"Mr. Briggs, I hope you know keeping someone against their will is a crime," Anne said, fighting to keep calm despite how rapidly her heart was pounding.
"Against your will? Oh, don't you worry, my dear. You're going to beg me to give you more once I get started with you," he said while stalking towards her as the laughter of the other men rang in the background.
"Don't be a nun, young woman. Have some fun. Briggs will give you a very good time, and if he doesn't, go for another round with me. I definitely won't disappoint," someone's lewd words reached her.
"Shut up, Sanders. She'll surely have a great time with me."
"Tell your men to open the door or I'll call the police," Anne said, quickly grabbing her phone from her pocket.
Mr. Briggs suddenly stopped, feigning a scared expression before suddenly bursting out in a bout of laughter.
"Go ahead, call them. Do you think the police can come here to save you? I'm well acquainted with all the police inspectors in this city. Do you think they'll take your word or mine? Especially when you broke into our private room uninvited. I might even accuse you of being a thief here under the guise of work, but you actually stole something. It won't be hard to frame you for that. Would you like to spend a few days in prison? I could even make it a year or two. They won't let you go unless I say so." He roared in laughter after that, as if absolutely certain she had fallen into his trap and would never be able to get out.
Anne clutched the files to her chest defensively, staring at the man warily.
In this world, power mattered more. There were innocent people rotting in jail for crimes they didn't commit. Everyone knew they were innocent, but no one could go against the people of power who put them there.
Would the same thing happen to her?
Joshua Briggs seemed to have seen the fear in her eyes.
'That is right, fall right into my palms.'
"I believe I don't need to tell you what to do anymore. Come here."
Mr. Briggs had managed to get a taste of one of the PR employees using this very method, and the next day, he'd still refused to change his mind about pulling out his investment. It was because his target hadn't fallen into the palm of his hands yet.
He watched with satisfaction as Anne's legs began to move as she approached him slowly.
"Very good," he murmured just as she came to stand before him. However, what happened next was something he never anticipated.
The minute he raised his hand to touch her, she swung her hand. The files she grabbed smacked him right in the face with such force that his head tilted to the side.
This caused a loud gasp to ring among the members in the room. They just couldn't believe their eyes.
"You'll have me locked up? Then go ahead, but if I'll be jailed for something, I'd much rather it be assault."
Before he could recover, she swung the files again. This time, harder—it left a scratch on the man's cheek.
"This little witch! You asked for this!"
Anne ducked as the man came for her, frantically throwing the papers up in the air, momentarily blinding his vision from her. She wasn't a fighter, nor could she beat up a grown man, but she used that opportunity to push at his chest with all her strength. He went stumbling backwards, landing on his butt.
She didn't stop there, knowing he would get the chance to stand up and punish her.
She wasn't thinking of the fact that she was trapped in this room with multiple men who could cause a significant amount of harm to her—in fact, they could kill her and secretly dispose of her body. However, she was impulsive, jumping forward to land a kick on Joshua Briggs' face before turning to run to the door again, but she was immediately caught by the guards.
Damn it, she wouldn't be able to escape from these huge, trained guards.
"You dare to hit me? You're dying today, you little witch!"
Joshua Briggs couldn't look at all the other men in the room. His ego had been dashed right in front of their eyes, and all they did was laugh as this witch of a girl played smart on him and actually hit him. He wouldn't get back his ego if he didn't bruise her face today, hence he jumped up from the floor, raising his hand to teach her a good lesson while she was held by the guards. But before his hand could drop, a voice came from behind him.
"This has been fun to watch. Are you really going to beat a woman, Briggs?"
The man's actions halted instantly, and sweat rolled down his temple.
As that dark voice sounded, he suddenly realized that this person was actually still in this room.
He'd been aware of this person's presence, but after the point when the girl gave him a massage with her tender-looking hands, he'd completely lost focus and forgotten about the fact that this person was still here.
Though he was shocked at the person's voice, he knew the person wouldn't be offended because they played with his employees. This person just didn't care about others that much to interfere.
He'd watched them beat a man to death one time before and watched them play with innocent little waitresses without him even so much as saying a word, not to mention lifting a finger.
When people said Andrew Sterling was an indifferent man who had no empathy, they weren't lying or exaggerating—they meant it in the literal sense.
"Mr. Sterling... I almost forgot you're here."
Andrew Sterling rose from his seat. His indifferent gaze didn't bother to settle on anyone else in the room except her.
Anne's mouth fell open in shock, the depth of his gaze causing a chill to trail all the way up her spine.
What was he doing here?
He was actually here... this whole time?