Chapter 124
Viviana was assigned to a cell with Number 7 and Number 8.
She might’ve been separated from Enoch, but being with single-digit inmates would help solidify her standing.
In her sky-blue prison uniform, she approached Number 7, who was sitting with her back turned, and offered a sweet smile.
“Hello, you’re the head of this cell, right? I’m looking forward to getting along with you.”
As Number 7 slowly turned her head, Viviana noticed the ragged, torn-off sleeves and thought something about her felt… off.
“Number 10?”
Hair tied tightly like a warrior, strands of green-gold, and eyes like cold steel.
Clara Hilstein, radiating the commanding presence of a lioness, fixed her gaze on Viviana.
“Ah, Clara? Wow, it’s been so long! It’s so good to see y…”
Before Viviana could finish her fake-friendly greeting, her head snapped sideways.
She was grabbed by the back of the head and slammed her straight into the floor. Viviana looked up, bewildered.
“What was that for?”
The other inmates began circling like hyenas, building pressure with every step.
“How dare you speak first, you filthy worm!”
“Do you think things are still the same? Watch your mouth around the boss!”
And then the full storm of jeers and scolding came crashing down.
Viviana lowered her gaze and sighed lightly.
This was a prison. Past status meant nothing here. She reminded herself that initiations like this were practically a rite of passage.
Picking herself up from the ground, she turned her red eyes toward Number 7.
Clara Hilstein. The violent lady who used to trail behind Kido.
She’d driven a wedge between them before the end, and their ranks now were miles apart. There was no way they were still on good terms.
Which meant she could probably turn Clara to her side.
That decided, Viviana resolved to show exactly what Clara wanted to see.
Putting on a pitiful face, she raised both hands and quivered.
“I’m really sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Don’t act up again. Keep quiet and stay in your place.”
At Clara’s stern warning, Viviana nodded obediently.
If it meant one day taking the Number 7 spot for herself, she could endure this much humiliation.
But wasn’t Number 8 also supposed to be in this cell? Where were they?
She glanced around, but besides Clara, no one else in a blue uniform stood out.
As Clara casually plucked cat fur off her uniform, she suddenly spoke.
“You lot, did you hear what Number 10 was locked up for?”
“No, ma’am. What was it?”
Members of the Seven Sins Gang turned curious eyes toward Viviana.
Clara, sitting cross-legged, cast her a look of disgust.
“Adultery, fraud, and murder, they say.”
Viviana’s face drained of color in an instant.
“What? What kind of nonsense is that? I never—”
Clara continued, her usual dead-serious tone unwavering.
“She’d target wealthy, married partners, lure them in, then team up with her trash lovers to siphon off their fortunes or kill the spouses and claim the inheritance. There’s a long list.”
In the blink of an eye, the expressions around her shifted to pure disgust and revulsion.
Viviana’s eyes reddened from rubbing them, as she desperately pleaded, putting on a pitiful expression.
“Me? Why would you make up something like that, Clara? That never happened!”
Even in a place as lawless as this, few crimes were more loathed than adultery.
In noble society, rife with arranged marriages, infidelity wasn’t just common; it was a festering social issue.
If you were born into nobility, you’d have seen it your whole life, starting with your own parents.
Which meant, even if it wasn’t their own story, they would rage or feel empathy. For some, it reopened wounds they’d tried to forget.
“Hah… My mother suffered so much from my father’s affairs. When she found out he was funneling money to his lover behind her back, there aren’t words for what she went through.”
Clara tilted her head, puzzled.
“He gave money to his lover?”
“He liked men.”
“Oh.”
One inmate buried his face in agony. Another slammed the floor in a rage.
“Damn it, every time I look at Number 10, I’ll be reminded of those bastards who played me like a fool!”
Clara let out a long sigh, brows furrowed in clear irritation.
Then, she stood. Her shadow fell heavy over Viviana.
“You’re going to have an interesting cell life ahead of you.”
* * *
“Fake news deserves fake news, you bXch.”
The rumor that Viviana had her nose broken after Clara slammed her face into the floor absolutely made my day.
That love you two so proudly wrapped in pretty ribbon? Everyone sees it for what it really was. Adultery.
I was humming a tune as I stepped out of the showers.
“Beatrice Kido.”
At the sound of my name, I turned. There he was, arms crossed, leaning casually against the wall.
Enoch Mare.
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