Avery takes advantage of the servants' distraction to grab a cellphone. She punches Evan's number into the screen and hits the dial. The brunette servant rushes over and tries to grab the phone from Avery. She fumbles with it and tries to hang up, but her fingers are thick, and she accidentally puts it on speaker mode.

"Hello, is that you, Avery?" Leonie's voice asks. "Evan is in the shower right now. Shall I fetch him for you?"

Avery checks the number on the screen, wondering if she accidentally misdialed, but it's the right number. Why is Leonie answering Evan's phone? She wonders. And why is Evan in the shower—have they been making love? The very thought makes her feel sick to her stomach.

"Avery, are you still there?" Leonie asks. "Do you want to talk to Evan? Maybe I can send a message to you."

"Why do you have a phone?" Avery asks.

"Evan just came back from the gym—he was quite sweaty," Leonie says, pausing meaningfully. "Anyway, if you're calling to complain about the photoshoot—don't. Evan knows what the servants are doing, and he's permitted them. If you just obey them, it'll all be over soon."

Avery hangs up the phone and tosses it onto the bed. She can't believe that Evan is letting Leonie humiliate her like this. In the past, he didn't care if people abused or humiliated her, but he recently started defending her. It seems that protection only applies to his wife, she thinks bitterly. He clearly doesn't care what happens to me now.

"Did you hear that?" the brunette servant asks, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. "Evan was exercising with Leonie. It sounds like he worked up quite the sweat with her."

"I told you guys that Mr. Howel wouldn't come here," the blonde servant says. "We don't have to be frightened of this slut anymore—she's no one now."

Avery sighs deeply and finishes dressing in the gold outfit. She looks down at herself and cringes. The top is like a skimpy bikini: two small triangles of gold fabric just barely cover her nipples, and thin gold straps hold it in place. The straps are so delicate Avery worries they'll snap if she breathes too hard. She tugs on the skirt, trying to cover her thighs, but it's far too short. She can feel the bottom of her ass hanging out.

The blonde whistles and says, "Check her out."

"It really suits her personality, don't you think?" the brunette asks.

The third servant, a tall girl with dark hair, says, "I bet she loves this—showing off her body for the whole world."

"Stop babbling and take the pictures," the blonde snaps.

The dark-haired servant grabs a phone and starts to snap pictures. Avery tries to cover her breasts, but the blonde servant slaps her hands away. Avery glares at the servant and slumps down, trying to make herself as small as possible. The servant clicks her tongue and shakes her head disapprovingly.

"No, no, no," the blonde servant says. "That won't do at all. Pose as you mean it."

She snaps her fingers and Avery watches nervously as the servants close in around her. She shrieks with pain as someone grabs her hair and jerks her head back. Then she feels another pair of hands on her arms. The servants pull and poke and push her until she's standing with her breasts thrust forward and her legs spread wide. They take some more pictures and then bend her over, exposing her ass to the camera.

Angry, helpless tears fill her eyes. She's suffered many humiliations in the Howel mansion before, but this is by far the worst. She digs her fingernails into her palm and closes her eyes. She doesn't want to give the servants the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"Very good," the blonde servant says. "But I think it's time for a costume change."

"Wait a minute," Avery says. "I want to see the pictures."

"If you think you can delete them, you're wrong," the blonde says. "The pictures are already saved in the cloud. Besides, we can always take more."

"I just want to see them," Avery says.

The blonde shrugs and offers the phone to Avery. Avery looks down at the phone and then slaps the blonde across the face as hard as she can. The blonde staggers backward, a look of complete shock on her face.

"That's for your disgusting behavior," Avery says. "You should know better than to treat your superior so terribly. I may have lost my status as Mrs. Howel, but I'm still a Peters, and I'm far better than you'll ever be."

Avery raises her arm and slaps the maid again. The sound echoes throughout the room, and Avery's palm stings. She shakes her hand and smiles grimly.

"And that is for Miss Summers," Avery says. "Please give her my regards."

"You bitch," the maid shrieks, raising her hand to hit Avery.

Avery steps backward, raising her hands defensively to cover her stomach. The blonde lunges forward, but the dark-haired servant jumps between her and Avery.

"You can't hit her," the dark-haired servant says. "Remember, she's pregnant, and we'll be in serious trouble if anything happens to her baby."

The blonde servant lowers her hand and glares at Avery. She's about to say something when there's a loud knock at the door. The servants exchange panicked glances and run around the room, trying to hide the slutty clothing. The brunette grabs a bathrobe and wraps it around, Avery. They clearly think it's Evan, and Avery hopes they're right. The blonde servant opens the door and laughs with relief.

"It's good to see you, Miss Summers," the blonde says.

Avery feels her heart sink. She knows that Evan has stopped caring about her, but deep down, she was still hoping to see him. I started to believe he was my protector; she thinks sadly. But he's just another one of my tormentors.

"Avery, this outfit suits you perfectly," Leonie says. "It's almost like you were born to wear this sort of thing. Yes, that'll be a great live stream for my followers—don't you think?"

Leonie grabs her phone and points the camera at Avery. Avery clutches the robe, pulling it tight around herself. She slowly walks backward, trying to get as far from the camera as possible. As she walks, she slips her right hand into her pocket, sliding the Meyers' green diamond ring off her finger.

"Hello, my darlings," Leonie says. "I have a special treat for you today. I'm going to be live-streaming a fashion show with the one and only Avery Howel. Oops—I meant Avery Peters. She's not a Howel anymore."

Leonie giggles and continues, "Anyway, right now she's wearing that ugly bathrobe, but underneath she's got a surprise. Can any of you guess what she's wearing? I'll give you a minute to send me your guesses, and then we'll have the big reveal. Whoever guesses correctly gets to have dinner with me!"

Leonie pauses and looks at her phone screen as the viewers type their answers. Some of the answers seem to please her, and she smirks to herself. Avery glances at the bathroom door, wondering if she can make it into the bathroom before the maids catch her. Before she can make a run for it, Leonie snaps her fingers, and two of the maids grab Avery's arms.

"You all made some excellent guesses," Leonie says. "A lot of you thought it might be an S&M outfit, but it's not. And she's not naked either—though she might as well be. She's dressed as a common prostitute. And get this—Evan Howel had the outfit made especially for her."

The maids tug on the rope, trying to pull it open, but Avery wriggles away from them. She runs across the room and pulls the ring from her pocket. She pushes the side of the jewel, and the hidden needle springs free. She stabs it into the back of Leonie's neck and jumps away as Leonie shudders and screams.

"What have you done?" Leonie screams.

"I punctured your quepen point," Avery says calmly. "Don't move too suddenly."

"What the hell is a quepen point?" Leonie asks.

"It's a sensitive part of the body," Avery answers. "I've been learning about prenatal acupuncture. You know, we have several important points: the hegu point, sanyinjiao point, quepen point, and Kunlun point. It's incredibly dangerous to touch them—especially for a pregnant woman."

"Why?" Leonie asks, her face pale with horror. "What happens?"

"It can cause a miscarriage," Avery says.

"No, I don't believe you," Leonie shouts.

The blonde servant quickly types something into her phone and then looks nervously between Avery and Leonie.

"I just searched for it," the servant says. "What Avery said is true."