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"You don't understand, I don't belong there. I was brought here against my will. Deceived by my own uncle and the so-called nun and taken to become a slave to men's want against my will"
Meredith tried her best to convince Cross who was still driving towards the home. Perhaps, he was different from Marc and would listen to her and help her out.
" I was an undergraduate at Silver Lining University, just trying to find a job during my vacation to help my struggling mother pay for my tuition. But my uncle promised to help, and I came to Douglas City with that hope, only to be whisked away to this dreadful place. Please, I implore you to hear me out... I don't belong in this kind of place. This will completely ruin my life. Can't you see they intend to use me against my will for their own profit. I don't want to go back. You can help me"
" No matter how much you beg, I can't assist you. You must come to terms with your situation," he said coldly, his tone unyielding.
"I should've known you'd be just as cruel as your friend. I should've known better. Why did I even hope for more?" Meredith sobbed, her eyes already swollen from crying.
Even though Cross wished he could console her… even though her pleas made him curious about her situation, he hardened his heart against her. He was already a troubled person trying to forget his wicked father and the fact that his mother's death was all his fault and that he had accused his own father of causing it. Not only that but Beauty, his ex fiancée had left him after his father disowned him, thinking he had no wealth of his own. She was a gold digger. His heart was pained by that realisation and the fact that he couldn't forget or even forgive her.
There was just too much going on in his life. Even though he was wealthy enough, his father wanted nothing to do with him because he had accused him non-stop of his mother's death. No, he couldn't add Meredith's burden to what he was already dealing with. He was taking her back no matter how much she pleaded and that is final!
He stole a glance at the pretty and vulnerable girl dressed in a white exposing gown and he understood why everyone wanted her. She wasn't just pretty, she looked innocent. As innocent as he had thought Beauty was until she broke his heart.
"We are here!" he said when they got to the gate of the exclusive club. From outside, it looked rather normal and no one would know what went on inside. He had no idea there was such a hidden place where girls were kept against their will and sold to the highest bidder until his cousin brought him here. It made him feel sick thinking of the life they subjected the poor girls to. He looked behind again at Merdith and he could her shoulders were slumped like she had already given up.
"Get stronger, and you'll see that life isn't that tough," he said in a cold tone, opening the car door as she resisted leaving.
The men behind them took it upon themselves to try and pull her out, but Cross intervened, shouting, "Why are you behaving like animals? She's a young woman, not some commodity. Let her come out when she's ready."
"We don't have all night. They need her back and prepared," one of the men impatiently retorted. Cross wanted to ask them what she was being prepared for, but he wanted nothing more to do with whatever concerned the girl.
Seeing that she wasn't willing to leave the car on her own, he reached for her and carried her towards the gate. He stared into her face and she looked into his, before tearing her gaze from him. He felt that intense desire to wipe her tears.
Instead he escorted her into the establishment and she began to weep afresh.
"Hello M" the nun greeted with a wicked smile on her face when they got into the back of the club where the auction had taken place.
"Please… take me back with you. Please!" Meredith pleaded as she remembered what Valerie had told her about people who tried to escape.
"Thank you Mr. Cross. Have a wonderful night" the nun smiled, dismissing Cross. He stood there for a while, glaring at her and suddenly feeling the need to fight for the helpless girl. But on a second thought, it was not his fight and he knew nothing about the girl, so he turned his back on her and left her to her fate.
"You thought you could leave here alive? Oh! You stupid stupid girl! Do you know what you've cost us? Our reputation as an establishment for fine gentlemen is at stake because you chose to run. There's no leaving here while you breathe! What do you think the tracker is for?" The nun dragged her by arm and thrust her into the grasp of the bodyguards. With eyes filled with anger, she ordered the men to throw her into confinement.
Meredith lost the desire to keep fighting because the last thing she had expected was to be here, still imprisoned. Valerie had lied to her and she just couldn't understand the motive behind that. The men walked side by side her as they moved to a dark and extreme end of the home and that was when she became afraid again. Where were they taking her to? The cold had her shaking already and she attempted to escape but they caught her instantly and threw her into an extremely cold room.
"Please don't leave me here! I am sorry!" She begged but the door was locked. After crying to no avail, she sank into the corner of the room as the lights flickered on and on. The cold air in the room was bearable for the meantime but the longer she stayed there, the colder it got. And she knew someone was turning up the cold to make even more uncomfortable.
"I despise all of you!" She cried, staring at the screen. "And one day, I will take you down!" She said more to herself, folding herself into a ball to keep herself warm.
As she stayed in that awkward position, she couldn't stop thinking about her mother and sister. They would be mad worried that they hadn't heard from her in a long time. What would it be her wicked uncle's excuse?
The nun watched Meredith from the laptop screen in her office, feeling the intense desire to punish the girl so much because the establishment was going to punish her for Meredith's foolishness. Who knew what the punishment would be this time? Would they threaten to bring her little niece into such a life. She exhaled, feeling burdened. They were now left to deal with an affluent client who had spent a fortune but received nothing in return. And she had some explaining to do the next morning.
She wasn't the only one thinking of Meredith. Cross was filled with guilt as he wondered if he should go back for her. She seems to be in need of saving. And do what with her after? He asked himself, increasing the speed of his car as he drove back home to forget all about the pretty but helpless girl.