Warning: This chapter contains descriptions of *physical abuse. Reader's discretion is advised.
****
Ava's eyes widened, her gaze shifting to meet Kyla's own beside her. 'Huh?' She thought. 'Isn't that like… really big news?'
Kyla clasped her hand and shook her head gently. Silently telling her that she wasn't to do anything that would attract the ladies' attention.
Ava only nodded once.
"What?" One of the women gasped. "How sure are you of this information?"
"I have my many sources." The first lady responded elegantly, taking out a fan and covering half of her masked face with it. "But like I said, you can do research on your own and come collect what's due from me if you find out that I'm wrong~"
The gathering of Ladies suddenly burst into a wave of mutters and whispers, all of them hardly believing their ears.
"Doesn't that mean that the Alrosa's have hit a goldmine?" Someone suggested. "Nothing could be better than striking a partnership deal with Berger!"
"Hah… They're about to become even richer."
"I'm jealous..."
"If what you say really is true, then this is a huge deal." A lady chimed. "The other big companies are not going to be very happy about this."
"Probably why it's… was a secret." Someone whispered.
"No wonder someone tried to assassinate her…"
"...I wonder how she got her hands on that information."
"Do you have an idea of what this business venture is?" A calm voice asked from the small crowd.
Ava and Kyla's ear perked up instantly at this, eager to hear what the mysterious woman was going to say.
"That is information…" The lady started, "you will have to pay a heavy price for."
"Haha, oh my!" The lady who the question came from laughed. "Now you've got the lot of us gathered here quite curious."
Ava and Kyla both swallowed the urge to groan in frustration. Why wasn't she just going to say it? Didn't she have plenty of money already?!
Ava sighed. 'These rich people are always trying to get richer…'
The women behind them continued to discuss the shocking topic for a while longer before they began to separate.
At the end of it all, the pair couldn't get any more reasonable information from the gathering.
When the area behind them had become considerably quiet, Ava turned her head to look behind her and found a woman in a dark dinner gown with sparkling gems at the neck, a small fascinator and a mask.
Ava couldn't make out her face or tell who she was, but the most striking thing about her was her lips that were as red as cherry.
Somehow, Ava felt that this was the lady who gave out that priceless information to a bunch of loose-lipped women.
Something didn't seem right about the way the lady spilled the information but it wasn't like it was any of her business. To process information wasn't her job, all she had to do was gather it.
When the woman stood up from her chair to leave, their eyes met for a brief moment and Ava saw the subtle smile the woman shot at her before she turned around to leave.
'She's... not being polite...' Ava thought. 'It's a bit strange...'
"Come on, Cookie." Kyla called as she stood up and reached a hand out to her. "We've gotten a lot from this. Though it wasn't as important as I was expecting it to be."
Ava took her hand. "At least our efforts at eavesdropping weren't completely wasted."
Kyla chuckled. "The party is about to end." She said, "So let's enjoy it for a little longer before we leave."
Ava nodded and followed her friend towards a table that had an assortment of drinks.
*****
"Go stand in front of the door." A coarse voice echoed drunkenly in a room with so little lighting, the owner's face could hardly be seen.
A masked woman who had been sitting on the cold floor, stark naked in front of him, quickly got up and walked to the door like he asked, her heels clicking on the floor as every nerve in her body shivered from twisted excitement.
The man who sat leisurely on a chaise lounge wet his lips as he took in her nude form with her hands behind her back, making her want to shrink back from embarrassment.
He tilted his head slightly. "Now…" he slurred, lighting a cigarette and sucking on it. "Get on all fours and crawl to me."
A heavy tremble crawled down the woman's spine… she was ecstatic, she was ashamed and she, without hesitation, went down on her hands and knees and crawled to him.
Slowly, teasingly, pooling as she did so. Her eyes never leaving his for one moment.
Every fibre of her being vibrated and her breast swayed from side to side as she approached him.
"Tsk." The man clicked his tongue the moment she was directly in front of him again. "You're so dull."
The lady froze. 'What… does he mean by that?'
"You see…" The man on the bed drawled as he puffed out smoke, his gaze unfocused as he regarded her. "I'm in quite a foul mood and yet none of you know how to do anything right."
The woman was taken aback, her brows furrowing. "But master…" She started. "I did just as you asked–"
"I didn't give you permission to speak." The man glowered and he mercilessly quenched the hot bottom of his cigarette on the bare skin of her collarbone.
The woman screamed, her hand clutching at the area tightly as her naked body collapsed to the ground. She began to sob.
"Tsk tsk, you don't get the point do you…" The man slumped back on the couch, tossing his finished cigarette to the side. "Get out."
The lady sprang up immediately, with tears in her eyes, she hurried to take her clothes that were sprawled on the floor. She pulled open the door to reveal a dark hallway, running out without so much as a glance backwards.
The man on the couch scoffed as he took out another cigarette from the packet in his pocket and lit it.
"A collaboration, he says…" He muttered to himself. "I wanted her dead because I suspected there was something going on between those two…"
He paused for a moment, then his face contorted in rage. "Those fools can't do anything right…" He mused. "One more failed heist and I'll get rid of them… all of them."