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Getting into the casino was surprisingly easy.
The building wasn't well-guarded, and the back door removed the worry of a bouncer. I slipped in without having to hide—no, the main problem I faced after entering was finding my way around the place.
The Cirque Hotel & Casino was a tall building in a shady neighborhood cloaked in neon and shadow, and the interior was exactly like the exterior, if it had been squeezed to fit a building.
I stepped around raised tabletops and slot machines, collectively ignored by everyone in the casino. Young women walked around in lace and fishnets, some lounging on laps, some pushing themselves against poles. Pole dancers weren't a surprising sight in casinos, but this place was too flashy, too rich to be normal. This was a place where company was a commodity, and sex was something to be bought and sold.
The casino smelled like sweat and drunk people—the casino was filled with stimulus, and every corner I turned had a new sight or scent to offer. At first, my lack of concentration was due to the other, more worrying topic lingering in my thoughts like wisps of smoke, intangible and unfettered, but after the first few minutes, I stopped sending entirely. The place was an extravaganza, an overload to the senses, and I couldn't handle it while dealing with my own issues at the same time.
I tried my best not to be seen, though it seemed like a doomed prospect from the start. The outfit I wore didn't allow me to mingle with the general goers, the heavy boots and dark clothing that covered almost every inch of my skin too muted. If it had been just another 'neighborhood', it wouldn't have been such a big deal, but you couldn't hide a shadow in a drug-induced rainbow.
Even getting upstairs wasn't as hard as I would have thought. My lack of planning had been a major worry before I came in, but now I realized that all the concern was in vain. The workers treated me like the invisible man, the people in the casino tried their best to stay out of my way.
It was only after I reached the hotel rooms that I realized killers must be a regular sight in this place.
Not just killers, but all kinds of criminals. This place was infested by members of the Lee clan, maybe other petty criminals from lower rungs on the ladder of the underworld. Once, I thought I saw the same bleached-blond who had held a knife to my neck, but the stranger turned away without a second glance. He couldn't have been the killer if he was ignoring my presence.
I stopped short.
They weren't ignoring me because I looked like a contract killer. I was an easily recognizable face, as the 'Hwang girl' as I had been dubbed by many in the past. They were ignoring me because they expected me. Because the heir expected me.
A shiver crawled up my spine, but I powered through the emotion, suppressing it before it had enough power to cripple me again. I wasn't going to submit so soon. Not again, now that I knew the consequences that came with it.
