Chapter 5

"Welcome to Casa de Lujuria — a place where your hidden desire is unleashed, like a pleasure in paradise," Mist said with a smile on her face.

Carnation dashed to the end of the platform, grabbed the railings, and gazed around the massive hall in excitement. This was most likely the largest hall she had ever seen! She did not even consider Casa de Lujuria to be this huge. She peered beneath the platform and noticed the LED DJ booth between the twin grand staircases; the color of the DJ booth alternates between pink, light blue, and black. A rectangular stage with two circular stages glued on both sides of the rectangular stage can be found at the far end of the hall. There are poles in the middle of the round stages, and white lounges and lumen LED tables are found near the stage.

"Obviously... That's the stage," Mist said, pointing to the stage's location. "The lounges found below are specified for the regular members of the Casa de Lujuria. There is a VIP lounge over there." Mist pointed again, and Carnation's eyes immediately followed. The VIP section and the platform where they are standing are both on the second floor of the hall. However, from where they were standing, she couldn't see a way to the VIP area. There were no other options besides the stairs and the entrance behind her and Mist, because the entire platform was surrounded by walls.

"Come on, I'll show you some more. Let's go!" Mist invited her, holding her hand and pulling her down the staircase. Mist couldn't stop talking about how expensive the nightclub was, and how expensive the things in the nightclub were; what type of materials they were made of, what country they were made in, and who the famous artist had created the piece as they walked around the main floor.

'Maybe she's just really proud of her older brother,' Carnation thought as she continued to follow Mist.

After walking around the main floor, Mist led her to the elevator, which was still found in the main hall. She informed her that Casa de Lujuria has two elevators, one at the reception area that connects to the hotel's lobby and the other that they will use now that connects to the SSL Hotel's underground parking.

"The first elevator was only for the customers with black or pink keycards. While this elevator was only for blue and gold keycard holders. In short, the type of keycard you hold determines which elevator you will use." Mist took out a blue keycard. "To make it clearer... this black and pink keycard is for Casa de Lujuria's customers, while the blue and gold keycard is for Casa de Lujuria's personnel." Mist activated the elevator by touching the blue keycard to the scanner. "This is the elevator you will use when you join the Casa de Lujuria staff."

Mist and her stepped into the elevator, which took them to the third floor—the office floor. They entered a room at the end of the corridor that turned out to be Mist's office. Mist made her sit in the visitors chair when she sat in her chair. She began to explain everything to her, answering all of her questions, and Carnation nearly had a heart attack when she realized what kind of place she had entered.

"Mr. Lust is a member of the Seven Sins Association, which is part of a larger organization called the Underground Society.... And all of our customers in Casa de Lujuria are members of the Underground Society." This was the only thing Mist told her that stayed with her. And she realized only one thing: when she signed the contract, she would receive one hundred thousand pesos.

Carnation placed the paper on the wooden table. She took a deep breath and quickly signed the contract before returning it to Mist.

With a melancholy look, the woman accepted the contract and said, "you can no longer revoke what you have already signed. From today, you are now Mr. Lust's property." Carnation's heart was torn apart by the news. She traded her freedom and pride for the sake of money.

"Here's your signing bonus and keycard." She smiled at Mist and took the white envelope and blue keycard with trembling hands. "Goodluck Carnation," Mist added.

~

"How did you get this money?" Leonora frowned as she accepted the money.

"I borrowed it from a friend," she lied. Her stepmother didn't say anything and just stared at her. Carnation was nervous; did her stepmother suspect she was lying?

She swallowed hard. "Is there a problem?"

"Which of your friends? Sa said they can't lend you money anymore," her stepmother interrogates her. Doubtful.

"Do you remember my college friend RJ? She gave me the money."

"The name was familiar," her stepmother said as she turned away from her. Carnation sat down on the couch and Leonora counted the money she was holding. "How much will Galel receive?"

"That is One Hundred Thousand Pesos; it is up to you to budget for him. Please tell Galel to wait a little longer; I'll pay him in full by the end of the month."

"You appear to be confident, eh? Have you taken on another part-time job?" The question took Carnation aback, but she quickly recovered.

"Yes, in Makati, at a hotel. They're looking for a dishwasher and an assistant," Carnation replied, breath caught in her throat.

"Is that so? When do you plan to begin? Isn't that going to be a conflict with your part-time job at the gas station?" Carnation works at the Congressional Road gas station when she is not at the cafe or not in the convenience store.

"N-not at all... I'm just an on-call, and I can be called in at any time." However, she intends to leave her part-time jobs at the cafe and at the gas station, as well as her part-time job at a convenience store. She intends to write a resignation letter tomorrow.

"Is there even a job like that? Work anytime you want?" Leonora wondered.

"Yes! There is one. This job of mine... Ahmp, it's just like working as an assistant." Lying is like a virus; it spreads extremely quickly. Carnation's lie grew larger and larger as she sought to conceal the truth.

"Does such a thing exist?"

"There already is." Carnation stood up for the lie, she even smiled to persuade her stepmother.

Leonora went home that night to get new clothes for them to wear in the hospital. When Carnation's stepmother returned, she went home to wash the dirty clothes Leonora had left, and then she rested. This is how they set it up so that someone can keep an eye on her daddy in case he needs to pee, drink, or eat.

Carnation wrote her resignation letter the next day, after hanging the laundry she had left in the washing machine the night before. After that, she took a shower and went to her part-time job. Carnation notified the gas station first, then the café and the convenience store.