Can't Win Me Back

"No, Jameson can't get wind of this!" Alyssa frowned, her grip tightening on Jasper's shoulder. "Think about it—if he finds out we're onto him, who's in the crosshairs?"

Jasper met her gaze, understanding dawning in his eyes. "Amber."

"Amber helped Axel escape the Millennium and provided intel that brought Josh down. This time, she'd risked everything to tell us about Lauren. She's clearly switched sides and become our ally.

"Confronting Jameson would put Amber in the line of fire. He's ruthless, and wouldn't hesitate to kill Amber just to vent!"

Jasper's jaw clenched, a heavy weight settling in his chest. He pulled Alyssa close, his voice a low murmur against her hair. "You're too compassionate, Lyse. Unwilling to hurt anyone who's helped us, even a little."

"Anyone with a conscience wouldn't stand by while Jameson does what he does," Alyssa countered, a bitter edge to her voice. "There must be a reason she follows him." Despite the bitterness, her gaze remained resolute. "As long as there's a spark of goodness in her, I'm determined to nurture it."

Lauren remained woozy from being drugged, her face swollen from Freddy's brutal assault.

Freddy and the man in the blue suit callously dragged her out of the room, tossing her onto the ground without a shred of mercy. She hit the hard floor with a thud, her frail body curling into a ball as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Disheveled and battered, she lay there in tattered clothes, yet there was a fragile beauty in her brokenness, like a cracked piece of glass reflecting a desolate elegance.

Two other men, mere spectators, watched with rapt attention, their lust evident in their hungry stares.

The woman in the red dress sneered in disdain and jealousy. "You all used to despise her so much in school. What's changed? Have you suddenly acquired a taste for her?"

"She wasn't a woman back then. Who would have thought she'd blossom into such a beauty now? Any man would be captivated by her," one of the men in a white casual attire smirked wickedly.

"Landon has good taste. No wonder he lost interest in other women once rumors spread that he found her. If I had a woman like her, I wouldn't bother looking elsewhere. And she's so dumb. A woman should be dumb for easy manipulation," another man added with a sigh.

The woman in the red dress coldly glared at him. "Oh, do you plan on marrying her, Mr. Wood, since you seem so enamored with her?"

Mason Wood recoiled. "Absolutely not! My father would kill me if he knew I married someone crazy. Lauren struggled to open her swollen eyelids. Her face was white as a sheet. She felt as though her body was on the verge of collapse. Têxt © NôvelDrama.Org.

Suddenly, she noticed two figures approaching her.

A mocking laugh echoed above her. "Look who is here to see you, Lauren."

It was Zoe's voice.

With a Herculean effort, Lauren forced her eyelids open, a sliver of recognition piercing through the haze of pain. Her throat felt constricted. She managed to rasp out, "B-Betty Beckett."

"How rude of you to use my full name," Betty snapped, glaring at her before delivering a kick. "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to come back to Solana City? Do you know how miserable I was overseas? Tonight's a rare chance for us to meet. We should catch up and set the record straight."