Lola knew that her mother's profession was despised by society, and her biological father was nothing more than a coward who sowed seeds without taking responsibility. As the offspring of these two, she was born into a life of lowliness and shame, unworthy of discussing morality, chastity, or love. She didn't even deserve a normal job—if the manager ever found out about her background, she would likely be thrown out of the restaurant immediately, no matter how beautiful she was. Since sex workers were seen as the most vulnerable to diseases, the restaurant, being a clean and spotless place, couldn't allow someone like her to stay.
If she wanted to maintain the superficial peace, to continue hiding in the shadows, secretly loving Mr. L, she had no choice but to accept Mrs. Harris's demands, take the key, go to the hotel, and sell her body.
At that thought, scalding tears suddenly welled up in her eyes. She buried her head between her knees, closed her eyes, and felt a sharp pain in her chest. She had thought about selling herself before… so why couldn't she do it now?
Suddenly, a dark, terrifying, and bold idea took root in her mind.
The Holiday Hotel was the only five-star hotel in the city center, the very one she had seen Mr. L walk into before. After all, no matter how hard she tried or how much she changed, she couldn't escape the fate of inheriting her mother's life as a call girl, nor the inevitable moment when Mr. L would find out who she really was. So, before that happened, she wanted to have him and spend one blissful night with him.
The thought burrowed deep into her heart, making it beat wildly with anticipation.
She wanted him—never before had she desired him as much as she did now. She wanted to kiss his cold, distant face, to thread her fingers through his gray-and-white hair, to sit on his lap and possess him wildly and completely just once. Afterward, whatever he thought of her or however he treated her didn't matter. She would have entered his world, even if only once, and that would be enough for her.
As the daughter of a call girl, Lola knew better than anyone that no man could resist a young girl's invitation. So, she wasn't worried about Mr. L rejecting her. She hadn't acted before because she didn't want to leave a bad impression on him. But now, she wasn't afraid. Since she couldn't escape her inevitable fall into disgrace, why not face it boldly, even if just once?
Once she made up her mind, the shame in her heart miraculously vanished, and so did the fear. All that remained was the anticipation of the night to come.
She had planned to ask about Mr. L's room number later, but who would have thought that after finishing his cup of tea, he got up and left? Her colleague, who had served him, pouted in displeasure and whispered to her companion, "Lola got a five-dollar tip last time, but I only got fifty cents…"
"Don't get upset. They probably know each other."
Fifty cents wasn't bad. Many illegal factories only paid twenty-five cents a day. These people were just being greedy.
Lola wasn't the type of girl who viewed money as dirt. She liked money, and she had even daydreamed about getting rich overnight. But for some reason, she didn't want to associate Mr. L with money.
He should always remain high above, forever noble, forever flawless, untouched by the grime of the world. And she sternly reminded herself that she could only tarnish him once, and after that, they would go their separate ways, never to meet again.
She had clearly and meticulously planned her future with Mr. L, but now she felt a headache coming on, rather than feeling stuck. Mr. L had left—how was she supposed to find out his room number? There were only two hours left before her shift ended. She couldn't just storm into the hotel, grab the receptionist by the collar, and force them to give her Mr. L's room number.
At that moment, a hand waved in front of her eyes. She frowned, ready to slap it away, but when she looked up, she saw it was Mr. L's son, Noah.
For a moment, her heart almost jumped into her throat. A crazy plan slowly began to form in her mind.
Lola's heart raced, but outwardly, she remained eerily calm. "What do you want?"
Noah was dressed in an extremely trendy style, wearing a camel coat, a bright pink plaid shirt, a yellow tie, and a cowboy hat perched on his head. He leaned against a Roman column with his elbow, his right toe resting beside his left foot. "Little beauty, did you forget our agreement?"
Lola's heartbeat pounded so loudly it echoed in her ears, but her tone was icily cold as she replied, "I'm not going. I don't have time."
The more she rejected him, the more interested Noah became, his desire to conquer growing stronger. "That's okay if you forgot, I'll remind you." When Lola said nothing, he paused, then continued, "By the way, a cute girl like you has probably never heard rock music before. How about going to a rock concert with me after work? The band is famous, and tickets are selling for this much on the black market." He held up three fingers and then pointed at the pianist and violinist in the restaurant, flashing a disdainful smile. "This stuff is outdated music."
Lola remained cold as she replied, "I'm not going. I don't have time."
Noah began to grow impatient. "I'm staying at the Holiday Hotel downtown, it's close by. It'll only take ten minutes to get there and back. Are you sure you don't want to come?"
Seeing her chance, Lola lowered her head and muttered, "No, your father warned me not to accept your invitations." After saying that, she gasped sharply and quickly covered her mouth, feigning panic, refusing to say another word.
Noah cursed under his breath, "That old man is always meddling!" He thought for a moment, then pulled out a set of keys and pressed them into Lola's hand. "The old man and I are staying on the same floor, and sometimes he checks to see if I've brought any girls back. I know girls like you are afraid of offending a big shot like him. No problem, just come find me when he's not around, like between 8:30 and 9:00 tonight…" He flirtatiously ran his fingertip along her palm as he spoke.
She could no longer hear what else he said. Her heart was pounding like thunder in a raging storm, drowning out everything around her.
The plan had succeeded.
After Noah left, Lola clutched the two sets of keys, her heart pounding as though she held two entirely different destinies in her hands. Things seemed to be heading in a direction that was beyond her control. But that didn't matter. Ever since her mother left, her life had been spiraling out of control, so what was a little more chaos?
She finally made it to the end of her shift after what felt like an eternity. She feigned composure as she cautiously peeled off her server's uniform, though her palms were slick with sweat. Today wasn't her late shift, and she clocked out at exactly 7:00, with the department store still open. She rushed over and bought a lace nightgown with an extremely short hem.
As she gripped the small, short, tight nightgown, it felt like clutching a burning stone, making her whole body tremble. The dirty desires in her heart swirled and seethed, culminating in a tortured, burning sigh.
Part of her was ashamed of her own actions, while another part was thrilled by what was about to happen.
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