A Chance Encounter

Walking down the street, Ava couldn't help but scowl while rubbing her fingers. Over the last three days, the Madam had kept true to her word and introduced her to a tailoring teacher, Master Ruffio, who helped tailor the majority of the dresses for the brothel. At first, Ava had been quite excited at the prospect of learning a proper trade and potentially transitioning into a more ordinary life, but by the end of the first day, she couldn't help but already harbor thoughts of quitting.

It wasn't that she hated the work. It was alright, but she really couldn't stand Master Ruffio, as she found his temperament… quite restraining, to say the least.

But, not wanting to let the Madam down, as she had gone out of her way to get her this job, Ava grit her teeth and stuck to it. Anyways, a little bit of verbal abuse and beatings, in the grand scheme of things, really count for much. Anyways, the Master was an old man, so his hits, although cruel, didn't hold that much force behind it. Rather, what bothered Ava was the Master's attitude. It wasn't quite condescending so much as simply diminishing.

Although it was normalized that apprentices were a form of 'free labor' for their masters as compensation for their mentorship, Ava didn't think that meant that she had to act like both a beggar and a slave at the same point. If that was the case, she had plenty more options.

As for learning…

There had been just about nothing, as after Ava was asked to introduce her stitch on the first day, other than laughing, Master Ruffio said nothing more and simply sent Ava to work.

The Madam reassured her it was the typical practice that tailors were harsh on their apprentices, but Ava really couldn't appreciate such an attitude. It just seemed pointless, but thinking about it from the perspective that an apprentice wasn't an actual relationship, so much as a source of free labor, Ava understood it a little more.

Today, after she had misplaced a bundle of fabrics, Master Ruffio had beat her across the fingers with a meterstick. At the time, Ava was quite tempted to stab the Master with one of the many needles that were lying around but managed to restrain herself. Anyways, she wasn't just representing herself in this situation. It was alright if the Master hated her, anyways she had long since grown the intention to quit, but if the Master stopped supplying to the Foxes Respite because of that, Ava wouldn't be able to forgive herself.

As she walked down the street, Ava couldn't help but ponder. Although she could endure, to be honest, she didn't quite see a reason to do so. If it was just for the sake of the Foxes Respite, or Lily, Ava didn't think that this was what either of the two wanted for her either. If it was for herself… she was fairly confident that she could find another way of life without working at the tailoring shop.

Making this resolution, Ava felt much more comfortable. Anyways, she had money and time. It wasn't a problem if she missed out on some work. Worst case, she would just work in the Foxes Den doing odd jobs for a bit or simply pay. Heading back towards home, Ava couldn't help but stop as she heard the sounds of fighting down an alleyway.

Letting out a slight frown, Ava glanced at the alleyway before shaking her head and deciding to just pass by. Anyways, she wasn't a saint. There was no reason to interfere. But as Ava was about to leave, she suddenly heard one of the voices shout, "You're just a f*cking whore. If my buddy wants you to go home with him, you go home with him."

Pursing her lips, Ava decided to take a look. Although the chances were it wasn't anyone related to her, if there was the slightest possibility it was one of the girls, it wouldn't be good of her to just pass by. Blinking a few times, took a few deep breaths and changed her scowl into a slightly panicked expression, then rubbed her cheeks a little to make them look red. Ava ran into the alleyway while lightly panting.

In the alleyway, as Ava entered, she kept her head lowered so her face wasn't fully visible but kept her eyes trained on the scene in front of her, and disappointing enough, it was indeed someone she knew. In front of her stood two men, one who stood rather tall, at almost six foot, with a bulky figure and an idiotic look in his eyes, who was the one who Ava had heard speaking outside of the alleyway. The other was a slightly shorter man with a lanky figure and a devious look in his eyes. The two of them were standing around a girl, trapping her between them and the wall.

Crumpled on the ground, the girl was in a tender green dress that was ripped at the top, partially revealing milky white skin that the two men couldn't stop taking glances at. Glancing over at Ava, the girl first held a shred of hope that whoever entered would be able to save her, but her eyes quickly turned dull as she realized it was Ava who had entered and there was a possibility she would implicate this young girl who had recently joined their family.

Turning around, the bulky man gave Ava a look before turning back to look at the girl in front of him, while the shorter man gave Ava a scanning look with a ruthless glint in his eyes before turning his eyes back at the girl on the ground and saying in a gruff tone, "It's just a fucking brat. See if you can catch em', Bruno. We can sell em' to the brothel house after we take this girl away. Can count it as a form of compensation, har har."

Hearing these words, Ava's face quickly tensed up, and she froze in place for almost two full seconds before pressing her foot on the ground and starting to run the other way. But in the time she had delayed, Bruno had lumbered over and tried to grab at her.

Tripping on the ground, Ava fell backward and tumbled on the ground, which fortunately enough allowed her to avoid Bruno's forward lunge, bringing her further into the alleyway and pinned between Bruno and the lanky man.

Scrambling off the ground, Ava looked back and forth with panic in her eyes. How had she become trapped between the two parties?