The bar area was dead quiet. All the doors were closed. Only at the entrance to the largest private room at the far end of the hallway stood two servers, waiting respectfully.
Nina Wynn didn’t know why she had co here. After a mont’s hesitation, just as she was about to turn and leave, the door to the last private room was violently ripped open.
"Get out!"
"Don’t even think about working in this circle anymore. You’re blacklisted!"
A scantily clad young woman was roughly shoved to the ground. A man’s voice, both arrogant and domineering, bood from inside the room. "You dare touch sothing belonging to the Third Lord Master? Are you tired of living? Get lost, and don’t let see your face in Elysian City ever again!"
The girl looked as if she had just heard the most terrifying news imaginable. She scrambled forward, crying and begging, "Please, don’t blacklist ! I have a sister to support! I’m begging you, please have rcy!"
"Scram!"
The next second, the girl was sent flying by a kick. Her body slamd into the opposite wall with a sickening thud before she collapsed to the floor.
The door to the private room slamd shut. Still not giving up, the girl lunged forward, pounding on the door and crying until the two servers rushed over and hauled her away.
Nina Wynn watched the scene unfold with a detached coldness. Just as she turned to leave, a hand suddenly grabbed her and shoved her into a crowd of people. "You’re new. Hurry up, get inside!"
At so point, a few people had appeared behind her.
Two young n with thick Elysian accents ca jogging up from behind, herding four or five young won along with them.
One of them grabbed Nina Wynn and started pulling her forward at a brisk pace.
Nina Wynn’s modest white casual suit, which covered her from head to toe, was starkly out of place among the sea of crop tops and hot pants. The young man scowled. "Why didn’t you change? What is this crap you’re wearing?"
"Whatever. Her face is good enough. Maybe they’ll take a liking to her."
Nina Wynn knew they had mistaken her for soone else and quickly tried to step out of the line. But as soon as she did, she was yanked back in. The man glared at her. "What do you think you’re doing?"
Nina Wynn said, "I’m not with you."
The other man shoved her impatiently toward the door. "Still playing coy at a ti like this? Do you think the company invests in you for free? Now’s your chance to earn. Don’t be an ungrateful brat. Get in there and put on a good show. The clients tonight are the real deal. If one of them takes a liking to you, forget just getting Elysian City residency—you could beco a top-tier superstar without breaking a sweat."
With that, the group of them were shoved into the private room, and the door slamd shut behind them with a BANG.
Nina Wynn didn’t have ti to slip away and was shoved forcefully to the side.
She looked up.
A blur of neon lights and intoxicating luxury.
The room, well over a thousand square feet, was a sea of long legs and stunningly beautiful young faces.
A short distance away, several young n were seated on a sofa, holding glasses of red wine and deep in conversation.
The man in the seat of honor was none other than Caleb Rhodes.
To his left sat Nathan Fletcher and two young Oriens n. To his right were two strikingly handso n from the Sundered Lands who looked like models.
Caleb Rhodes wore a simple white pinstripe shirt. He exuded an air of cold, noble reserve. Just by sitting there so casually on the sofa, he commanded the attention of everyone in the room.
In truth, any one of these n would be a dazzling presence on his own. But seeing them all together, only Nathan Fletcher could begin to hold a candle to Caleb Rhodes. The others, despite their own prominence, seed to fade into his background, reduced to re foils.
Beside each man sat two or three young, fresh-faced hostesses, every one of them vibrant, delicate, and stunningly beautiful.
The two seated beside Caleb Rhodes were particularly exceptional.
Nina Wynn took one look and turned to leave.
Just then, two n began herding the won forward. One of them leaned in and whispered, "Don’t say I didn’t give you girls a chance. Sitting in the center is the most powerful man in The Capital Set, The Valorian Crown Prince himself, Caleb Rhodes. To his left is Nathan Fletcher, heir to the Fletcher Group and the richest man in Oriens. The other two are heirs to the top two conglorates in Hesperia. And those two foreign devils on the right? They’re oil princes from the Sundered Lands. That’s the rundown. How much you can rake in tonight, whether you can latch onto soone powerful—that’s all up to you."
By the ti he finished speaking, they were standing before the group of n.
The man in charge bowed and scraped, a sycophantic smile plastered on his face. "Third Lord Master, Mr. Fletcher, my apologies for the disturbance earlier. We’ve just brought in so fresh faces to keep you company."
As the man spoke, Nina Wynn kept her head down and backed away, quickly hiding herself behind the other won.
Then, she turned to leave.
But the man who had brought them in saw her trying to bolt. He lunged forward, grabbed her, and flung her right to the front of the group.
"They’re all new to the company," he announced. "All checked out. Very clean. Look at this one—she looks like she’s still in high school. Fresh as they co."
He used considerable force, and Nina Wynn lost her balance, stumbling and falling to the floor—right at Caleb Rhodes’s feet.
In an instant, every eye in the room was fixed on Nina Wynn.
Nina Wynn kept her head bowed. Her entire field of vision was filled with a single pair of handmade Italian leather shoes.
Caleb Rhodes’s shoes.
A bottomless sense of humiliation washed over her. Never before had Nina Wynn wished so desperately that she could simply vanish.
She bit down hard on her lip. Her face was deathly pale, but the tips of her ears burned crimson.
Just then, the man who’d thrown her stepped forward, speaking obsequiously to Caleb Rhodes. "Third Lord Master, what do you think..."
Before he could finish, Caleb Rhodes was on his feet. He delivered a vicious kick straight to the man’s knee.
With a sharp CRACK of bone, the man collapsed to his knees.
The next second, a leather-shod foot slamd down on his chest.
A series of brutal stomps followed, and the sickening sound of bones snapping filled the air.
The man had no idea what was happening. Through the searing pain, he looked up and saw Caleb Rhodes glaring down at him, his eyes as ferocious as a man-eating demon’s.
"Third Lord Master, rcy..."
Before he could finish, another heavy stomp ground down on his bones.
The man felt a coppery tang in his throat before he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Everyone was stunned into silence.
It had all happened so fast. No one knew what was going on, much less how this man had managed to offend The Valorian Crown Prince so badly that he would personally deliver such a savage, near-lethal beating.
But no one dared to intervene.
The man coughed up several more mouthfuls of blood, but Caleb Rhodes’s fury showed no signs of abating. Seeing things were getting out of hand, Nathan Fletcher finally rushed over and grabbed Caleb’s arm. "Caleb, stop!"
Caleb Rhodes shook him off. He ground his shoe into the man’s face, crushing it rcilessly. The man was in so much pain he couldn’t even scream.
Nathan Fletcher could see sothing was seriously wrong with him, as if he really intended to kill the man. He forcibly pulled him away, shielding the man with his own body. "That’s enough!" he snapped. "There are too many people here. Whatever it is, deal with it later!"
He turned and roared at the staff, "What are you waiting for? Get him to a hospital!"
Caleb Rhodes loosened his tie, his eyes still lethally sharp.
His voice was just as cold. "Who brought her here?"
The entire room was dead silent, the occupants too terrified to even breathe. No one understood what had just happened. All eyes fell on Nina Wynn.
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