As soon as Scarlet was dragged inside, she paused as the room went quiet. Inside, a few of the ring girls were looking back at her.
The graceful smiles they wore in the ring were gone, and now they looked at Scarlet with mixed emotions. Fear was one of them.
"Don’t worry," Yuri said to them. "I know her."
The won exchanged looks before nodding. Then she turned to Scarlet and tipped her head.
"Sit down. Let’s get you your makeup," she said, approaching the chair in front of the vanity mirror. "That little guy is the director of this place. If he sees you not getting ready, he’s gonna kill you."
Scarlet studied Yuri in disbelief.
For a while, she just stood there, staring at Yuri, the sa Yuri they believed had been abducted. Back at the Order, Atlas and everyone had been worried and sacrificing sleep just to find her. But right now, Yuri didn’t seem... in danger.
Sure, this place was sickening, but not like the situation they expected her to be in.
"Scar," Yuri called, snapping Scarlet out of her trance.
When Scarlet ca to her senses, she stomped toward her. "Yuri, I don’t have ti for this. We have to go."
"..." Yuri blinked. "I can’t."
"Why?"
Yuri shrugged, then glanced over her shoulder at the girls. Scarlet followed her gaze, brows knitting before settling her attention back on Yuri.
"I promised them I’d take them away from here," Yuri said. "I’m not leaving without them."
Scarlet scoffed. "Yuri, what in the world are you talking about?"
"What do you an?" Yuri frowned. "If Atlas sent you here to get , tell him I’m not going back for now. I’m doing sothing."
"How could you say that?" Scarlet was in utter disbelief, almost unable to process what Yuri was telling her. "Yuri, you were the one who called for help."
"Huh?"
"You said you were... abducted," Scarlet leaned in and whispered. "Do you think I’m here for no reason? Did you really think I would walk around with almost nothing on if I weren’t desperate?"
A mont of silence fell between them as they stared at each other. When Yuri spoke, Scarlet’s breath hitched.
"I didn’t call Atlas or anyone for help." She shook her head. "That’s just impossible."
"But what—"
"Sit down first," Yuri said, reaching for Scarlet’s shoulder and guiding her into the chair. "People here are paranoid, and if they see nothing’s getting done, you’re done for."
Scarlet sat down and hissed. "Do you really think he can hurt ? One kick and that little guy is dead."
"I’m not talking about you," Yuri replied as she stood beside her. "These syndicates hold people hostage. They won’t hurt you or or these girls directly. They hurt you without ever laying a hand on you."
Silence fell between them as they looked at each other sternly. After a mont, Yuri exhaled and glanced at the ladies.
"Make sure that shorty stays busy," she ordered. "I’ll talk to her."
The ladies smiled and nodded. Without a word, they left the room. Scarlet watched the ring girls she had seen earlier in the match. Once the last of them stepped out and closed the door, Scarlet faced Yuri.
"Yuri, what in the world is happening?" Scarlet asked. "Do you even know what’s going on at the Order?"
Yuri shook her head. "What happened?"
"Your recordings!" Scarlet said sharply. "The ones you kept in your ho under the floorboards. The Order found them, and since then, we’ve been losing sleep trying to find you. Not to ntion, soone called Hugo—Atlas’s Second Brother—asking for help and claiming you were abducted."
"Like I said, I didn’t make that call!" Yuri insisted. "And why would Atlas look for — I an, shit."
Scarlet furrowed her brows. "What?"
"The recordings under the floorboards... fine, I did keep them. And I planned for Slater or the twins to find them if sothing happened to ," she admitted. "But nothing bad has happened to yet, okay? I told Atlas I was going to investigate soone."
"What?" was all Scarlet could say again. Yuri sighed heavily and explained her side of the story.
According to Yuri, she had left a note for Atlas regarding her break. In it, she emphasized that she was investigating a case alone for the sake of success. She also ntioned that she had her ergency device with her.
If she needed help, Atlas would know.
"I even left him a voice note," she added matter-of-factly. "I told him the sa thing. That way, even if he doesn’t find the note, he knows I’m away."
"But soone called Hugo, Atlas’s brother," Scarlet blurted out.
Yuri shook her head. "That wasn’t ."
"But it sounded like..." Scarlet trailed off, her pupils constricting as realization dawned. "It was a red herring."
"Stop moving," Yuri muttered as she applied eyeshadow. "Obviously. It’s a distraction."
Scarlet glanced at her. "Why are you so calm? This should alarm you."
"Because Atlas is my boss," she replied, her hand steady as she worked. "One way or another, he’ll figure out it’s a fake call and resolve it."
"Yuri—"
"I was investigating the Church," Yuri cut in solemnly, still focused on the makeup. "I found so connections that led back to them. I didn’t want Atlas involved until I resolved it or had enough evidence to support my theory."
She paused and looked Scarlet in the eye. "Scar, these people—those girls—are trafficked. Do you know where they ca from?"
"They were volunteers at the church, and so were from orphanages supported by it," she continued solemnly. "They were rescued... but not really. The person who rescued them just put them in a different kind of hell."
"You an..."
"Vito," Yuri stressed the na. "While investigating the Church, I found out he had taken an interest in them. Actually, his interest was in soone else. It just so happened that the person he had a beef with was connected to the Church. So he kept poking his nose into their business."
"He’s the one who killed the governor of Ashkar and stole the business Farah has in it." Yuri lowered her arm and looked Scarlet in the eye. "That’s why I’m here. I’m investigating him and finding a way to get these people out."
"He has leverage against the Church," she added with certainty. "Once I get it, I was planning to call Atlas. That was my plan. But obviously... they’ve already made a move."
Scarlet furrowed her brows as Yuri said quietly,
"The call. They realized I was onto them."
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