Chapter 409
His smile was still as gentle and sweet as ever, with that same touch of innocence, but Emily could sense a seriousness and determination in him that she’d never seen before.
Emily knew there was no way she could talk Austin out of it.
The two of them locked eyes. After a long silence, Emily struggled internally countless times before finally making up her
mind.
“The mask in the package is from St. Gabriel Reform Academy,” Emily finally said.
Now that his suspicions were confirmed, Austin felt his worry grow even heavier. He knew Emily had something that St. Gabriel Reform Academy was afraid of, so they would not dare to act rashly.
He thought, ‘What were they after by sending a wired mask?’
Emily could see the suspicion in Austin’s eyes. She bit her lip, then said slowly, “The one who sent the mask wasn’t St. Gabriel Reform Academy. It was Calvin.”
From the very first time Emily met Calvin, she had felt that he seemed familiar, but she couldn’t quite place him. It wasn’t until she saw that familiar mask that all the memories she’d forced deep down suddenly surged back to the surface.
She finally understood where that sense of familiarity came from.
“Calvin is a guest at St. Gabriel Reform Academy.” Emily said quietly.
In fact, during Emily’s two years at the St. Gabriel Reform Academy, Calvin was the only guest she ever had to receive.
Austin’s heart skipped a beat. He’d been digging into St. Gabriel Reform Academy a lot lately. Although he wasn’t sure what Emily meant by “guest,” his instincts screamed that it was nothing good.
Austin knew that when Emily brought this up, she was about to share the secrets she’d been keeping hidden. So he sat down on the edge of the bed, gently holding Emily’s hand, saying nothing but listening.
Austin said before that if Emily didn’t want to talk, he wouldn’t ask. But if she ever wanted to share, he’d listen.
Emily gathered her courage, taking a deep breath before she began to speak slowly. “On the surface, St. Gabriel Reform Academy is a place to discipline the rich’s unruly kids. But in reality, it’s a living hell where they treat the kids like merchandise…”
At St. Gabriel Reform Academy, ten people, who had no one to rely on, would die every year. These people were called Stray Dogs.
Stray Dogs were at the absolute bottom of the St. Gabriel Reform Academy. Teachers and students could mess with them however they wanted.
The more brutal a student bullied one of these Stray Dogs, the bigger the reward they’d get from the teachers. A single sausage. A piece of expired bread. Half of the spoiled bread. Any of these could be a reward.
With a system like that, no matter how tough someone was when they first entered St. Gabriel Reform Academy, they’d eventually be tamed into total submission. Then they became commodities that the academy could dispose of at will.
At first, they were tools for St. Gabriel Reform Academy to make money, catering to the twisted desires of certain wealthy
clients.
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If they were lucky, they’d die early from the torture. Then their bodies would be dissected by St. Gabriel Reform Academy, and their organs would be sold off for a hefty profit.
If they weren’t so lucky and happened to be a match for some guest’s organ needs while still alive, they’d be snatched away and dissected for organs on the spot.
And then some, somehow managed to survive, completely tamed by St. Gabriel Reform Academy, would be sent back to their families or out into society, turned into the St. Gabriel Reform Academy’s pawns and hidden informants.
Emily had survived in that living hell for two whole years.
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