Gabrielle quickly shakes her head.

"My stomach has been quite upset, and I fear I have bad breath," Gabrielle says, "I am afraid Mr. Clifford might find it off-putting, and I certainly wouldn't want to make him ill."

Andrew Clifford frowns skeptically.

"If you don't believe me, you can have a smell," Gabrielle says.

She opens her mouth to allow Andrew to have a whiff. As soon as she gets close to him, he recoils in disgust, Her breath smells strongly of garlic.

"Stay away from me," Andrew says.

Gabrielle looks down to hide her smile.

"Besides, it's not hygienic to feed someone mouth to mouth," Gabrielle says, "Medically speaking, feeding someone with your mouth is an easy way to share contagions. Moreover, some medical professionals believe that AIDS, herpes, and other sorts of STIs can be transmitted orally as well."

"Do you think that I have AIDS?" Andrew asks, offended.

"No, I was just giving an example," Gabrielle says, innocently batting her eyelashes.

Between the garlic and all the talk about infectious diseases, Andrew finds himself losing interest in Gabrielle. He quickly grabs the cup and drinks all of the juice. He doesn't see the smile on Gabrielle's face.

A light turns on outside the door and someone comes into the house. Gabrielle begins to wonder how long it will be before Andrew tries to fuck her.

When Avery gets out of the taxi, a group of luxury cars drives past at high speed, sending up clouds of dust. The fine dust coats Avery from head to foot. She covers her nose and coughs.

The taxi driver is reluctant to drive her any further into the property because he says it's too hard to turn the cab around. He promises her it's just a ten-minute walk. Though Avery objects and offers to pay more, the driver continues to refuse.

Avery expected the place to be mysterious and abandoned—populated only by wild animals. She is surprised by the expensive sports cars. She takes out the phone and looks at the GPS. According to the map, she's in the right place, but she finds herself incredibly confused.

She takes out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter that she convinced the driver to sell her. The driver warned her that there are many snakes in the area, and she knows that snakes are afraid of smoke. The path is covered in muddy patches, and the wind makes an eerie sound as it blows past the bamboo. After the sudden noise of cars, the silence feels oppressive.

Suddenly, Avery feels afraid. She wonders if she was too impulsive in coming to this place. A green snake hangs down from a tall bamboo and sticks its tongue out at her.

It is the Trimeresurus stejnegeri—a particularly poisonous type of viper. One bite can but a person in a lot of danger. She's grateful for the smoking cigarette in her hand; she knows the small cigarette is all that keeps the viper from attacking her.

After several minutes of walking, a Southeast Asian-style villa appears. The front gate is closed and a bodyguard is standing in front of the gate. From the outside, Avery can see the villa's courtyard. The expensive cars that passed her are all parked in front of the villa in the courtyard.

There are two lights on either side of the door and the fence and wall are covered in climbing pink roses. A wooden plaque on the gate reads Clifford. The bodyguard quickly stops her.

"Please show your invitation," he says.

Avery doesn't have an invitation. Thinking quickly, she takes the bullet Andrew gave her out of her pocket. It is a unique bullet: it's made of bronze and the name "Clifford" has been etched into it. The bodyguard hesitates but finally opens the gate for her.

Avery tries to hide her surprise; she had no idea the bullet would let her enter so easily. She doesn't know that the bullet is significant within the Clifford family. She enters the courtyard. To her left, she sees a huge pool. Several women wearing bikinis are laughing beside the pool. There are so many people at the villa, Avery's presence fails to arouse suspicion.

The front hall of the villa is silent. Several maids rush back and forth carrying wine and mixed drinks on silver platters.

"Welcome miss, please follow me," a maid says. She nodded and follow.

The maid takes her through the hall to a flight of stairs. They descend the stairs to an underground bar. Though loud rock and roll music blares from large speakers, the soundproofing makes it impossible to hear it from outside the bar.

The room is dim and the atmosphere is charged with sexuality. Men and women touch and grind against each other in the dim light. If the music stopped and the lights turned on, multiple couples would find themselves in compromising positions.

The guests are too intoxicated and busy dancing to notice her. Though she searches the room, she doesn't find Gabrielle.

"Miss, do you want some wine?" asks a maid wearing a tight, revealing dress.

Avery shakes her head. She's about to ask the maid if she knows of a girl named Gabrielle Peters, but the music stops and two beams of light swirl around the room. One beam stops on the crowd and the other lights up a small stage with a red drum kit.

A man walks across the stage. He glances at the crowd arrogantly and the mole at the corner of his eye appears. He is dressed in casual clothes, and he looks younger and more dissolute than normal. Afraid of being recognized, Avery bows her head.

"Just like old days, I've put it on the bar counter," Andrew says casually, "One person, one vote. Choose the best one."

Like Mr. Clifford, most of the guests are rich men: birds of a feather flock together. As soon as Andrew finishes speaking, the guests begin to crowd around the bar. Avery doesn't know what's happening. She looks at the bar counter and sees a small glass box, illuminated by.a small but powerful light. A variety of precious gemstones are contained within the box.

Avery used to study gemstones to try to curry favor with Evan's grandmother. Even from a distance, she can recognize the gemstones in the glass box: bloodstone, blood amber, cymophane, and red opal. All of the stones are precious and shined to look their absolute best.

The red Opal is the most precious opal in the world, and Avery has heard that it's priceless. The blood amber looks as red as blood itself even in the bright light. Avery knows that the blood amber is incredibly rare. The ancient resin needs to be buried for several million years, and the temperature has to remain consistently around eighty degrees Celsius. If the temperature is too high, the stone will melt and if it's too low it will oxidize. Such a pure-blood amber must be incredibly rare and priceless.

"The bloodstones are pretty and shiny," a female voice says.

"The stones were soaked in a man's blood," a male voice responds.

"Hmm," replies another man, "Isn't Andrew concerned about exposing the stones to too many male hormones?"

Avery understands immediately. She heard that many rich men are obsessed with gemstones and believe they hold certain spiritual properties. Some of them believe the stones need blood to remain pure and retain their powers.

"In my opinion, I think ruby is great," someone says.

"I don't think it can compare with Mr. Clifford's blood amber which looks very pretty and bright," says another person," I heard that he will soak the blood amber in virgin's blood tonight."

"I heard that Mr. Clifford will fuck a strange woman," says a woman.

"It's true," replies another, "The woman is a virgin and comes from noble birth."

"Well, there's no chance for us then," says the first woman bitterly, "But if we have a chance to see how Mr. Clifford fucks the woman, it will be great."

"You think he'll fuck the woman in public?" asks the second.

Avery feels her blood run cold as her heart begins to pound with rage. She can guess that Gabrielle is the woman they're talking about.