Passport to Peril

The voice was exceedingly familiar. I squinted and turned to look in the direction it had come with my right eye, my breathing heavy.

Tears streamed down my face when I saw who it was—Winston Lake, Lysander's driver! He'd driven me to and fro countless times; he would recognize me!

I raised a bloody arm and waved frantically at him. "Winston, it's me, Noelle! Where's Lysander?"

Winston stepped forward at my words, looking serious. The men were startled by this and immediately loosened their hold on me.

Both my legs were broken, and I was in a horrible state. Despite that, hope flared in me. "It's me, Winston. Save me…"

That was all I could say—I was in too much pain. I started trembling uncontrollably.

Winston widened his eyes as he leaned closer to scrutinize me. Then, he covered his nose. "Don't go too heavy and kill her, guys. It'll be hard to explain this to Mr. Quill if anything happens."

My eyes widened in shock at his words. Only then did it hit me that he probably couldn't recognize me because I was bruised and battered from the beating.

I scrambled to find anything that could prove my identity, but Winston was already backing away, looking disgusted. He said, "No one's going to cover this up if you kill someone again. You'll be dead meat if Mr. Quill learns about this!"

The men bowed and scraped, smiling sycophantically as they watched Winston leave. I stared at his retreating back as despair crashed over me. I wanted to stop him, but blood was all that came out when I opened my mouth.

I was doomed. I would die then and there. I shut my eyes as tears streamed down my face.

Ray gripped my face and scanned it at the sight of my tears. Then, he started undoing his belt. "Her legs are broken, but she still has a pretty face. She's not making it onto the auction stage in this state, so we might as well enjoy her…"

The other men laughed at his words. I spat out a few more mouthfuls of blood before croaking, "Get away from me! I'm pregnant with Lysander's child—he'll kill you guys when he learns about this!"

I broke free and dragged myself toward the window with my arms. I refused to suffer such humiliation even if it cost me my life!

Seeing that I still had the strength to struggle, the men seemed to suddenly get the urge to play with me like a cat would toy with a mouse. Instead of doing anything to me, they followed me closely.

"Go ahead and run. We'd like to see where you can go now that you're crippled."

I bit my tongue to keep myself awake, leaving a trail of blood behind me as I dragged myself forward. As the men mocked and jeered at me, I clambered onto the window sill and leaned my torso out.

I was so close to freedom, but my strength ran out. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't throw myself out the window.

This was my first time realizing just how hard it was to seek death under such circumstances.

When the men had their fill of laughing at me, they stepped forward to grab me. I clung to the window sill and struggled. Amid the tussle, the crystal pendant Lysander had carved for me fell out.

Half my hair was ripped off my head; I was ultimately dragged back.

The men were furious and kicked me in the face.

"Mr. Lake told us not to kill you, yet you tried to jump out the window. You're just trying to get us in trouble, you witch! Don't blame us for being cruel since death is what you want!"

They grabbed the remainder of my hair and dragged me along, leaving a trail of blood behind. They threw me into a dark room.

A foot stomped and ground on my face, and I felt like my eye would pop out of its socket from the force.

Just then, there was a ruckus outside. I heard Lysander's angry voice ring out. "Where did this pendant come from? Why is there blood everywhere? Where's the person who was here? What are you guys doing?"