After Diane had been taken by the agency to recuperate - well there wasn’t anything wrong with her since the elixir had healed her completely - her mind suffered.

Images of a large man towering over her with a diabolic smirk on his lips as he caused her pain, violating her, and his eyes dancing to her screams haunted her.

By the morning, she was covered in cold sweat, hazy eyes, and trembling lips. It was something that happened ever so often that she could not count a single night when she fell asleep in peace.

While she pretended to be sharp and alright during the day, at night, she dreaded shutting her eyes and she could not tell anyone about it.

Diane and the rest of the kids were currently occupying a large house handled by the agency and their meals were also being prepared by the agency.

They would wake up to freshly cooked meals, and there was running hot water in the tap to take a hot bath. It was like a safe haven, but she, as well as the rest of the kids, knew one thing for sure.

Nothing comes free in this world.

If they were treating them so nicely, it would only mean that they wanted to use them for something of greater purpose, so they kept their guards up.

"You don’t have to worry about the price to pay," One of the agency guys said to Diane as she accompanied him to wash the dishes.

She stared at him, wondering what he was talking about and he turned to her with a smile.

"You’re all weary, and it’s understandable, but don’t worry, the price to pay for all these good things has already been paid. So, you guys can rest easy and enjoy the benefits she bought you."

"She?" Diane asked and he nodded.

"Well, of course. You’re all precious people of that girl, right? The one who saved the world. Most people don’t know, but I was able to overhear it by chance. She stopped the calamity all by herself. It’s extraordinary, don’t you think? She’s so powerful that the higher-ups have to bend to her will now. They can’t act rashly and..."

One of the dishes fell, and its sharp break broke the man’s words.

"So, my bad. It slipped from my hand." She said and bent down to pick up the pieces but he stopped her and said,

"Please, don’t. You’ll only hurt yourself." He grabbed her hand, and stared at his hand on hers; her face grimaced.

"Hah, like that’d stop me from achieving my goal." She was upset. The mere contact of a man made her sick now.

This guy seemed to be nice, but there was no way to tell what he was thinking. And because of that... She yanked her hand out of his hold... She felt very uncomfortable.

"But since you insist, have it your way." She got up, dusted her body, and turned around. "I’ll leave the rest to you."

She walked away, her mind wandering to what he said.

So, Alice saved the world? It was kind of hard to believe. Just what was she thinking when she did that?

"She hates this damn world." Those words slipped out of her mouth as she could not find it reasonable enough.

The Alice that saved them looked dangerously strong, taking out Big Stach rather easily. She could even be considered a monster but she...

The look in Alice’s eyes as she stared at Diane’s horrified expression haunted her, and she shut her eyes. It was her fault for not saying a word back then. Now, she could only help but wonder what Alice was thinking about her.

’So, is she like a boss now? Then all this,’ she glanced around. Everyone was comfortable even with their guard slightly up. ’...she got this life for us. I wonder what she’ll ask in return. She’s always been a girl of fair trade. But I don’t think she’ll go hard on us since we’re basically birds of the same feather.’

She took out a lighter and a cigarette and was about to light the cigarette when the words got corrected in her mind.

’Ah, we ’were’ birds of the same feather. Right now, she’s way out of our league.’

She stood on the balcony, getting a nice view of the nearly desolate environment.

It was a somewhat rich environment since the houses looked damn expensive and the only cars she’d ever seen driving in and out were really expensive.

There were also a few occupants and most of the people she saw going in and out were men in black from the agency, tending to them and making sure their safety was of utmost priority.

It was as if they had become royalty.

Diane flicked the lighter but it didn’t light. She was about to cuss out when her gaze fell on the big tanned man standing below the balcony.

She could tell his eyes were sharply fixed on her even though he wore shades and it made her shiver.

A big man like that... Images of Big Stach scratched her vision... Making her mistake reality for her nightmares and she stumbled back.

"No, no, how is he here?" She mumbled. "How is this... Possible?"

Beady cold sweat rolled down her face as she went pale. Now, it wasn’t going to haunt her in her dreams only? He had come to haunt her in broad daylight?

"Tsk!" She gritted her teeth. "I know it’s not real. It’s not, but..." Her eyes went hollow in fear.

If she kept living like this, she would never get away from this nightmare. She had to fight back. Fight it back, but her legs refused to move. Her legs refused to do what she wanted because her entire body kept trembling.

It was all in her head.

"It’s all in my head."

He could no longer hurt her.

"He can no longer hurt me."

He was long gone.

"He’s long gone."

But even after reciting these words, her body still felt the pain and she did the most reckless thing ever.

"The only way to get rid of this pain is to find another," she told herself, grabbed the rail of the balcony, and with her feet on the rake, she leaped into the air.

There was no way she would be able to land on the floor unscathed. She wasn’t even an awakened, yet, she wanted this pain. So long as she did not die, she believed she would be able to get rid of her previous nightmare by creating one for herself.

But the person right beneath her caught her. The tanned man stared at Diane’s face in shock. Who on Earth did something so reckless?

"Hey, were you trying to kill yourself?"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com