Nara returned to her room feeling uneasy. Her hands were already trembling as she closed the door behind her.
“No, I don’t want to stay here anymore. This isn’t a house—it’s a nest of psychopaths. I don’t want to!” she said. “No matter what it takes, I have to get out of here.”
Nara paced back and forth across her room. She had to find the right way to escape that demon. She couldn’t stay in this house even for another second.
“Ah,” she groaned when pain shot through her lower abdomen again. “It hurts so much.” Nara finally chose to sit down, because if she kept forcing herself to move, the pain would only get worse.
“How can I escape from here? I have to do it carefully. I can’t make all the servants here suspicious. Especially that head servant. He seems to be the second-in-command after that man named Jo.”
After thinking for a long time, Nara finally came up with a way to escape from Zico’s house without arousing the slightest suspicion. “Yes, I know what I have to do now,” she said.
Meanwhile, at Tan Group.
Zico was busy in front of his computer screen, his fingers never stopping as they typed. He didn’t even look away from the screen for a moment.
Zico was well known for being extremely serious when he was working. Whenever he was busy and focused on his tasks, he paid no attention to anything around him.
People who knew him always called him a workaholic because he spent so much of his time working. This was because Zico had taken on all these responsibilities since he was only nineteen. At that time, his father had been found dead from suicide, and the company had suffered a massive crisis that nearly drove it into bankruptcy.
As an only child, Zico had been forced to carry such a heavy burden at an incredibly young age. He was expected to restore the company to its former glory. That was why Zico worked tirelessly day and night to fulfill his father’s dying wish before he closed his eyes forever.
“Mr. Zico,” someone called.
Zico glanced from the corner of his eye toward the voice. He saw a woman in a revealing dark-blue dress enter his office without knocking first.
“How dare you enter my office without knocking!” Zico stood up, glaring angrily at the woman who had just entered.
He then shot a sharp look at Jo, who had just arrived in the office.
Jo lowered his head when he saw Zico’s piercing gaze. That look made it clear that Zico was disappointed in him for failing to do his job properly by allowing a woman he didn’t know to enter his office without permission.
“Please forgive me, Mr. Zico. Have you forgotten me?” the woman asked.
Zico immediately turned his attention back to her, furrowing his brow as he replied, “Who are you supposed to be? I don’t remember you!”
The name Zico Alexander Tan was famous among women in Indonesia and even around the world. At only twenty-seven, Zico had successfully revived his family’s company and made it the leading company in Indonesia and even Asia. Many girls were captivated by Zico’s good looks and charisma, while plenty of others liked him solely because of his wealth.
Because of that, Zico was disgusted by the women who kept bothering him just because of his face and fortune. That was why he remained single to this day—or at least, that was what the women out there believed. Zico had never announced his marriage to Nara.
“I’m Marin, the woman who always keeps you company when you go to nightclubs,” the woman named Marin replied. “Sir, it’s been a long time since you’ve gone to a club. That must be why you forgot me. When are you going again?”
Zico didn’t answer Marin. Instead, he sat back down and returned his focus to his computer screen.
Marin looked annoyed because she felt that Zico was ignoring her despite all the trouble she had gone through to come to his company.
Even so, Marin didn’t give up. She continued trying to seduce Zico and get him to pay attention to her.
Boldly, Marin sat on Zico’s lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Jo was about to intervene, but Zico’s look stopped him from throwing out the parasite who was trying to get close to his master. So Jo could only remain silent and watch what Marin was doing to Zico.
Marin lowered one hand from Zico’s neck to his chest, drawing little circles over his broad chest to seduce him.
“Sir, I’ve missed you. Will you keep me company tonight?” Marin asked shamelessly.
“Do you really want me to keep you company tonight?” Zico asked in return.
At Zico’s answer, Marin’s face immediately lit up. She thought she had successfully seduced him. “Of course, sir. I really want you to keep me company,” she replied.
Zico flashed a deadly smirk before answering Marin. “Fine. I’ll keep you company if that’s what you want.”
“Thank you, sir.” Marin hugged Zico tightly. She was ecstatic because tonight, she would finally have Zico all to herself. That meant it wouldn’t be long before she became Mrs. Tan. She would get everything she wanted.
Zico looked at Jo with a mysterious gaze. Jo merely nodded when he saw it, then left Zico’s office.
Meanwhile, at Zico’s mansion.
Nara was ready. She had changed into clothes that would make it easier for her to run when she carried out her escape plan.
Nara took a deep breath before opening the door in front of her. She had to find the courage to run from this hell. Otherwise, she would become just like the people who lived here.
Nara inhaled and exhaled several times. When she felt ready, she finally grasped the doorknob and turned it downward.
When the door opened, Nara confidently stepped out of her room and started walking to find Mr. San.
Nara descended the stairs slowly because, honestly, her lower abdomen still hurt badly from what Zico had done to her the night before.
Nara looked around for Mr. San, but he was nowhere to be found. She couldn’t find the middle-aged man anywhere. Since the house was so large, Nara had a hard time figuring out where Mr. San actually was.
“He’s nowhere to be found. Could Mr. San be in his office? But where is his office?” Nara glanced around again, searching for anyone nearby.
But why did the house feel so deserted when there were more than a hundred servants here? Why couldn’t she see a single one of them when she needed them? Where had they all gone? Nara wondered.
Her gaze then stopped on a female servant passing through the room where she was standing. “You,” she called.
The servant immediately stopped and looked toward Nara. Without saying much, she walked over to her.
“Did you call me, miss?” she asked.
“Yes. I just want to ask where Mr. San’s office is.”
“Oh, Mr. San’s office? It’s over there, miss. I’ll take you,” the servant replied.
“Oh, all right. Thank you.”
The servant then led Nara to Mr. San’s office, which was located in the corner of the room.
“This is Mr. San’s office, miss.”
Nara looked at the brown door in front of her.
“No wonder I couldn’t find it. It’s so far from where I was looking earlier,” she muttered. “Thank you,” she said afterward.
“Then I’ll take my leave, miss.” The servant bowed, then turned and walked away, leaving Nara behind.
Nara turned back toward the door to Mr. San’s office. The brown door looked frightening, even though it was just an ordinary door like the ones found in many other wealthy people’s homes.
But for some reason, Nara found it terrifying. Perhaps it was the person behind the door who was frightening, and his presence had affected the door’s aura.
Nara swallowed nervously as she raised her hand to knock on the door in front of her.
“Don’t be afraid, Nara. If you want to get out of here, you have to be brave,” she said, reassuring herself.