Reborn With a Money-Making System: Ruined Actress to Nation's Treasure-Chapter 86: Tracing the Forbidden Site (2)

Like I said before, visiting a porn site isn’t exactly unusual for most people. However, Hiddenpleasure.hub wasn’t one of those normal sites people casually scroll through.

The site couldn’t even be accessed the normal way, but it had to be opened using a special gateway browser. I didn’t really understand how it worked, but somehow, Lando managed to get in.

The first thing that appeared on his phone screen made my stomach drop.

I knew porn came in all kinds of genres—some of them strange or unusual—but what I saw on that site was far beyond that. It wasn’t just unusual; it was something that could only be described as illegal.

"This is sick," I whispered, slamming my hand over his phone screen. "I can’t ... I can’t look at that."

I felt like throwing up right then and there as I imagined what could’ve happened to me if I hadn’t jumped from that third floor.

The women in those videos looked like they had been kidnapped and forced to do disgusting things; humiliated, and tortured in ways I didn’t even want to describe.

"I’m sorry, give me a second—" I stammered, quickly running to the side and crouching down in a dark place as I threw up everything inside me.

Fucking hell.

Even after it was over, the images wouldn’t leave my head. I’d only seen them for a few minutes, but they burned themselves into my mind. Every what if kept echoing; what if it had been me? What if I hadn’t died? What if I hadn’t escaped?

When there was nothing left to throw up, I realized I couldn’t breathe. My body shook so hard I had to wrap my arms around myself just to stay together.

"It’s okay ... you’re fine," I whispered shakily. "You got out. You’re safe now. You’re safe."

"Helcia."

I flinched the moment I felt someone touch my shoulder, but when I looked up and saw Lando standing beside me, I immediately let out a shaky breath of relief.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly.

"I ... I don’t know," I stammered. My voice came out small and broken as I hugged myself tighter. "I just ... I keep thinking ... what if Helena would’ve ended up like that if she hadn’t died that day?"

Lando didn’t answer right away. He just looked at me, and from the way his eyes darkened, I knew he was thinking the same thing.

"What if it was me—"

"No." His voice cut through my words.

Lando suddenly crouched down beside me, and I startled because I was afraid he might hurt his legs. But before I could say anything, he gently grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him.

"I won’t let you go through something like that," he said firmly.

I held my breath, momentarily forgetting how to blink. Slowly, I whispered, "But it could still happen, right? People like that ... they’ve probably been doing those illegal things for years, trapping women with fake job offers." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

As long as people like them still existed, I knew I could never truly feel safe.

"Marissa would never let you sign anything suspicious," he said, his voice gentler now. "And I’ll always double-check your contracts myself. I’ll make sure everything’s safe."

If only I’d had someone like him back then, someone who actually cared, who would’ve protected me when I didn’t know how to protect myself.

If only he had met me when I was still Helena, maybe ... my ending wouldn’t have been so tragic.

I might never have gotten the Money-Making System, but if I could trade that for peace of mind, for a life where I didn’t have to be afraid, I’d choose that in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately, all I could do now was imagine it. I had already died once, and no matter how much I wished, there was no turning back time.

What happened had already happened, and a rotten corpse inside a coffin would never beat again.

"Please, help me ... help her," I whispered, my voice trembling. "Even after death, she never got justice. So please ... at least help me bring back a little of her dignity."

"I will," Lando said immediately, without even a pause. "I will. I promise."

I stared at him, my chest tightening, and before I could stop myself, tears started sliding down my cheeks.

"She must’ve been so terrified at the moment," I murmured, my voice breaking. "They gave her hope, only to betray her again and again. She doesn’t deserve to be remembered that way. We have to help her find peace."

"We will," Lando said as he lowered himself to his knees so he didn’t have to crouch anymore. Gently, he brushed his thumb across my cheek, wiping away the tears that wouldn’t stop falling.

I knew I shouldn’t be crying this hard. After all, to him, Helena was just a friend of mine, and we hadn’t even known each other that long. Wasn’t it too much to cry this way over someone who was practically a stranger?

[People can still cry for someone’s pain, even if they’ve never met them, Host.]

[You don’t have to know someone to feel empathy.]

If that was true ... then did Lando also feel sad about Helena’s death? About my death? Maybe, deep down, he had once wondered if his favorite actress wouldn’t have ended up that way if only he had been there to help.

Maybe he could have changed something.

But why should I blame someone who has done nothing wrong? We had never even met before, and it wasn’t his duty to save everyone.

[For your information, Host, Lando was actually living abroad last year.]

[He only came back shortly before your death.]

Oh ... I didn’t know that. But now that I thought about it, Marissa once told me that Lando chose to do his therapy overseas instead of in Velmont because he didn’t want to see his family.

It seemed he had spent a whole year focusing on recovery, and when he finally returned his favorite actress was already buried under endless scandals, right before she jumped from the third floor.

"We’ll find a way to help her," he said again, softer this time. His voice carried a kind of promise that made my chest ache. "You don’t have to worry anymore."