On April Fool's Day, the company organized a team-building trip to India. My girlfriend Barbara's assistant Sean insisted on visiting a special temple as soon as we landed. He didn't know that the so-called temple was actually a sex temple. I told my boss this secret to stop Barbara and Sean from going to this temple. But Sean secretly snuck out in the middle of the night. As soon as he reached the temple entrance, six men dragged him into an alley. When we found him, he was lying dead outside the temple, completely naked. After Barbara found out, she blamed him for bringing it on himself. But the day before leaving India, she had someone strip off my clothes and throw me onto a black bus. "You're the one who got Sean killed. If I had gone with him that night, nothing would have happened. You're so evil—you're the one who deserves to die!" I was tortured to death by a group of thugs. When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn on the day Sean wanted to go to the temple. This time, not only would I not stop them, I would encourage them to go.
"Howard, Indian temples are cultural heritage sites. How could they be as chaotic as you're saying?" When I was reborn, all my colleagues had already changed clothes and were ready to go out, but I blocked them at the door. Barbara felt I was making her lose face. She pointed at my nose and cursed, "I think you're just jealous of Sean and me, so you're trying to scare everyone with stories about rapists!" The other colleagues chimed in. "Yeah, all the Indians we've met have been pretty friendly. It's not like what he's saying—that they're all desperate and sex-crazed." "I think he's just jealous. He's afraid Barbara will go to the temple with Sean and they'll get together, and then she won't want him anymore." "Honestly, Howard, have you been to those kinds of places yourself? Is that why you're describing it so vividly?" Hearing these words, my heart turned completely cold. Here, there was a sexual violence crime every three minutes, a woman was raped every twenty-two minutes, and a girl had an abortion every hour. But they didn't take it seriously at all, and they thought it was just media exaggeration. The company had spent big money on a professional tour group for this team-building trip. We stayed in luxury hotels, our tour guide was a highly educated graduate, and the places we visited were all legitimate establishments. So along the way, everyone felt that India wasn't as chaotic as the internet made it out to be. Barbara's assistant Sean had seen online that the temple here was very effective for finding true love, so late at night he insisted on going to see it. Before coming here, I had already found out that the so-called temple was actually a sex temple, surrounded entirely by brothels. Not only would it be dangerous for women to go there at night, even men could easily run into trouble. In my previous life, I had desperately tried to stop this from happening. When they wouldn't listen to my warnings, I went to the company's senior leadership. But my good intentions resulted in my family being destroyed. "Everyone, please stop talking about Howard like that." At this moment, Sean stepped forward and spoke up for me. "Howard, I know you're concerned about everyone's safety. But don't worry—my dad knew I was coming to India, so he specially arranged professional bodyguards for me. Nothing will happen." "If you're really worried about Barbara, then let her stay here with you." Sean was nominally Barbara's intern, but on his first day at the company, people started spreading rumors that he was the company chairman's son. When Barbara heard that Sean wasn't planning to let her go, she immediately panicked and slapped me across the face. "If you don't want to broaden your horizons, don't drag me down with you." Then she turned around and fawned over Sean, "Sean, I have to go with you. It's so late—I'm worried." Everyone immediately started making jokes. "Is Barbara really worried about safety, or is she afraid Sean will find his true love at the temple?" "With so many of us here, why is Barbara only worried about Sean?" The people present completely ignored the fact that I was Barbara's boyfriend and kept teasing the two of them. Sean laughed. "Everyone, stop teasing Barbara and me. If Howard gets upset, he'll probably go complain to Miss Kane again." At these words, everyone fell silent. Barbara's look toward me also became disgusted. "Howard, are you some kind of elementary school student? Do you have to go running to leadership about everything? We're all adults here. If something happens, we can take responsibility for ourselves." The way she looked at me reminded me of the scene from my previous life when she pushed me onto the black bus.
