While silently cursing, Jacqueline suddenly remembered the body abandoned on the ground. She had momentarily forgotten about it, consumed by fear that he was following her and might suddenly shoot. 

The dead man had shouted “Whitaker” at the man beside her.

‘So this man is Lloyd Whitaker. Could he be the man Muriel met?’

He was the one who started the red hair trend that women across the country aspired to, and the root cause of her falling out with her friend. 

Jacqueline’s steps came to an abrupt halt. 

Lloyd, hoping the proud woman who tormented his heart might change her mind and accompany him, drank in false hope and brightened. They asked each other almost simultaneously:

“Do you know Muriel Dolly Peyton?”

“Will you come with me?”

Silence followed for a while. The music of a bandoneon and violin played by cabaret musicians flowed through the alleyways. It was like the devil’s instrument meeting the queen’s instrument.

Lloyd was the first to react. He chuckled softly. He silently praised the exquisite music selection that perfectly expressed the tense atmosphere between them with those two instruments. 

In this place littered with garbage and corpses, if he asked her for an intimate dance, she would surely despise him.

‘She might even slap me.’

Lloyd became completely aroused by Jacqueline glaring at him. Though he had thought his only unusual s*xual desire was his obsession with red hair, seeing those eyes flickering with anger made him want to drag her to any nearby hotel and ravish her violently.

‘I haven’t done anything yet, but I’m already excited.’

Her eyes, which had been dying out like embers, blazed with hatred. There must be a reason why this ideal woman he just met was glaring at him so intensely. 

It must be related to the name Muriel Dolly Peyton that she had just uttered.

‘She probably heard rumors and misunderstood.’

Lloyd’s sharp mind pinpointed the exact cause. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t recall any woman named Muriel. 

There hadn’t been anyone with that name among the women he had casually encountered. If that name was her real name rather than a stage name, it would make sense that he couldn’t remember.

‘I hope I’m not strangely entangled with someone the young lady knows. This is getting complicated from the very beginning.’

Finally, deciding that ordinary methods wouldn’t work, he chose to dig into her weakness to get what he wanted, just like he usually did.

“Well…”

Lloyd answered with an ambiguous nuance that would make her think exactly what he wanted, and Jacqueline, falling for the devil’s trick, looked at Lloyd with a mix of emotions. Lloyd waited patiently.

‘Hurry up and take the bait. I’ll snatch and devour you right away.’

Seeing her pouting lips, he suddenly felt the urge to kiss her, but he restrained himself. Sensing danger from Lloyd’s piercing gaze, Jacqueline fled again. Lloyd followed her with a sense of regret.

The two had already passed through the alley and reached the residential area. Jacqueline took one more step and exited the alley, while Lloyd remained standing in the darkness without coming out. 

From behind him, he heard his subordinate calling. He clicked his tongue, silently cursing his tactless underling.

“What a shame. I wanted to escort you home.”

Lloyd sighed genuinely disappointedly. To Jacqueline’s ears, it sounded like the panting of a beast that had narrowly failed its hunt. It gave her chills. 

Lloyd took out a business card from inside his coat and handed it to Jacqueline. He decided that although he was letting her go now, he would devour those lips first the next time they met.

“If you want to know about that person, come find me.”

Lloyd let her go to the opposite world without even asking her name. Jacqueline ran away without taking his card. She had gathered courage to escape, trusting the people in the early-opening store. Lloyd Whitaker watched her retreating figure with a smile.

“Take it slow, you might fall.”

He didn’t bother saying the rest aloud: that it would be a futile effort anyway. After all, he planned to find her before she could contact him.

* * *

【 What Muriel Left Behind 】

“You’re late.”

Jacqueline was surprised to see Melinda still in the first-floor office at this hour.

“You haven’t gone home yet?”

Melinda swallowed the words that she had been waiting because she was worried when she didn’t see Jacqueline come home. Instead, she scolded her with a stern face about her late return.

“I told you nights are dangerous. What if you had been trafficked by some bad guy!”

“I’m sorry, Melinda. I just…”

She had nothing to say, especially since she had indeed encountered a bad man just as Melinda had warned. She had heard that the night entertainment district was dangerous, but she only realized how frightening it truly was after experiencing it.

