Like I said before, visiting a porn site isn’t exactly unusual for most people. However, Hiddenpleasure.hub wasn’t one of those normal sites people casually scroll through.
The site couldn’t even be accessed the normal way, but it had to be opened using a special gateway browser. I didn’t really understand how it worked, but sohow, Lando managed to get in.
The first thing that appeared on his phone screen made my stomach drop.
I knew porn ca in all kinds of genres—so of them strange or unusual—but what I saw on that site was far beyond that. It wasn’t just unusual; it was sothing that could only be described as illegal.
"This is sick," I whispered, slamming my hand over his phone screen. "I can’t ... I can’t look at that."
I felt like throwing up right then and there as I imagined what could’ve happened to if I hadn’t jumped from that third floor.
The won in those videos looked like they had been kidnapped and forced to do disgusting things; humiliated, and tortured in ways I didn’t even want to describe.
"I’m sorry, give a second—" I stamred, quickly running to the side and crouching down in a dark place as I threw up everything inside .
Fucking hell.
Even after it was over, the images wouldn’t leave my head. I’d only seen them for a few minutes, but they burned themselves into my mind. Every what if kept echoing; what if it had been ? What if I hadn’t died? What if I hadn’t escaped?
When there was nothing left to throw up, I realized I couldn’t breathe. My body shook so hard I had to wrap my arms around myself just to stay together.
"It’s okay ... you’re fine," I whispered shakily. "You got out. You’re safe now. You’re safe."
"Helcia."
I flinched the mont I felt soone touch my shoulder, but when I looked up and saw Lando standing beside , I imdiately let out a shaky breath of relief.
"Are you alright?" he asked softly.
"I ... I don’t know," I stamred. My voice ca out small and broken as I hugged myself tighter. "I just ... I keep thinking ... what if Helena would’ve ended up like that if she hadn’t died that day?"
Lando didn’t answer right away. He just looked at , and from the way his eyes darkened, I knew he was thinking the sa thing.
"What if it was —"
"No." His voice cut through my words.
Lando suddenly crouched down beside , and I startled because I was afraid he might hurt his legs. But before I could say anything, he gently grabbed my face, forcing to look at him.
"I won’t let you go through sothing like that," he said firmly.
I held my breath, montarily forgetting how to blink. Slowly, I whispered, "But it could still happen, right? People like that ... they’ve probably been doing those illegal things for years, trapping won with fake job offers."
As long as people like them still existed, I knew I could never truly feel safe.
"Marissa would never let you sign anything suspicious," he said, his voice gentler now. "And I’ll always double-check your contracts myself. I’ll make sure everything’s safe."
If only I’d had soone like him back then, soone who actually cared, who would’ve protected when I didn’t know how to protect myself.
If only he had t when I was still Helena, maybe ... my ending wouldn’t have been so tragic.
I might never have gotten the Money-Making System, but if I could trade that for peace of mind, for a life where I didn’t have to be afraid, I’d choose that in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately, all I could do now was imagine it. I had already died once, and no matter how much I wished, there was no turning back ti.
What happened had already happened, and a rotten corpse inside a coffin would never beat again.
"Please, help ... help her," I whispered, my voice trembling. "Even after death, she never got justice. So please ... at least help bring back a little of her dignity."
"I will," Lando said imdiately, without even a pause. "I will. I promise."
I stared at him, my chest tightening, and before I could stop myself, tears started sliding down my cheeks.
"She must’ve been so terrified at the mont," I murmured, my voice breaking. "They gave her hope, only to betray her again and again. She doesn’t deserve to be rembered that way. We have to help her find peace."
"We will," Lando said as he lowered himself to his knees so he didn’t have to crouch anymore. Gently, he brushed his thumb across my cheek, wiping away the tears that wouldn’t stop falling.
I knew I shouldn’t be crying this hard. After all, to him, Helena was just a friend of mine, and we hadn’t even known each other that long. Wasn’t it too much to cry this way over soone who was practically a stranger?
[People can still cry for soone’s pain, even if they’ve never t them, Host.]
[You don’t have to know soone to feel empathy.]
If that was true ... then did Lando also feel sad about Helena’s death? About my death? Maybe, deep down, he had once wondered if his favorite actress wouldn’t have ended up that way if only he had been there to help.
Maybe he could have changed sothing.
But why should I bla soone who has done nothing wrong? We had never even t before, and it wasn’t his duty to save everyone.
[For your information, Host, Lando was actually living abroad last year.]
[He only ca back shortly before your death.]
Oh ... I didn’t know that. But now that I thought about it, Marissa once told that Lando chose to do his therapy overseas instead of in Velmont because he didn’t want to see his family.
It seed he had spent a whole year focusing on recovery, and when he finally returned his favorite actress was already buried under endless scandals, right before she jumped from the third floor.
"We’ll find a way to help her," he said again, softer this ti. His voice carried a kind of promise that made my chest ache. "You don’t have to worry anymore."
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