Chapter 205 Bad Environment
_Rowena’s POV_
I didn’t have to say another word, the two giant men stepped past me, their boots thudding against the dirt floor as they marched straight toward the extortionists.
What followed was complete utter chaos. The thugs who had been acting so brave moments ago didn’t even have a chance to run. The scar-faced man grabbed the first thug by his shirt collar and slammed him directly into a wooden display board, while his friend swept the legs out from under the second one. The sound of heavy punches and desperate cries filled the market.
Within less than two minutes, the entire extortion gang was lying on the ground, bruised, battered, and groaning in pain.
"Get on your knees!" the scar-faced man barked, kicking one of the men in the ribs.
The thugs scrambled onto their hands and knees, tears mixing with the dirt on their faces as they looked up at me in absolute terror.
"We are sorry, Ma’am!" the leader sobbed, cradling his swollen jaw. "Please, forgive us! We will never come back here again!"
I looked down at them with an unreadable expression, my voice dropping into a cold flat tone. "Do not apologize to me. I am not the person whose life you just tried to ruin."
I pointed toward the young girl who was still sitting near her ruined stall. The thugs quickly turned around on their knees, dragging themselves over to her feet while weeping hysterically.
"We are so sorry!" they cried out to the trembling girl. "We are so sorry for ruining your stall!"
"Let them go," I told the two big men.
The thugs didn’t wait a single second.
The moment the giant enforcers stepped back, they scrambled to their feet and ran down the alley as fast as their legs could carry them, leaving their passed out boss behind in the dirt.
The scar faced man turned back toward me, pulling a small glossy black card from his back pocket. He offered it to me with both hands, bowing his head respectfully.
"This is our contact card, Ma’am," he said smoothly. "My name is Silas, and my partner here is Jax. If you ever need any more work done in the lower district, just give us a call. We will be there in five minutes flat."
I hesitated for a second, staring at the card. I usually preferred to handle my own problems without getting involved with local muscle, but considering how useful they had just been, I reached out and took it.
"Thank you," I said, slipping the card into my jacket pocket. "I will keep that in mind."
Silas and Jax gave me one final military salute before turning around to clear out the rest of the messy alley.
I turned my attention toward the young girl. She looked to be around nineteen years old, with thin shoulders, pale skin, and worn out clothes covered in patches. As I walked over to her, she quickly bowed her head, her whole body shaking as fresh tears spilled over her eyelashes.
"Thank you so much, Ma’am," she whispered, her voice trembling softly. "I... I don’t even know how to repay you for saving me today. And I am so, so sorry about your arm! It is all my fault that you got hurt by those terrible men!"
"It is just a tiny scratch, do not worry about it," I replied calmly, looking down at the small line of dried blood on my sleeve. "My name is Rowena. What is yours?"
"My name is Olivia," she murmured softly.
I nodded, preparing to turn around and head back to the bus stop so I could get straight to my lab. I had a three-week deadline hanging over my head, and every minute counted. But right as I took a step back, the words she had spoken earlier flashed through my mind.
“My father is deathly ill in bed... His wolf spirit died last month.”
I stopped in my tracks and looked back at her. "Olivia, where is your father right now?"
"He is at home, Ma’am," she replied, wiping her nose with her sleeve.
I pulled my brows together into a deep frown. "If his wolf spirit died and he is deathly ill, why is he lying at home instead of receiving proper care in a medical ward?"
Lily lowered her eyes to the ground, her chest heaving as a quiet painful sob escaped her throat. "We... we do not have the money for a hospital bed, Ma’am. The medical centers in the upper district charge hundreds of dollars just for admission, and we barely have enough money to buy food daily."
A heavy sigh escaped my lips. I knew I needed to get back to the Ashthorne estate to continue assembling the mechanical leg for Kristy, but I couldn’t simply walk away and leave this girl to drown in her misery. The project could wait for an hour or two.
"Pack up whatever is left of your stall," I instructed her firmly. "Lead the way to your house."
She looked completely puzzled by my request, her wide eyes blinking in confusion, but she didn’t dare argue with me. She quickly gathered her scattered baskets, packed them into a small cart, and began walking down the narrow back streets.
On our way out of the market district, I stopped at a diner and bought several containers of hot, fresh soup, roasted meat, and rice. I carried the heavy bags myself, ignoring Olivia’s protests.
Ten minutes later, we reached the very edge of the lower pack territory.
When Lily finally stopped in front of a crumbling, rundown concrete apartment building, I stood completely frozen in shock. I had lived through tough times, but I had never imagined that people under Alaric’s rule were living in conditions this terrible.
The air smelled badly of damp mold, garbage, and rusty iron pipes. The walls of the building were cracked down the middle, with broken glass littering the stairwell. Dark water dripped continuously from the ceiling, creating muddy puddles on the concrete floor. It was a dark, depressing place that looked completely unsafe for anybody to inhabit.
As we walked up the rickety stairs to the second floor, a loud, shrill voice echoed down the hallway.
"I don’t give a damn about your dead wolf or your sickness, Austin!" a loud, angry woman screamed from inside an open doorway. "You owe me three weeks of back rent! If I don’t see cash in my hand by tonight, I am throwing your useless body straight into the alley!"
Olivia let out a terrified gasp, dropping her cart as she sprinted down the hall. "Please, stop! Leave my father alone!"
I hurried right behind her, stepping into the tiny, dark apartment. The room was barely big enough for a single bed, smelling strongly of medicine and dust. An old man with pale, hollow cheeks was lying on a thin mattress, coughing violently while a large, angry woman stood over him, raising her hand to push him by his shoulder.
"Get your filthy hands off him," I growled.
My voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an icy, deadly edge that instantly cut through the room. The woman froze dead in her tracks, her hand hovering mid air as she turned her head to glare at me.
The coldness in my eyes made her swallow hard, stopping her completely in her tracks before she could lay a single finger on the sick man.