I shuddered and quickly apologized. "I've been watching too many short videos—they've messed with my brain. I shouldn't have stopped you." "But I heard that the fewer people who go to the temple, the higher the chance of finding true love. Do you want to try?" I was just making it up, but unexpectedly they actually believed me. Someone even searched for tips online and found that someone wearing a miniskirt had met their true love there. So the female colleagues immediately went back to change into miniskirts, and the male colleagues also changed into shorts. Then the whole group left excitedly. Watching their backs, I let out a cold laugh. When they got to the temple and discovered that those people didn't even spare the men, I wondered if they'd still be so happy. This group had just reached the elevator when they ran into Miss Kane returning from outside. Seeing their outfits and learning their destination, Miss Kane's face turned red with anger. "Indian women who go out after 9 PM are considered to be consenting to assault. Do you all think your lives are too comfortable or something?" "Hurry up and take off your makeup, change your clothes—nobody is allowed to go out tonight!" Her tone was stern, but Barbara didn't think it was serious. "Miss Kane, you're going a bit too far. We're all adults. We can go wherever we want. You can't restrict our personal freedom." Miss Kane's vision went dark, and she got even angrier. "Fine! I can't control your personal freedom, but I can control your salaries. Anyone who runs out on their own tonight can forget about their bonus this month." They were all working people, so they were quite sensitive about money. Several people immediately wanted to go back, but some were still stubborn and unwilling. "Miss Kane, it was Sean who wanted to go. You should..." "Enough." Sean stepped forward at this point. "Everyone, don't make things difficult for Miss Kane. If we're not going, we're not going. Let's go back to our rooms." Only after he spoke did these people obediently return to their rooms. Having seen enough of the commotion, I was about to go back when Miss Kane grabbed my arm. "Howard, you're the most reliable one among these people. Help me keep an eye on them. Don't let them go out at this hour. If this makes international news, it'll affect our entire company's image." I told her I'd try my best, but these people were all adults, and if they really wanted to go out, there was no stopping them. As soon as I returned to my room, Sean and Barbara were standing inside the door with several people. One of them was asking Sean, "Sean, why didn't you tell Miss Kane you wanted to go? If she knew you wanted to go, she definitely wouldn't have stopped us. After all, your dad is our chairman." A flash of discomfort crossed Sean's expression, but he quickly returned to normal. "We still need to give Kane some face when we're outside. Besides, someone obviously snitched, and once Kane knew, she couldn't just ignore it." At these words, they all turned their gazes toward me, who had just returned. My heart sank. I was about to run when Barbara came over and grabbed my collar. "Howard, you're really shameless. You let us go out, then immediately went and reported us. And you even promised her you'd monitor us. What exactly is your relationship with this Miss Kane?" Sean added fuel to the fire from the side. "Howard, you're not trying to climb the ladder through Miss Kane, are you? What has Barbara done to wrong you that you'd treat her like this?"
His one sentence completely enraged Barbara. Barbara raised her hand and slapped me hard twice. My face immediately stung with burning pain. I kept saying I didn't do it, and I even took out my phone, telling her she could look at it if she didn't believe me. Barbara took my phone and thoroughly checked it. Only after she discovered that I really didn't have any contact with Miss Kane outside of work did her expression improve a little. Sean looked disappointed. "But I really want to see the temple. Barbara, what should we do now?" Barbara thought for a few seconds, then took my phone and sent a message to Miss Kane. "If we want to go, we'll go. I just sent Miss Kane a message saying we've decided not to go. We'll wait until midnight to leave. By then, Miss Kane will definitely be asleep." The remaining people thought this was a good idea. Immediately, someone shared this in the company's small group chat, asking if anyone else wanted to go. They quickly got responses—most people were willing to go. I sneered inwardly. Going out at 9 PM was already dangerous, and they wanted to wait until midnight—as if they were afraid those perverts wouldn't be out. A few hours later, they prepared to leave. Just before going out, Sean suddenly turned to look at me. "Barbara, what if Howard snitches? Should we tie him up?" My face went pale. "That's not necessary, is it? I can just give you my phone." But Barbara nodded. They somehow found a bundle of rope and tied up my hands and feet. After tying the last knot, Barbara crouched down and warned me, "Howard, just bear with it for a bit. I'll be back soon." "I know what you're worried about, but so many male colleagues are going. I won't be in any danger." Then, right in front of everyone, she