Chapter 2: Their Promise

"Alright, Vivi, whatever you want, I will give it to you. If you want me to let you go, then I will." He spoke calmly.

She was taken aback, finding it hard to believe what she had just heard. He would let her go so easily?

But then, his voice continued, "However, I'll only let you go for ten years. After ten years, you must love me and belong to me alone."

A faintly seductive smile appeared on the corner of the boy's lips, but his gaze towards her was heavy and lifeless, like a dead sea.

Slowly, he lifted his right hand and hooked his little finger with her left hand. "Pinkie promise, unchanging for a hundred years. Vivi, this is what you taught me."

She stared at their intertwined fingers, looking at his face so close to hers.

Yes, that was something she taught him, the gesture of a promise.

And now, he was making a promise to her that they couldn't go back on!

While working as a waitress at night, Vivienne overheard Lily, another waitress, mentioning that a notable figure had arrived at the club and was personally greeted by the manager in a private room.

In this club, the manager rarely welcomed guests himself. In other words, the guests who received such treatment usually had strong backgrounds.

"Among that group, there were a few in military uniforms, and the rank insignia on their shoulders, I checked, all of them were at least majors. Interestingly, all of these people showed immense respect to a seemingly young man. He was handsome, but those eyes..." Lily paused abruptly.

"What about his eyes?" Vivienne asked.

"It's hard to describe. When he looked at me, I felt like an inanimate object. Those eyes, completely devoid of any emotion, simply empty!" Lily finally managed to find an adjective.

Empty.

In Vivienne's mind, a pair of dazzlingly beautiful yet empty eyes flashed, buried deep in her memories.

"Vivi, I'll let you go, but only for ten years. After ten years, you will completely belong to me," the voice from her memories echoed coldly, like a curse that often woke her up from her dreams in the middle of the night.

Was that a promise or just a joke?

After tidying up a table in the lobby, Vivienne carried a tray and entered the kitchen. She overheard a few waiters discussing an incident in one of the private rooms. One waiter, in order to attract the attention of the guests, "accidentally" spilled wine on a guest's clothes.

Vivienne put down the tray and walked out of the kitchen, only to see the manager with a grim face. When he saw Vivienne, he coldly said, "Go to the wine cellar and fetch three bottles of 1973 Lafite for private room number one."

1973 red wine was quite rare, even in the club, with limited supply.

Vivienne fetched three bottles of wine and, carrying the tray, arrived at the door of the private room. She could already hear a woman sobbing and a man's mocking laughter. "Manager, how should we settle this matter? Your waitstaff here is not to be trifled with, yet they decided to provoke someone they shouldn't have. Tsk, tsk."

As Vivienne entered, she saw the manager desperately trying to make amends, while Lily cowered in a corner, trembling all over. Her makeup was smudged, and her face clearly bore the mark of a slap.