Scott stepped into The Red Velvet, its interior dominated by a vivid red. He glanced around briefly, then approached the receptionist's desk.
"What do you want?" the receptionist asked curtly, a woman in her mid-twenties with her hair in a ponytail.
"I'm looking for a woman named Luisa. I heard she's here," Scott said.
"Luisa?" the receptionist repeated, eyeing Scott suspiciously.
"Yes. Her name was Luisa Grandier, but maybe she's not using her last name anymore," Scott replied.
Based on additional information from Zach during the ride to the brothel, Scott understood that Luisa wasn’t fully accepted as a member of the Grandier family.
Unlike Lisa, Olivia's biological daughter, Luisa was an illegitimate child, born from a woman Daniel once kept as a mistress. This fact made Luisa despised by the Grandier family, especially Lisa, who felt threatened by her beauty.
Among those who suggested selling Luisa to a brothel, Lisa was one of the most enthusiastic.
"Wait a moment, let me check something," the receptionist said, turning her attention to the computer monitor on her desk.
"Luisa, right? The new girl?" she asked after a moment.
"Yes, that's right. Where is she now?" Scott asked, his pupils dilating.
The receptionist gave him a strange look, scanning Scott from head to toe.
"You can't see Luisa today. Come back tomorrow or the day after," she said.
"What do you mean?" Scott asked, his tone rising.
The receptionist flinched momentarily, then glared at Scott and raised her voice in return, "She's with five of our VVIP clients. Someone like you has no chance of seeing her today. And even if you come back tomorrow or the day after, you'll probably be competing with hundreds of wealthier men. Why don't you just bury this wish of yours?"
Scott's chest heaved with restrained anger. He snorted, then said coldly, "Where is Luisa now? Which room is she in?"
"Ha! Still hoping, huh? You really don’t know your place. You're like a frog dreaming of the moon—"
"Just tell me which room she's in!" Scott snapped.
The receptionist was taken aback. She froze for a moment, then reluctantly said, "Second floor."
Scott clicked his tongue in frustration. The woman had given him the floor number instead of the room number. But no matter. He no longer relied on her. He looked around until he spotted a spiral staircase leading to the second floor.
He left the reception desk without a word and sprinted toward the stairs.
"Hey, hey! Where the hell do you think you're going? Stop right there!" the receptionist shouted.
Of course, Scott ignored her, continuing to run up the steps.
Gillian, the receptionist, clicked her tongue in irritation and picked up the phone to call security.
Meanwhile, on the second floor, Scott looked around again, wondering which room Luisa might be in.
He wandered back and forth until he saw something suspicious.
At the end of one hallway, a group of men were gathered. All of them were men.
Scott's instincts drove him to approach them.
Noticing Scott's arrival and his commanding presence, a few of the men turned toward him and blocked his path.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" asked one of them, a bald man.
"Turn around and leave before you regret it," threatened the man next to the bald one.
Scott glanced briefly to check the room number they seemed to be guarding—213. Their behavior made him even more suspicious. He continued to walk while sharpening his hearing.
At this point, he heard a scream, loud and long.
From the sound, it seemed to be a woman. And it came from room 213.
Some of the men guarding the room were startled by the scream; some focused on Scott but appeared more alert.
"Hey, you! Leave before we beat you up!" the bald man shouted.
At that moment, Scott suddenly vanished from their sight. The next thing they knew, they were thrown against the walls. His friends experienced the same fate.
'What just happened?' the bald man thought. He tried to get up but was held back by coughing and spitting blood.
Meanwhile, Scott was now inside the room.
He had just kicked the door open, startling the pot-bellied man and four other men in the room.
Scott glanced at them sternly, then turned his gaze to a girl lying on the floor with blood on her forehead. He quickly approached her and checked her condition.
'Thank God she's still alive!' Scott thought after confirming that she was still breathing and her pulse was normal.
Scott then looked at the girl's face. Truly beautiful. Her skin wasn’t just white but also smooth, like porcelain.
The only blemish on her face was the gash on her forehead, right next to the tattoo of the letters "RV."
'Hold on! I’ll get you out of this filthy place!' Scott thought to himself.
"Hey, who are you? How dare you interrupt my special moment! Get your hands off her!" the pot-bellied man yelled.
Scott slowly turned and gave the pot-bellied man a fierce look. The pot-bellied man recoiled. For a moment, fear was evident in his eyes.
"Hey, I know who he is! He's that pathetic loser who was willing to marry Lisa Grandier. Yeah, I'm sure that's him!"
"Ah, right. His face matches the one I've seen on social media."