actually kissed me. Sean's eyes nearly blazed with fire. I let out a cold laugh. Barbara was truly too naive. Those male colleagues couldn't even protect themselves—how could they possibly protect her? Sean's knot-tying technique was very professional. The more I struggled, the tighter the ropes became. So after they left, I shouted for help toward the door, hoping someone from room service passing by might hear me. I had barely shouted a couple of times when the door was pushed open. When I saw who it was, all the blood in my body turned cold. "Sean, why did you come back?" He didn't answer my question at all. He and two other people dragged me into the bathroom and punched me twice in the stomach. "I knew you wouldn't be honest. Even tied up, you're still shouting for help." I quickly explained, "I just wanted someone to untie my ropes. I wasn't trying to snitch." But after I said this, he raised his hand again. "You really think I hit you because I'm afraid you'll snitch? I just can't stand you." "Tell me, what do you have? Why does Barbara like you so much?" "I'm telling you, I've set my sights on Barbara. You'd better break up with her quickly, or I'll ruin your reputation." As Sean spoke, he kept hitting me. I was in so much pain that cold sweat dripped down. I was beaten to the point where I couldn't take it anymore and was just about to say I could break up with her right now. But as soon as I pursed my lips, Sean suddenly grabbed my mouth. "What do you mean pursing your lips? Are you trying to show off that she just kissed you? Damn it, I'm going to ruin your mouth right now so Barbara never wants to kiss you again." As he spoke, he picked up the toilet cleaner from nearby and tried to shove it into my mouth. The pungent acidic smell instantly rushed into my nasal cavity. When I struggled, half a bottle of cleaner spilled onto Sean's body. He immediately screamed, "These clothes are expensive! How dare you!" He kicked me hard in my lower body. I almost passed out from the pain.
Sean said he needed to change clothes and told the other two male colleagues to shove the remaining half bottle of cleaner into my mouth. After he left, one of the male colleagues, Brown, picked up the bottle, and the other one stopped him. "Maybe we should just forget it. What if he reports us to the police?" Brown scoffed. "There's not even a surveillance camera here. Even if he reports to the police, as long as we deny everything, the police can't do anything to us." "Even if this matter really gets investigated, it was Sean who did it first. When that happens, the chairman will definitely protect him. I don't want to offend the chairman's son." The two of them were originally Sean's lackeys, and they were both eager to climb the ladder. When Sean outside urged them a few more times, one of them held my mouth open while the other poured all the cleaner into my mouth. The cleaner was acidic. As it flowed down my throat, I felt like my esophagus was being burned through. Worse than the physical pain was the pain in my heart. I didn't understand. I had never done anything wrong to them at the company, yet they were treating me like this. After they finished, Sean had already changed his clothes. He said Barbara had already called and told them to hurry downstairs. The hands supporting me loosened, and my whole body collapsed on the floor. I looked like I was barely breathing. Brown was a little scared now. "Sean, he looks like something's really wrong. Should we take him to the hospital?" Sean was dismissive. "It's just half a bottle of cleaner. At worst it'll damage his throat a bit. He'll throw it up himself in a moment." "I'm going to confess to Barbara at the temple in a bit. I can't let him ruin my plans." Then he kicked my stomach. I felt something surging up. A few seconds later, I threw up with a loud retch. The cleaner mixed with vomit stuck to my body, making my scalp tingle with disgust. Sean cursed, "Disgusting." Then he took out his phone and took a picture of me. "In a bit, I'll show this photo to Barbara. She definitely won't like Howard anymore." Brown flattered him from the side. "Sean, if you ask me, Barbara probably already likes you. After all, you're tall, rich, and handsome—much more noble than Howard." Listening to this flattery, I almost wanted to laugh. I had already found out that Sean did have some connection with the chairman, but he was just a poor student sponsored by the chairman, not his son at all. And there were no bodyguards secretly protecting him. Thinking of the scene when they would truly encounter those things and be helpless, I felt satisfied. I lay in the bathroom all night before being discovered by Miss Kane who came looking for people. When she saw me like this, she immediately untied the ropes on my body. "Howard, who tied you up? Where are the other colleagues? Why can't I reach any of them?" My eyes immediately reddened. "I'm sorry, Miss Kane. They insisted on going out. I couldn't stop them at all." When Miss Kane heard it was around midnight, her eyes went even darker. She was just about to take out her phone when a call came through. After answering, Miss Kane collapsed on the floor. "Something terrible has happened."
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