Chapter 166 Revenge

Chapter 166 Revenge

Chloe saw Francesca barely clinging to life.

"You did this?"

Francesca's face was so swollen it was almost unrecognizable, covered in wounds and messy bloodstains.

Seeing Francesca in such a miserable state, Chloe happily jumped up and down twice.

Alison crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, saying, "I wanted her to hand over the photos. She refused, so I had to beat her up."

No need to say more—Chloe knew exactly which photos she meant.

She showed a sinister smile, eager to beat up Francesca herself.

In her daze, Francesca heard voices. She opened her eyes and saw Chloe. After staring for a while, she finally called out her name. "Fina, save me."

Chloe pointed at her own nose. "You're asking me for help?"

She acted as if she'd heard the biggest joke ever. "When you locked me up here before, you hit me, pinched my chest, stuck needles in my nipples. I got on my knees and begged you to let me go—I begged and begged. Do you remember what you said?"

Francesca realized she'd asked the wrong person. Her lips trembled, unable to speak.

Chloe slapped her across the face. "You said: 'Letting you go does nothing for me, but not letting you go makes me happy.'"

Every single word was burned deep into her memory.

She raised her hand and slapped Francesca twice more, then kicked her.

Seeing she wanted to continue, Alison stopped her. "Don't kill her."

"You're right. Letting her die like this would be too easy." Chloe sneered.

She'd originally just come to check things out on Oliver's orders, but now she actively wanted to stay at the orphanage.

"Where are the photos?" Chloe asked Francesca.

Francesca struggled to lift her head and gestured toward the table with her mouth. "I already handed them all over. I was wrong. Please let me go."

Chloe followed her gaze to the table. There was indeed a metal box full of photos.

She quickly searched through them, lit her own photos with a lighter, and only after watching them burn to ash did she ask Alison, "If she already handed over the photos, why did you say she refused?"

Alison looked at her like she was an idiot. "What if she has backups?"

Chloe immediately turned to Francesca with a fierce look.

Francesca weakly shook her head. "No, they're all here. Trust me."

"Trust you?" Chloe rolled her eyes. "I'd trust a pig before I'd trust you."

Alison glared at her.

Chloe laughed awkwardly and explained, "I'm not calling you a pig."

Alison made a "get out" gesture. Chloe's eyes darted around, and she asked, "Would you mind if I brought a few more people back?"

Alison shrugged. "I don't mind."

Over the next two days, people who'd lived at Red Apple Orphanage came back one after another.

Most left after watching the photos get destroyed, but a few stayed like Chloe.

Only those who stayed saw Francesca's current miserable condition. These people hadn't necessarily been close before, but now, sharing this secret, they'd become much closer.

That day, the weather was nice, and several people threw a party in the orphanage courtyard.

A nimble fat man twisted and turned to the music.

"Never thought we'd have a party here. Do whatever we want—freedom rules!" The fat man sighed with emotion and raised his glass to Alison. "We owe this all to you. To Alison!"

After speaking, he boldly tilted his head back and drained his drink in one gulp.

The others also raised their glasses to Alison. Though Chloe had gathered these people, Alison was clearly the leader.

Alison sat in a lounge chair sunbathing, lazily raising her glass in return.

A few kids ran over together and crowded around Chloe, asking, "Sweet Chloe, are you going to fatten us up and then sell us?"

The party was split between several people. Chloe was in a good mood and feeling generous, so she'd spent a lot of money buying fried foods and cakes that kids love.

Having spent the money, she felt a bit bad about it, so she made all the orphans call her "Sweet Chloe" while Alison was just "Ms. Gray."

Chloe pinched the cheek of the little boy who'd asked. "That's right! We're going to fatten you all up! Then eat you in one bite!"

She let out a fierce yell, and the children scattered with laughter, running away.

Alison watched them play, smiling faintly, but seemed a bit distracted.

A plain, low-key woman walked out of the house, crossed half the courtyard, and came to Chloe.

Her name was Mindy. She was the same age as Chloe and worked at a pharmacy. She'd recently taken a few days off and was staying at the orphanage.

Chloe asked, "How's that damned Francesca doing?"

Mindy replied, "I treated her wounds and gave her some food and water. Don't worry, I'll take good care of her. Won't let her die easily."

Her expression and tone were as calm as still water, but beneath the calm lurked madness and hatred.

"Eat something. Stop thinking about that Francesca. Enjoying the party is what matters." Chloe imitated Alison, lying lazily in the sunshine.

Mindy asked with some concern, "What are your plans going forward?"

Getting revenge on Francesca felt great, but there wasn't much money in the orphanage's account. That idiot Francesca had been scammed into spending it all on health supplements.

As far as Mindy knew, all the previous temporary workers had left. The temporary workers doing the work these past few days were hired by Alison, but such a big orphanage couldn't rely entirely on Alison to support it, could it?

"Don't worry, Alison has plenty of money." Chloe pursed her lips. Mindy was worrying for nothing. Even if Alison didn't have money, Alison's man was loaded!

"Okay." Mindy ate a little, then, unable to sit still, went to take care of the younger orphans.

After she left, Chloe turned to ask Alison, "What are you really planning?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Alison answered dismissively.

"Will you call the police?" Chloe asked. "The photos are already taken care of. Mr. West won't see them. It's just that Francesca—what if she talks?"

The experience of being abused by Francesca wasn't something to be proud of. Chloe guessed Alison was hiding the orphanage situation from Oliver because she didn't want him to know about this dark past.

Alison gave the same answer. "You'll find out soon enough."

Chloe looked at her suspiciously. "What exactly are you plotting? Oh, do you have Francesca's phone?"

Alison nodded. Just as Chloe was about to ask more, a buzzing sound like bees came from the air.

Both looked up at the same time and saw several drones flying closer, hovering above the orphanage.

Chloe frowned. "They seem to be filming. Are there social media people around?"

She rolled up her sleeves unhappily and charged outside. "Crazy! What are they filming? Don't they understand privacy!"

At the gate, Chloe got a shock—there were actually a lot of reporters!

And a large group of cars was heading toward the orphanage.

Chloe didn't dare open the gate and ran back to Alison. "There are so many people outside!"

Alison nodded calmly and told the temporary workers to bring the playing children back inside the house. She said to Chloe and the other confused people, "Someone reported me for illegally imprisoning Francesca and abusing orphans. The trouble is coming for me. You should all go inside too. I'll handle this."