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The old flight of stairs creaked when Leah stepped on them. It was so shaky and felt like it was going to
fall soon.
Leah couldn’t imagine someone still living in a house like that. She remembered the city council of
Linkville had issued an order to evacuate all citizens who lived in decrepit buildings to avoid any
accidents from happening.
She guessed the people who were risking their lives to stay here must be living a difficult life since
many people in this world were still trying to eke out a living.
Leah carefully walked upstairs and headed towards the room closest to the staircase. Before she
arrived at the door, she heard someone scolding, “Where’s the money? Did you not bring any money
back today again? You are just as useless as your mother!”
The decrepit houses had thin walls. Leah could clearly hear the man’s rude and vulgar words. She
frowned slightly. The windows were made of paper, and the shadows of two people could be seen.
Leah saw a man beating a woman. The woman was kneeling on the floor and crying from pain.
Leah couldn’t stand it and wanted to enter the room to stop the man, but she hesitated because she
might make the situation worse since she was alone.
She took out her phone and wanted to call the police. Then, someone opened the door, and a woman
ran out like a lunatic. It was Regina. Leah went after her immediately.
Regina seemed to have hurt her leg. She was not running as fast as before. Leah caught up to her by a
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtsmall river. “Regina, stop running.” Leah held onto Regina’s hand.
Regina was weak and fell to the ground. Leah could finally take a good look at her. Regina was in a
really bad condition. Her body was full of injuries and a slap mark could be seen on her face.
How did she end up like this? Why did she appear in the decrepit house?
Leah had many questions, but it was not the right time to ask her. She sighed and pulled Regina while
saying, “Follow me.”
Leah remembered she ran past a convenience store when she was chasing Regina. They should have
some medicine.
“Let go of me!” Regina tried to shake Leah’s hand off.
Leah frowned, “I’m taking you to get your wounds treated.”
Regina shouted, “Get lost, Leah! I don’t need your pity! Who do you think you are? Who are you to care
about me?”
Leah was calm. She knew how broken-down Regina was deep inside, so she didn’t put what she said
to heart.
“I just want to treat your wounds.”
“I don’t need you to care for me. Go! A lady like you shouldn’t be in this place!”
“We used to be friends after all.”
“Friends? Stop pretending, Leah. Aren’t you here to laugh at me? You saw how I became a prostitute,
how I was beaten up and how I got dumped by Han. Do you feel happy now? Get lost if you have
already seen enough!” Regina shouted hysterically.
She finally got tired after shouting for a while longer and slowly stood up. After taking a few steps, she
fell again. Leah caught her quickly.
Regina was surprised and pushed Leah away, “Didn’t you hear what I just said? Why didn’t I realize
how shameless you were in the past?”
Leah knew Regina wasn’t a bad person. Regina even returned the phone she stole to Leah when they
met each other again.
Leah asked Regina, “Are you hungry?” Regina stayed silent, but her stomach was rumbling.
Leah smiled and took her to the convenience store. She made Regina instant noodles with some
snacks. She even had a tube of ointment when she left the store.
Regina was sitting on the bench outside the convenience store. When she saw Leah, she had an
awkward expression on her face because she scolded her hysterically just moments ago.
“Eat this. Let me apply the ointment for you.” Leah said to Regina.
“I’ll do it myself,” said Regina.
Leah looked at her applying the ointment quietly.
After Regina dressed her wounds, she looked at Leah and asked, “Aren’t you going to ask what
happened to me?”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmLeah replied, “There’s no use asking if you don’t feel like telling me.”
Regina smiled sarcastically, “You are quite sensible. No wonder Han likes you.”
That topic made both of them awkward. Regina started to eat her noodles quietly. Suddenly, she
started crying. With her messy hair and ruined makeup, she looked like a wailing ghost.
However, Leah felt she was livelier that way. Regina cried for a while and started weeping, “I didn’t
expect you to be by my side when I was at my lowest.”
“I didn’t expect to see you in this state as well.”
During high school, Regina’s family was considered wealthy.
“I didn’t expect it myself.” Regina smiled sadly and said in a soft voice, “After I graduated from high
school, my father’s company went bankrupt. He couldn’t accept the loss and committed suicide. My
mother got married to another man. We thought the man was rich, but he was a swindler. He swindled
all the money my father left for my mother. My mother ran away and left me here. The man is a
gambling addict. He lost all the money after a while and started to show his true colors. He started
beating me and sold me to Colors two years ago when he no longer had any money to spend.”
Regina was telling the story calmly with a hint of sarcasm. Leah couldn’t imagine how strong she had to
be to overcome what she had experienced.
Regina suddenly looked at Leah and smiled at her, “Do you know? I thought Han was my way out
when I first met him.” Her voice started to tremble, “Yet, this man is heartless. He is heartless!”
Leah had a complicated feeling. She wanted to say something, but she stopped when she saw a few
shadows approaching them.
A voice said jokingly, “Hey, Regina. You’re here? We’ve been looking for you for days.”
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