The silence in the crimson room was louder than any bass thumping on the main floor. I stood over the body, my hands covered in dark, warm blood, my entire body shaking so hard my knees almost gave out. The fat man lay perfectly still on the velvet rug, his wide, empty eyes staring at the ceiling. A dark pool was growing around his head, staining the fabric."No," I whispered, my voice a broken gasp. "No, please, no."Panic hit me like a physical wave. I couldn't go to prison. The thought rushed through my mind, clear and terrifying. If the police found me here, everything was over. My dreams of going to New York, my law school applications, my entire future would be totally destroyed. All the suffering I had endured under the Alarcón roof, all the late-night shifts at this wretched club, all the degradation of selling my body for cheap cash—it would all be for nothing. My mother would be left alone in that house, trapped in poverty forever. I could not risk it. I had to fix this.I s
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