Lloyd Whitaker was truly a dangerous man. He was more beautiful than rumors suggested, and his personality was more unstable than rumors could capture. 

He was like a child with a gun. She had actually witnessed him shooting someone to death.

Jacqueline was so frightened of him that she never wanted to encounter him again, and her entire body still trembled with fear. She couldn’t forget Lloyd Whitaker’s cold gaze as he watched the dying man.

‘Why did I bring up Muriel there?’

Jacqueline was barely holding herself together in front of Melinda, but she wanted to go straight to her room, close the door, and hide. To hide under the covers on her bed, the place she felt safest…

Melinda called out to the distracted Jacqueline.

“What happened to you?”

Melinda could tell just by looking at Jacqueline’s face. That she had gotten herself into trouble she couldn’t handle alone. 

She had exactly the same expression as the dog living on the third floor when it had done something wrong behind its owner’s back. Melinda was so worried that instead of saying “you” like usual, she called Jacqueline by her nickname.

“Jackie, what on earth happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on. Tell me.”

“It’s nothing. I’m tired, may I go up now?”

Jacqueline pretended to be sleepy, even yawning. Melinda nodded, not wanting to press her further.

“Go ahead.”

“Thank you for worrying about me. Really, it’s nothing. I’m late because I was studying late and missed the shared carriage, so I had to walk back. I’ll be home earlier next time.”

Jacqueline smoothly told lies because she didn’t want to burden Melinda. Melinda heard Jacqueline’s excuse and accepted it, thinking it could happen. 

She was too preoccupied with mulling over the nickname she had unconsciously called Jacqueline to notice her unnatural speech and behavior.

* * *

“Whoa, whoa,” the coachman called out to stop the horses, and the carriage came to a jerky halt. 

It was the last stop, Hazelnut Village. Though the administrative name was Felsorn, the locals were so accustomed to calling it Hazelnut Village that one had to use that name when taking the shared carriage.

“We’ve arrived. The carriage back to Labon Capital leaves at 5 o’clock, don’t forget.”

“Thank you. I’ll make sure to be on time.”

Jacqueline paid the additional fare based on the distance and got off the carriage. She walked about 20 minutes from where she disembarked. 

She fell into melancholy reminiscence as she looked at the hazelnut trees planted along the unpaved road.

Eventually, she saw a brass sign engraved with the orphanage director couple’s surname in the distance.

‘So I’ve come here after all.’

A brass sign engraved with the director couple’s surname and a rusty gate wrapped in ivy.

Standing in front of it, Jacqueline recalled her past resolution.

‘I swore I would never return here until I died.’

Muriel had been an exceptional presence among the orphanage children. Pretty and affectionate, she was popular with the boys, and adults who visited the orphanage often inquired about adopting her, charmed by her loveliness and sociability. 

The director couple introduced Muriel to a seemingly wealthy couple, and soon news of Muriel’s adoption spread.

The children congratulated Muriel with envy. Jacqueline was very sad at the thought of soon parting with her best friend, but she hoped she would be happy with her adoptive parents.

But not long after, Jacqueline witnessed the director couple’s ugly true face.

‘The children we’re sending this time are healthy without chronic illnesses. They won’t die immediately even if they touch chemical substances.’

‘My wife is right. We’ll only send selected children, so forget about the past incident and let go of your anger. Ah, we’ve been doing business for more than just a day or two. Hmm… You want Muriel? That child is scheduled to go to Mr. Mayhem’s Tsunami. Instead, I’ll send a child the same age as her.’

Jacqueline had accidentally overheard the three people conspiring while cleaning windows. The director couple had selected children to send to a leather factory, boasting that these children wouldn’t die immediately even if they handled harsh chemicals.

The person listening to the director couple with a displeased face was the creepy man who sometimes secretly watched her and Muriel playing with strange eyes. 

The director said he was sending Muriel to “Tsunami,” and although young Jacqueline didn’t know what Tsunami was, she was certain it wouldn’t be good for Muriel.

Jacqueline decided they needed to escape immediately after hearing the adults’ conversation. She had wanted to leave the orphanage for a long time, so she had already identified escape routes. 

Before fleeing, Jacqueline went to where the director secretly hid money from his wife and stole it. That night, she forcibly woke the soundly sleeping Muriel.