ever deal in children?”
“I don’t remember.”
Expressionless, Rylie pressed down and severed one of her fingers in a swift motion. “That leaves nine more lies.”
Renata let out a piercing cry. “Yes! I did! I once took a girl! When I was seventeen, Patrick forced me to snatch her from an orphanage in Chasey while I was volunteering for a single day!”
.
.
.