Chapter 10 Pay It Back in Three Months

Despite the dizziness, Jasmine gritted her teeth, breathing heavily as she spoke. "Walker, you know exactly what kind of status I have at Rainbow Nightclub. Rose's been training me herself, hands-on. I haven't officially taken clients yet, but you know who I've been serving-big shots. The kind who make the entire country tremble with one word. I'm a virgin-for-sale, and just last month, Rose had me get my hymen surgically restored. Next week, a client specifically asked for me. To be honest, he is the top political figure from City M.

He's offering three million dollars over six months to keep me. So before you break what's between my legs, you better think about what that's worth. If you screw up Rose's next big deal, you think you're walking away clean?"

Walker froze. He narrowed his eyes, staring at Jasmine's calm, fierce expression.

After a long pause, he suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh, Jasmine, that's what I like about you-tough as nails, fearless. Looks like your time at Rainbow Nightclub wasn't wasted after all. You finally know how to use your sugar daddies to put pressure on me. Good. That's good."

He yanked her hair again, forcing her to look up at him, still laughing. "Look at you, girl. All grown up now. Got some spine, huh? I bet Rainbow Nightclub's planning to make you her next top girl, aren't they? Heh. Well, that hundred million dollars-not a penny more, not a penny less. You've got three months. Don't try to pull any tricks. The contract's all there, black and white, with legal interest rates. I ain't scared of you calling the cops-I want you to. We've been doing this business for years. You think you get big without knowing how to play the game?"

He added, "Ask around all over City M-who doesn't know I, Walker, plays both sides of the law? Even if you go whining to the capital, it won't change a damn thing. You're in the wrong. You want someone to blame? Blame that gambling-addict father of yours. Blame yourselves for running from your debts all these years."

With that, he flung her aside. Jasmine crashed into the wall and collapsed to the floor.

Walker buckled his pants back up and barked to his thug, "Go get the old hag."

Caught off guard, Jasmine hit the floor hard. But she didn't even stop to catch her breath. She scrambled to her feet, wiped the blood from her forehead, pulled her hair over her wounds, straightened her clothes, and pulled herself together, fast.

Not long after, a short-haired woman was dragged into the room. She wore a plaid shirt, looked to be in her fifties, but her hair was completely white. Her face was drained of color, eyes dull and timid. But the moment she saw Jasmine, she froze.

Then a warm, relieved smile slowly spread across her face, and her eyes welled up with tears. "Jasmine... you're back..."

"Mom!" Jasmine smiled and was just about to run over-

Walker lifted his chin, and his thug immediately yanked the woman away.

Panic surged through Jasmine. She bolted forward, trying to chase after her, but the thug grabbed her and held her back. She struggled wildly, screaming and thrashing, but it was useless.

Ever since Walker had captured them, Jasmine had never been allowed to live with her mother again. He had kept her mother locked away just to control her. Other than the occasional phone call or video chat, Jasmine hadn't even been allowed to see her mom.

"Let go of me! Let me go! Walker, fuck you!" Jasmine screamed, thrashing wildly at the thugs holding her back.

But no matter how hard she struggled, it was all in vain.

Walker apparently thought she was being too noisy. With an impatient scowl, he slapped her hard across the face, sending her stumbling and crashing to the floor.

"Shut the fuck up, you filthy bitch," he snarled viciously. "If you weren't always scheming, trying to run off with your mom to escape the debt, do you think I'd be wasting resources keeping that old hag alive? Tell me, how many cities have you run to over the years? Your dad racked up that debt. If you don't pay it off, who the hell will? It's all there in black and white-legal and binding! You've landed yourself a top-tier sugar daddy, haven't you? Then figure out how to get me my money! Remember-one hundred million dollars. If I don't get it, get ready to collect your mom's corpse."

He threw a newspaper in her face.

Jasmine glared at him with seething hatred. "If you lay a single finger on my mom, you're not getting a fucking dime! I swear I'll make sure you lose everything-your money and your life!"

Walker licked his teeth, tilted his thick neck from side to side, then suddenly kicked her hard in the stomach.

Caught off guard, Jasmine doubled over, her head slamming against the floor with a sickening thud. For a moment, everything went black.

Walker stepped forward and planted his foot on her chest. Then he crouched down. He was a heavy man, and when he bent his knees, it looked like a mountain of flesh collapsing in on itself.

"Jasmine," he sneered, "I know you're smart. Don't try to play games with me. You probably think I wouldn't dare kill you two over money. And you're right-why would I waste such valuable assets?"

He let out a low, chilling laugh, eyes glinting with menace. "But what if I send your mom out to whore too? Wouldn't that be worse than death? You wanna find out?"

For once, fear cracked through Jasmine's usually composed face. Her entire body trembled.

Yes, she was certain Walker wouldn't kill her mother-at least not right away. He'd keep her around, use her as leverage to control Jasmine, treating her like a money-printing machine.

But she wasn't sure how far he'd go in hurting her mom.

Something inside her seemed to break. Her gaze dropped to the newspaper, to that exquisite profile of Bruce on the front page.

She shivered, then after a long pause, she said quietly, "The woman in that photo... isn't me."

Walker grabbed her by the jaw. "Cut the crap. Whether it's you or not doesn't matter. If you want to, you can land a rich man. Go seduce those top-tier tycoons and get that hundred million back for me. What about the ten million dollars you already made, huh?"

Jasmine finally calmed herself. Slowly, she lifted her eyes to meet his. "Since you want the full hundred million dollars, I can't give you that ten million yet."

A dark expression crept over Walker's face.

"I need this ten million to turn it into the hundred million you're asking for," she explained. "If you take it now, I won't have any bargaining chips left to negotiate with the big shots."

Walker paused, weighing her words, studying her face.

This woman was full of tricks-he knew that much. She was the slippery little fox who had kept him chasing debts for over a decade.

"We're in the same boat now," he said at last, his voice laced with threat. "I don't want to screw you over-but if you've got the skills to pull in ten million, you sure as hell don't need any leverage to bag those billionaires."

"So where the fuck is my ten million?" His eyes darkened.

Jasmine didn't respond.

One of the thugs pulled out a small knife and spun it casually between his fingers as he sauntered over.

Two others walked out of the room. They probably wouldn't cripple her-but there was no guarantee they wouldn't go after her mother.