Chapter 5 Getting Into Trouble

Jane’s heart was still pounding, but before she could feel relieved, she suddenly realized that a man she did not know had his arm around her waist intimately. “Aaaah…” Jane panicked. All her life, the only man who had hugged her so intimately was her older brother. No one else had touched her like this before, not even… him. Haydn Soros’ expression darkened, and he reached out his other hand, clamping it across Jane’s mouth. “Shut up! What’s with all that yelling? You’re so weird, woman! Most people would involuntarily scream when they’re falling, but you’re the exception. You didn’t make a sound at all when you were falling, so why the heck are you screaming now?” “P-P-Please… Let go of me.” Haydn noticed how suspiciously she was stammering, and then something clicked in his mind. “Hey, you weren’t screaming just because I hugged you by the waist, were you?” Haydn saw how the woman in his arm immediately turned pale at that, and he could not stop the corner of his mouth from twitching. “...So I hit the nail on the head, huh?” He gave it some thought before giving her a strange grin. “Hey, lady, are you telling me you’ve never been held by a man like this before?” Haydn found her reactions fascinating. When he saw how red the roots of her ears were, something occurred to him, and he sadistically added more force into his arm around Jane’s waist. Swoosh! Haydn looked at how flushed her entire face went in an instant, looking as though he had discovered a new continent… To think that there were still women in this day and age who turned this red just because a man was hugging her by the waist! How fascinating! How rare! Haydn was simply beside himself with excitement. He purposefully pinched Jane’s waist with the hand around her, but all he could feel was cloth. It confused him, and he was not going to let politeness get in the way of his curiosity. “What are you doing?!” Jane struggled and pushed Haydn away. Meanwhile, Haydn looked at Jane in shock. “Your waist…” He did not know what to say. Was what he touched just now really the waist of a normal woman? Haydn had always been a self-proclaimed ladies’ man, with almost a thousand lovers in the past. His past flings included plenty of international models and celebrities, but the waist he just touched was even thinner than the thinnest of his previous girlfriends’. It was so thin he could encircle most of it with one hand! “You…” He wanted to say, “That’s why you’re wearing so many layers on such a hot day”. However, he looked into her ears and saw that this woman before him was clearly feigning indifference despite being in intense pain. Her gaze was resentful yet self-deprecating, and all of a sudden, he could not say a thing. Many years later, Haydn still could not forget Jane’s gaze in that moment. Right now, though, he still could not understand how someone's gaze could be so proud and so meek at the same time, perfectly mashing two completely opposing emotions at once. What could have happened to this woman to give her the aura of two polar opposites, merged into a conflicting one? Jane shoved Haydn aside and took off in a run. She could not run very quickly at all, though, and she had barely taken two steps before she tripped and fell. However, she just propped herself back up as though nothing had happened, holding onto the wall for support as she tried to put as much distance between herself and Haydn as possible. Her mind was a mess right now… as though someone had discovered her most humiliating secret. After she was released from prison, she just wanted a peaceful and quiet life. She wanted just enough to eat and a place to sleep, to be able to sustain herself and save some money so she could move to Erhai, a faraway lake. There, she would be able to see the clear waters and blue sky that she could never see in prison. She could not take any more drama. Haydn wanted to help her, but if he even tried to catch up to her, the woman would react as though she was being chased by a monster, dragging her body with her hands on the wall pathetically. Haydn had no choice but to slow down. At Room 606 Jane knocked on the door and walked inside. As soon as she entered the room, she could sense the eerie atmosphere inside. Under the dim lighting, she saw a few clients sitting on the couch, surrounded by a few models. There was only a pure and innocent-looking girl standing alone in front of the crystal table in the room. Jane knew this girl. She was a newly-recruited attendant called Susie Thompson. She was Jane's dormmate and a student at S University. "Jane…" Susie suddenly called Jane's name, a sob in her voice. Jane jumped in shock, every muscle in her body instantly turning taut. The seven or eight pairs of eyes immediately turned onto Jane, so she just had to toughen it out, saying, "I'm the cleaner. They called me up here to help clean up." As soon as she spoke, everyone could hear her gravelly voice. The others in the room each frowned in annoyance. Jane had been working at East Emperor for three months now, so she knew to talk less and work more. She was just a cleaner, so even if they did not like her voice, no one was really going to punish her for it. However, Susie's situation here was evidently beyond Jane's knowledge, so things might take a turn for the worse if Jane recklessly tried to interfere. The entire time, Jane kept her head down and circled around Susie, heading toward the attached washroom. VIP rooms came with attached washrooms, each equipped with all the necessary cleaning tools in a specially designated closet so they did not mar the aesthetics of the washroom. Jane emerged from the washroom with a mop and a bucket. She merely kept her head down as she cleaned, ignoring all of Susie's pleading looks. The three years she spent in prison taught her not to play the hero when she could not afford to, and to always know her place. Otherwise, just a flick of a powerful person's finger could relegate her to a fate worse than death. She was not Susie Thompson. Susie was poor, but she still had her parents, and she was even a student at S University. Meanwhile, Jane was nothing more than an ex-convict! She was nothing. She could not take any more torture or suffering, and she definitely could not afford to help anyone else. "You can leave after you sing this song," said one of the men to Susie. Jane lifted her head stealthily and saw Susie biting her lip, as though she was utterly humiliated. “I don’t…” Jane suddenly lost her grip on her mop, and it slid across Susie’s shoes, giving her a shock and making her forget what she was about to say. She looked at Jane. Jane raised her head and apologized. “Sorry, I accidentally ran my mop over your shoes.” It looked like an accidental little detour in the discussion, but it did attract the attention of the other men in the room. Jane heard Susie say angrily next to her ear, “I’m not a model or a hostess here. I won’t sing! I’m just an attendant who’s supposed to serve them tea!” Jane was filled with regret now, enough to make her want to kill herself... There were some people she could help, but then there were those who were beyond help. Jane did not know why Susie made this choice, but if Jane was in her shoes, there was no way she would offend these rich young masters over a song. Anyone who could afford the VIP rooms in East Emperor had to have connections in high places, so how could they possibly tolerate such insubordination from a mere attendant? Susie had completely disrespected them. There was no way they were going to go easy on her now. These rich young men had seen all sorts of women. Since Susie looked pretty and innocent, they only asked her to sing a song as an excuse to let her go. If Susie was obedient enough to comply, these young men would not have caused her any more trouble. It seemed like Jane’s attempt to help Susie had been futile. All she received in return was some unwanted attention from the guests. Jane thought to herself, ‘I should just get this cleaned up quickly and leave while I can. The longer I stay here, the more likely things will go wrong. I tried to help Susie just now, but I might have offended the guests in this room as a result, and then I’ll get dragged into her mess. I should just leave this room as soon as possible.’ “Oh? You’re quite dignified, aren’t you?” This time, it was a cocky voice that spoke. “You won’t sing? Sure, then drink this bottle of wine on the table here, then you can leave.” “I won’t drink! I’m not one of the hostesses who’s supposed to drink with you!” “Hahaha, you won’t drink?” The cocky voice laughed. “I don’t think you have the right to say no here. Anyone who works at East Emperor, be it a mere attendant or even the cleaning lady, has to obey the client’s every word. Isn’t that right?” The moment Jane heard that cocky voice mention the ‘cleaning lady’, she felt a bad omen all of a sudden. The next second, her premonition proved to be true. “Hey, you over there. Yes, you, cleaning lady. Don’t you agree?”