"Scott Goodman. That's his name, right? What's he doing here?"
"Probably looking for a whore to sleep with. What else?"
That was how the other four men in the room commented. For the past week leading up to the wedding, people had been gossiping about Scott, whom they considered shameless and pathetic. Scott's photos, taken secretly, were spread online with captions degrading his dignity as a human being.
"Oh, so you're that miserable poor guy? Why are you here? Isn't this your wedding day? You visit a brothel on your wedding day? Incredible! You're even more despicable than me! Hahaha..."
The pot-bellied man said it proudly, something that sounded odd to Scott because what he was proud of was his despicableness.
Scott couldn't take it anymore. Carefully, he laid Luisa back down, then stood and faced them.
"Are you the five men who bid the highest for this innocent girl during the auction?" Scott asked coldly.
"So what if we are? You want to enjoy her too?" the pot-bellied man mocked, chuckling. "Don't dream! Only the five of us can enjoy her body today. Do you understand?!"
The four other men behind the pot-bellied man smiled arrogantly, lifting their chins, thinking the situation was under their control.
And their confidence increased when the men who had been guarding the door rushed in.
"Bastard! You'll pay for what you did to us!" the bald man shouted, fury blazing in his eyes.
Scott glanced at them sharply, simultaneously releasing a bit of his warrior's aura as his killing intent rose.
"What are you waiting for? Beat him up!" the pot-bellied man ordered.
Instantly, the bald man and his friends drew their weapons: knives, machetes, axes, and more.
"Die!!!" the bald man screamed, charging at Scott along with his friends.
The pot-bellied man smirked, as did the four men behind him, thinking their men would beat Scott to a pulp, if not kill him outright.
However...
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Scott easily took them all down, just like before, without a single scratch on his body.
The pot-bellied man gasped, reflexively stepping back two steps. The four men behind him, who had been sitting, immediately stood up, gaping in shock.
Slowly, Scott fixed his gaze on them and said coldly, "Now, it's your turn."
...
The pot-bellied man and his four lecherous companions were at a loss for words. Beads of sweat dotted their faces. What they had just witnessed was hard to believe. How could Scott by himself defeat all the men who had ganged up on him? Yet, there it was, the undeniable truth standing before them. With a fierce look and eyes blazing, Scott walked towards them."W-wait! Wh-what do you want? Money? I can give you lots of money!" the pot-bellied man stammered, raising one hand in front of him. Scott ignored his offer."Don't want money? O-okay. Then... do you want to enjoy this wench first? That's fine by me, just don't hurt me please... "the pot-bellied man continued. Scott kept walking, but now he seemed visibly irritated by what he had just heard. Then, in the blink of eye... Wham! Ugh! The pot-bellied man suddenly flew to the left, rolling on the floor. Scott had just kicked him square in the waist. The other four men stood wide-eyed and agape. They saw the pot-bell
“Relax, Luisa. You’re safe now. No one’s going to hurt you here,” Scott said as he slowly placed the wet towel back into the basin of warm water he had set on the nightstand.Luisa furrowed her brow. Her eyes darted around wildly, and her hands trembled slightly.Scott guessed that memories of the incident at the brothel were flashing through her mind.“You’re in a villa in the Oval Enclave. I brought you here and treated the wound on your head. You are safe now,” Scott said, smiling gently.Scott noticed a slight change in Luisa’s expression. It wasn’t fear anymore but deep, excruciating sadness.“You brought me here from The Red Velvet? You saved me from…those men?” Luisa asked.“Yes. And I took care of all five of them. Now you can rest easy. No one will ever touch you without your consent again,” Scott replied.Suddenly, Luisa started to cry. Tears streamed down her cheeks.“Why are you crying?” Scott asked, concerned. “What’s making you sad? Shouldn’t you feel relieved right now?
