IN THE CAGE

127. INSULTING

...NORMAL pov...

...----------------...

"We meet again" is a kind greeting that when you hear it, you will smile broadly at the presenter. However, thanks to the present situation, instead of smiling warmly at the wearer, Vera-the girl who was sitting on the floor with a large chain wrapped around her hand-stare at the wearer with her eyes twitching. His teeth were trembling, resisting the vexation that chime into the cold water that was again doused into his head.

"Oh, did I wake you up?" Evan Caspian-si sweeps in, staring at Vera with a faint thin grin. Vera spat out blood from her lips onto the ground. To Evan's false hospitality.

"Now it's noon, you should stop sleeping." Evan says with a casual intonation-ignoring the way Vera looks at him. "So, do you want to talk to me today?"

"Let's negotiate, how?" Evan jumped at the same offer. The offer he made three days ago. However, as he had expected, three days was not enough to crack the spirit of the girl. Vera-as Evan had predicted-had enough determination to make Evan fed up.

"negotiate? How about this, you set me free, and I'll let you all live." Vera responded to Evan's words with a twinkling look. The water that soaked his face glistened and blurred his gaze in the dimly lit room.

"Life is boring" Evan sat down on a bench that has been his allusion lately. "I want victory."

"Losers are losers, you can't change who you are. Try to live by accepting that fact first."

THE PLAQUE!

A slap lodged in Vera's cheek just as she finished her speech. A nameless bodyguard who was nearby was the perpetrator of the slap. He was a figure who had already created bruises and wounds on Vera's body. Of course, even though it was painful, Vera did not feel a deep grudge against the man. He's just doing his job. Vera-rather than hating the bodyguard-more condemns Evan's existence.

That guy's a bastard.

"I don't want to hear the advice of a hypocritical figure like you" Evan crossed his legs, his arms propped up on the arm of a bench. His eyes stared at Vera, condescending and dismissive. "For a lowly person like you to talk about accepting reality, you have to counsel yourself. You should know where you are."

"Oh, I'm very aware of where I am, motherfucker..." Vera held back her words as she felt the bodyguard coming back closer, but the slap was not docked in her face, not when Evan raised his hand and interrupted wordlessly.

"So, do you think..., a lowly figure like you deserves to be a parasite in Anggara's life?"

"..."

"You don't mean anything. You're just selling yourself to a man who'll never even see you more than an instrument of lust. You should be the one with the mirror, Vera. You are rubbish."

Vera swallowed the blood that began to spread in her mouth. The blood that came out from the powerful slap just now. "What do you mean parasites? My relationship with Anggara is consensual, you know. He likes me more than he likes licking your legs."

"What an arrogant." With one move from Evan's fingers, the bodyguards near Vera again launched their attack. He gives Vera a kick in the belly and a jubilant in the hair. The jambai he used so that Vera's body did not fall to the ground, soaking in a pool of dirty water and blood.

"I seem to be too kind to you" Evan said in a voice implying intimidation, but Vera did not care. It was impossible for him to care when the pain lodged in his body was more attention-grabbing than the nonsense Evan Caspian threw.

"If you want to negotiate, Evan..., how about you try to respect this cheap woman a little?" Vera means herself. He looked at Evan with one eye closed. Her hair that was pulled strong in order to hold her body from falling down created a terrible pain. It was as if his scalp was being forcefully peeled.

"Maybe..." Vera gasped, "Perhaps, if you lick my leg, you'll get my sympathies. Haha."

One more punch landed on Vera's cheek. Strong and made his body stagger and fall on the ground. Fresh blood spread out from his mouth, spilling and soaking his cheeks.

"You don't know fear at all, do you?" Evan stood up and approached the bars that bound him and Vera, he crouched down and noticed the girl's consciousness drowning from the pain he had given her. "It's no surprise that if you know a little fear, you're not going to play around with Anggara. I probably wouldn't care about your existence."

"Yeah..." Vera sighed with difficulty. His face that received the blow just now felt numb. He is not so able to move his lips, but that does not mean he will leave Evan to the satisfaction of already hurting him.

No, because..., even as consciousness began to leave her, Vera opened her eyes faintly and returned Evan's gaze.

"I know what fear is, Evan. It's just, aaah, you're not scary at all to make me shudder." Vera neglected her lying position, eyes staring at the black ceiling that surrounded her. "You're not Arcelio Hunter."

In Vera's eyes, if there was a thing, if there was someone capable of creating fear in her body, terror in her life. Arcelio Hunter's.

"You're nothing."

Today again, for Evan Caspian, he failed to crack Vera's arrogance. Failed to get the girl to open her mouth. They may communicate, but there are no important points exchanging there. Nothing but the full word contempt.

"I'll be back tomorrow, make sure he stays alive until I get back."

"Good, Boss."

...----------------...

At the same time, in a different area.

When the sun was high overhead, Fawn, who was resting under a tree - away from the back porch, and close to the fish pond - contacted a person through her cell phone. One of them is Anggara Rashid.

Fawn had attempted to contact Anggara several times yesterday but there was never a response, and today again, Fawn hopes she receives an answer from Anggara.

Not only did he want to talk about the captive, Fawn was also worried about Anggara's absence. It was not usual for the man to ignore him.

"Hello?"

Finally, Anggara's voice greeted Fawn's ears. A voice that implies fatigue.

"Bo-bos Angga? It's me, Fawn."

"I know," responded Anggara. "What's wrong? Did something happen to Indira?"

"Ti-nothing specific," Fawn replied. He's a little nervous. "Umm, boss Angga, am I bothering you? Are you all right?"

"Huh?"

"You sound a little...,"

--Teler is a word stuck in Fawn's tongue. However, he refused to continue.

"Don't worry about me" Anggara said. "I'm good..., maybe?"

"Eh?" The word perhaps at the end of Anggara's speech left Fawn confused. Which one exactly, good or not?

"Forget it. So, what do you want?"

"O-oh, look..." Fawn kicked the pebble under his feet. He felt the situation was not right to talk. Aggara sounds like he has no interest and concern for his words.

"Bos Anggara, w-have you heard of a captive taken prisoner by Mr. Evan?"

"Indira mean?"

"Ah, oh, no.." doesn't mean Anggara's guess was wrong either, anyway. Fawn wants to hit her own forehead because of the wrong way of speaking.

"Boss Angga, a few days ago, Mr. Evan kidnapped the Hunter family's bodyguards. So.., uh, I'm a little curious..."

"Bodyguard the Hunter family?" Anggara's voice was instantly clear and firm.

"That's how." Fawn squeaking. He was afraid of creating suspicion for his curiosity about the identity of the captive. If Anggara thinks his concern is suspicious, he could create a longer problem.

"I'll call you later." Lucky-to-ignore Fawn, "Thank you for your information, Fawn."

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