Chapter 10

The man grunted before hooking his index finger to motion Iris forward. “Crawl over here,” he said. Iris obediently crawled to his feet. She looked up at him and patiently awaited his answer. Even though she was being humiliated, it seemed like her fortified spirit was completely unbothered. This only further intrigued the man, making him want to toy with her more. He grabbed Iris by her chin and said condescendingly, “Rose told me you were a dancer here.” “Yes,” Iris replied. “Alright, dance for me,” he commanded with a haughty sneer. “Alright,” Iris said without hesitation. “But a common dance is nothing interesting, so why don’t we add some flair to it?” With that, he turned to the door and clapped his palms together to give a signal. Soon, the door opened. More than twenty bodyguards clad in black entered the room, carrying a gigantic block of ice almost the size of a bed. Even under the dim lighting, Iris could see the ice emanating frost atop. The man looked sideways at the ice and said with a grim smile, “Get on top of the block of ice and dance for half an hour. If you can do that, the money is yours… Barefoot, of course.” Iris could tell that she was going to get frostbite on her soles if she danced on the ice for half an hour. It was going to hurt. Did she have a choice though? Quite frankly, no… Would she die from it? Certainly not. In that case, she might as well accept it, especially since she needed the money desperately. With the way she looked now, it was more likely for her to win the lottery than to find a willing benefactor. Bearing this in mind, she stepped onto the block of ice without hesitation and began her dance. A mighty pierce of cold shot through the soles of her feet and permeated into her body. Within seconds, she could already feel herself close to blacking out. Her jaw clenched tightly as she glanced at the clock on the wall. Meanwhile, both the businessman and Rose wore smug smiles on their faces. Twenty minutes passed and the pain in her feet continued to intensify. Her legs were growing numb, and she could hardly feel them anymore. Time had never passed slower than now; every minute felt like a century. Blobs of darkness would fade in and out of her vision, and her feet were slowly giving away. At the twenty-fifth-minute mark, she could not bear it anymore and slipped from the ice! Clouds of frosty air enveloped her, and every inch of her body shivered; even the sweat on her eyebrows had turned to frost. Despite her best attempt to pick herself up, her body could not manage it as moving alone was a herculean task. Only five more minutes. She just had to tough it out. Though the spirit was willing, the body was not. Her limbs seemed to weigh a ton. Then, she blacked out; everything that happened after that was lost to her. Upon witnessing this, one of the party girls cried out, “Ah! Is… she dead?” Rose and the man exchanged a faint smile. He said without remorse, “She won’t die. Nobody dies that easily.” With that, he turned to Rose with an affectionate look, “How is it? Are you happy with how this turned out?” Rose said with a scoff, “Heh… Not bad. I would have liked it more if she stayed up there for another half an hour.” “Done,” the man said. It was just half an hour, she could manage. Besides, she was just a common and worthless party girl. Nobody would even spill a tear even if she ended up dying. - Meanwhile, a procession of black Rolls-Royce Cullinan was traveling down a road somewhere. Such a display attracted the attention of all passersby. Inside the Cullinan in the middle of the convoy, Hugh rested against the back seat of the car. He was fiddling with a beaded bracelet dyed blood red. The city lights glistening outside beat into the car. His appearance passed in and out of the shadows; his features were sharp and defined. Stoic and noble, he looked like a holy deity. Clifford, who was driving, was speaking into the phone with a solemn expression, “What? An explosion? Alright…” After hanging up, he glanced at Hugh through the rearview mirror and informed gravely, “Sir, there was an explosion in the cosmetics factory in Maschuset. There are no reported casualties, but the financial loss is estimated to be in the range of one billion dollars.” “Have our people take care of it.” There was not even so much as a twitch on Hugh’s face. He seemed completely unaffected by the catastrophic news. Beep, beep— This time, it was Hugh’s phone that rang. It was a picture of Iris lying prostrate on a giant block of ice sent by an unknown number. She seemed unconscious. Her entire body was covered in bruises. It looked as if she had died. Hugh’s brows immediately jerked into a deep frown. Soon, the unknown number followed up with a text, “Boss, it’s Rose here, I’m sending this from room 999. I know you don’t like her so I did a little something. What do you think?” “To Royal Palace. Now,” he ordered severely. His grip on the phone was so tight that it looked like he could crush it.