More than one hour later... Scott was in the living room, sitting on the long sofa while watching TV. He held a car key in his hand."Sorry to keep you waiting, Scott."Scott turned and saw Luisa descending the stairs. She looked stunning and elegant in a black knee-length skirt and a gray cardigan over her black top.Scott was mesmerized. He hadn't expected Luisa to be this beautiful. She was even more beautiful than Lisa."It’s okay. What matters is that you’re ready," Scott said.One thing about Luisa's appearance that bothered Scott was the way she carelessly draped her headscarf. He suspected she wore it to cover her forehead.Maybe, unconsciously, she still felt the "RV" tattoo was there. That’s what Scott thought.He understood, though. It would take time for Luisa to adjust to her new self and the life she was beginning to embrace."Let’s go," Scott said, standing up and moving away from the sofa.They then headed to the garage. As the garage door lifted, Luisa was stunned by
Scott turned to see Steve walking toward them, his face annoyed. When Steve recognized the casually dressed man facing away from him as Scott, his expression immediately changed. His eyes widened, and his pupils dilated. Steve had been informed by Lombard that Scott was an extremely powerful man. If he offended Scott or made him uncomfortable, not only would his career as CEO of Dominion Group be over, but his life could be as well. Steve was about to greet Scott with a deep bow when Scott gave him a slight shake of his head. Steve understood. For reasons unknown, Scott didn’t want anyone to know the nature of their relationship. That explained why he was dressed so casually, even though he was at the Dominion Group office. “Mr. Steve!” Wayne called out, pushing Scott aside and stepping forward to approach Steve. Steve was a well-known businessman in Mildenbrough. Many people knew him, including job applicants like the bearded man. Then he added, "It looks like this woman appl
“Get your hands off me!” Scott snapped, shaking off James’s grip on his shirt with a quick flick.“Ouch!”James yelped, shaking his right hand as if it were stinging. It seemed like Scott's shove had been gentle, yet James felt a sharp twinge in his hand.“You son of a bitch!” James spat.Scott took a step forward, ready to teach James a lesson, but suddenly Lisa splashed wine from her glass directly onto Scott's face.“Watch yourself, Scott! If you hurt James again, I swear I’ll never forgive you for as long as I live!” she exclaimed.Scott wiped the wine from his face with a handkerchief, slowly opening his eyes. He glared coldly at his former fiancée.“Do you think I care? Don’t get ahead of yourself, Lisa. Whether you’re in my life or not means nothing to me,” he said.Lisa's eyes widened in shock. Reflexively, she hurled her empty wine glass at Scott's face.Swoosh!Scott caught the glass effortlessly. Lisa was astonished. How could he move his hand that fast?Frustrated that her
"And by the way, the villas in the northern part of Oval Enclave are the cheapest among the hundreds of villas in that area. How funny that you brag about it. It just shows how low your standards are. Don’t you realize that?” Scott added, smirking.Lisa’s face flushed red. “Shut up, Scott! What do you know about the villas in Oval Enclave, huh? You might not even get a foot in the door!"“And stop pretending to be someone great! I know your past. You served in the military, but only as a guard for a general. That was your highest rank before you were dishonorably discharged for drinking and gambling.“I also know about the gifts Mr. Lombard brought yesterday. He did that because the general, your former boss, ordered him to, didn’t he? There’s no real connection between you and the general.“Oh, come on, Scott. I’ve done some research on you, and I found nothing special. You’re pathetic!” Scott furrowed his brow. Everything Lisa said matched the false information spread years ago to
Indeed, with Luisa bent over like that, Quint had a clear view of her cleavage.Luisa had a slim figure with ample breasts. It must be tempting for someone with a twisted mind like Quint's."Lift your head, beautiful," Quint said, still smiling with a sly grin.Slowly, with a tense face, Luisa straightened up. She glanced at Quint for only a moment before dropping her gaze to her shoes.“You want me to forgive the man behind you?” Quint asked.“Yes, Mr. Quint. Please forgive him just this once,” Luisa replied.“Well, if you want me to forgive him, you’ll have to sleep with me tonight. That’s your only chance,” Quint said.Luisa gasped again, stepping back in shock at Quint’s words. Fortunately, Scott was right behind her and caught her, his eyes locked onto Quint’s. “Get lost, or you'll regret it.” The people in the room were once again stunned. Earlier, they thought Scott was being disrespectful to Quint because he didn’t know who he was dealing with. But just now, when Scott sho
Everyone in the room, including Luisa, was stunned by what Scott had just done. How could he be this reckless? Didn’t he know by now that Quint was the son of the richest businessman in Mildenbrough? “Hey, you! Do you even realize what you’re doing? Drop that knife and let Quint go!” shouted the Beaumont family representative, his voice booming. “Are you insane? Let Quint go now or I’m calling the police!” the Vanderhelm family representative chimed in. Among all the top-tier families attending the auction, only the Ravenwood family’s representative didn’t pressure Scott to release Quint. In fact, a beautiful woman in their entourage seemed amused. Lisa, on the other hand, had been riding a wave of anxious thoughts since just a moment ago, when a gust of wind made her feel at ease for a brief second. Now, that unease was back, gnawing at her. What if Scott really did cut off Quint’s hand like he threatened? That would surely infuriate the Winterbourne family, right? And wouldn’