Chapter 531: Chapter 531

The door was knocked on quietly, which made me raise an eyebrow. At this hour? It was just shy of ten, and I wasn’t expecting anyone.

I got up and walked to the door, leaning in to look through the peephole.

Eleanor.

And she looked worse than yesterday.

There was a dark bruise forming around her left eye, swollen and ugly, like someone had hit her hard. My stomach tightened immediately.

I unlocked the door and opened it.

She looked up at me for a second, then her gaze dropped. Her lips trembled, and before she could say anything, she broke down. She stepped forward and collapsed against me, crying.

I wrapped my arms around her without thinking, holding her steady as her shoulders shook. Her tears soaked into my shirt while her quiet sobs filled the hallway.

"Eleanor?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

"Evan..." she choked out. "Oh god... Evan..."

I guided her inside and shut the door behind us. The noise must have carried, because Jasmine peeked out from the master bedroom, and Tessa stepped out from the hallway near the kitchen. Both of them froze when they saw her clinging to me, crying.

We moved into the living room, and I helped her sit down on the couch. Jasmine and Tessa followed close behind. The moment they got a clear look at her face, they exchanged a glance.

Yeah. They saw it too.

"The hell happened?" Tessa asked, her voice tightening. "Who did that to you?"

Eleanor tried to speak, but her voice broke. "My... he... I just... god..."

"Alright, hold on," I said. "I’ll get water and tissues."

I headed to the kitchen, grabbed a glass, filled it with water, and pulled a box of tissues from the counter. When I came back, Jasmine was already moving.

She disappeared briefly into the bathroom and came back with a small towel and something cold wrapped inside it. She knelt in front of Eleanor and gently pressed the cold pack against her bruised eye.

"This might sting a little," Jasmine said softly. "Just hold still."

Eleanor nodded weakly, still sniffling.

I set the water and tissues on the coffee table and watched quietly. Tessa sat down next to Eleanor and placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a firm, reassuring squeeze.

"You’re safe here," Tessa said. "Take a breath first."

Jasmine kept working carefully, adjusting the cold compress and dabbing around the swollen area.

After a minute or two, she leaned back slightly. "That’s the best we can do for now. It’ll need time."

I stepped closer, then sat down on the edge of the coffee table in front of Eleanor. I reached out and gently lifted her chin so she would look at me.

"What happened, Eleanor?"

She swallowed, her eyes still wet.

"My brother..." she said, her voice shaking. "He lost all the money."

My jaw tightened.

"And those men came while I was at work," she continued. "They said they couldn’t find him... so they came to me instead."

"What?"

"They grabbed me," she said, her voice breaking again. "They said I could pay it back with my body..."

The room went quiet.

"Our security stepped in. Sophia handled them," she went on. "She beat them, but... one of them still managed to hit me before they got dragged out."

"Shit," I muttered under my breath. "Who the hell are these guys?"

"I don’t know," she said, shaking her head. "I’m so tired of this... I’m just done..."

Whoever those guys were, I needed to learn more about them. Since Melvin and I were going to Stingy Ladies because of Isabella, I could talk to Sophia while I was there and try to get more out of her. As if I didn’t already have enough problems, now this got added on top.

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NEW MAIN QUEST

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Title: Gamble Away

Task: Deal with the thugs.

Reward: 20000c

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I shook my head and got up, walking toward the window near the dinner table. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. A very long day. I still had no clear idea how I was supposed to deal with those thugs, but I would figure something out. I had the system, and now I had Crushing Presence too. That had to count for something.

Another knock came from the door. I frowned and turned my head toward it. Who now? There was no way it was the thugs; security wouldn’t let them anywhere near this floor. For a second, I thought it might be Nala, maybe coming back to fix things.

I walked over and opened the door.

"Huh?" I blinked. "Emma?"

"Yo," she said, looking up at me like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Emma. Nala’s friend. Short green hair, half-lidded eyes, same unreadable expression as always. Seeing her here, this late, caught me off guard.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Nala sent me," she replied. "She wants some of her stuff. You two broke up, huh? That was fast."

"Yeah... something like that."

She leaned slightly to the side and glanced past me. Her eyes landed on Eleanor sitting on the couch, still shaken, Jasmine beside her and Tessa hovering nearby. The bruise was hard to miss.

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Damn. Bad timing?"

"It’s fine," I said, stepping aside. "Go ahead. Master bedroom’s on the left."

"Got it," she muttered and walked in without hesitation. "She said charger and some clothes. I’ll grab them and leave."

I closed the door behind her and exhaled quietly.

Honestly, I never really understood how she and Nala became friends. Emma sold feet pics online and spent half her time cosplaying, while Nala was running a company. Somehow, it worked for them. Not my problem right now anyway.

I glanced back toward the living room, where Eleanor was still trying to calm down while Jasmine checked her eye again.

"Yeah..." I muttered under my breath, rubbing the back of my neck. "One step at a time."

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