Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 31: Avoid the Face and the Hands

The bad news had arrived.

For some reason, she felt more relieved that Charles hadn’t lowered himself to Juho’s demands for her, rather than sad over the fact that she wouldn’t be getting out of here any time soon.

"What do you want from me then?" she asked.

"We’ll need your help to give him a little encouragement," Gustav answered.

Her chest tightened. Uh-oh. This was starting to feel like one of those movie scenes where the kidnapping victim’s body parts got chopped off and mailed to their family in fancy boxes.

She swallowed hard. "C-could you be more specific?"

"Just follow me," Gustav replied with an easy tone. "You’ll understand."

That easy tone didn’t help her nerves at all. Her imagination was already running wild with every possible scenario. But she was in no position to protest, so she quietly nodded and followed Gustav out of the room.

He led her all the way down to the basement, one floor above the garage. This floor had no decoration at all, all plain and functional like a storage level. The corridor stretched long and narrow, with multiple doors lining both sides, all shut tight. They stopped at the one at the very end.

Inside, there was absolutely nothing except a few fluorescent lights on the ceiling. Kaija entered first. Gustav followed behind. The door closed shut. When Kaija turned around, her body went still.

Two more men had slipped into the room, standing right behind Gustav on either side. Their faces were just as intimidating as his, their hands clasped tightly in front of them, like they were waiting for his command. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

When had they come in? She hadn’t even noticed. Her stomach was already churning. She’d seen enough movies to know what came next.

Juho was nowhere to be seen on the way down. Now that she knew how unhinged he really was, she shouldn’t have been surprised if he’d ordered something like this.

She held both hands up, forcing a weak smile. "Look, gentlemen. I’ve told you over and over. I hold no value whatsoever to Charles Kosonen. Really, you don’t need to dirty your hands. It won’t change anything."

"Let’s not waste time, Miss Sepala," Gustav said flatly, waving his hand. "Boys, let’s get this over with."

Without a word, the two men started toward her.

"Hey!" she stumbled back, her panic rising. "Wait!"

It was no use. There was nowhere to hide. One of them grabbed her wrist and yanked her back hard. Her body hit the floor. Before she could get up, their boots came down.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

"Urgh! Argh! Stop!" she cried, struggling to shield her core and her head.

"Avoid the face and the hands," Gustav instructed coldly, still standing where he was. He had a phone in his hand now, filming and commenting like a director. "Good. Make her scream more. Make it look convincing, boys."

Rage and shame flooded through her. Who did he think he was to do something so inhuman to her like this? She bit down on her lip, refusing to scream. She wouldn’t give them what they wanted.

Her silence only enraged the two men further. Their kicks came harder, more merciless. After a while, they grew bored. One of them grabbed her hair and forced her to stand while the other threw punches into her stomach.

Gustav filmed the whole thing. Once satisfied, he finally signaled for them to stop.

Kaija collapsed to the floor with a painful thud. She couldn’t even feel her own body anymore. They scooped her up and brought her back to the bedroom upstairs. By then, her consciousness was already gone.

She stayed in bed the next few days. Whenever the maids came, she just hid under the blanket. She didn’t want to talk to them. Didn’t even want to see their faces.

The more days passed, the more paranoid she became about what would happen if Charles refused to give them what they wanted again.

Would they try something more than just punching and kicking next time? Which part of her body would they start with? If they did, would she be able to continue the training at all, with some of her body parts gone? If not, how would she ever repay that enormous debt?

Soon, Kaija stopped eating altogether. She no longer bothered opening the door for the maids. She just told them, "Come in," and stayed buried in bed when the knocks came, like she just did now.

The door slid open. The cart entered with its same creaky sound.

"I don’t want to eat," she muttered under the blanket. "Stop bringing it."

The maid must have been confused by her words. No answer came.

"Just leave," she muttered again. She had no patience or energy to ease the maid’s confusion.

Suddenly, the maid sat down on the bed.

Kaija frowned at the sudden intrusion, pulling the blanket down. "What are you—"

"Was the food not good?"

Her eyes flew wide open. It wasn’t the maid. It was Juho.

"You don’t look well." He reached a hand toward her.

She jerked away to the corner immediately, pulling the blanket up her neck to shield her body. "What do you want?!" she shouted.

Juho seemed stunned. His hand suspended midair. Slowly, he lowered it, his face calm again. "I came to check on you," he said evenly. "The maids told me you haven’t eaten since yesterday."

"I’m fine! I don’t need your food or your concern. Just leave me alone. Leave!"

His brow furrowed slightly. "What’s wrong? Did the maid do something to displease you?"

She clutched the blanket tighter, covering her body even more as if that alone could protect her from the young man. What the hell was wrong with this maniac? Why couldn’t he understand that he was the problem, not any maid?

She crawled back under the blanket, not wanting to spare him another word. Her body was already drained from a day without food.

"No one did anything to me," she shot back coldly. "Just seeing you makes me sick. So please, leave."

Unfortunately for her, Juho was the stubborn type. He left the bed only to walk around to the other side, and suddenly yanked the blanket away from her.

"What do you think you’re doing?" she yelled, pulling it back, but she couldn’t.

His hand was gripping it so tightly his knuckles had turned white. For a long while he just stood there, eyes widened, staring down at her with a horrified expression.

"Kaija..." he stammered, his lips trembling faintly. "Your... your hands. What happened?"