From Forgotten Wife To Fierce Queen - Chapter 377: Chapter 377

Clearly, the scrawny old man took her words to heart, locking his eyes on Elara. "Fyodor's wife's got a point—this one's got some meat on her. She'll breed well," he said, making up his mind. "Her it is."
"What do you mean 'her it is'? I'm not a slab of pork on a butcher's block for you to pick!" Elara snapped, grabbing a water cup from the windowsill in a flash.
But thinking a porcelain cup would scare off those men was wishful thinking.
Before the decision was final, the wiry young guy had been waffling. But once his dad chose for him, he got picky.
"Dad, I like this one better—she's prettier," he said, pointing at Serena.
Every guy there had their eyes glued to Serena by now. She was drop-dead gorgeous, like something out of a dream. She could hold her own against any TV star.
The difference was, those stars were out of reach—but this fresh, stunning girl was right here in front of them. Even the curvier one next to her wasn't half bad either.
They used to think Lenore was the prettiest in the village, but compared to these two, she didn't even register. Right then, those men were practically green with envy.
Hearing his son, the scrawny old man shot back. "What's the point? Look at her—she's skin and bones, probably malnourished. The other one's not as hot, sure, but she's full-figured—prime for breeding. Pretty's useless if she can't pop out kids. What, you gonna keep a useless one around?"
As he said it, his eyes slid to Olivia. "Hmph, Fyodor's wife here's pretty enough—look what she produced. One's brain-dead, the other's a worthless girl."
His words sparked a round of laughs from the men. Fyodor wasn't having it—he smacked Lenore again. Lenore took it numbly, her eyes hollow, but her hands clenched tight under her sleeves.
In the end, the young guy went with his dad's pick and gleefully chose Elara.
"Alright, tie her up and take her." The scrawny old man waved, and his son stepped forward with a few guys to bind Elara.
"Get off! Get away—don't touch me!" Elara smashed the cup into the young guy's shoulder. It did nothing but piss him off. He raised a hand to slap her.
"Wait!" Serena blocked it with a pillow just in time. "Hold on—I've got money. I can give you cash, lots of it. Name your price—any amount. Just let us go. Whatever you want, I can pay."
She'd planned to save themselves at first, but this mountain mess was way more twisted than she'd imagined.
Forget escaping without a guide—even getting past this village's layers of blockers was impossible for her and Elara. Their only shot now was stalling for time however they could.
She was dead certain that once she went off the grid, the security company and her family would notice.
As long as her phone wasn't smashed to bits, the security team would eventually lock onto her via satellite. Getting rescued was just a matter of time. Figuring that out, Serena calmed down a bit.
The worst she could picture was getting abused or assaulted by these creeps—but as long as she stayed alive, she'd make it. Alive, she'd get out eventually. Alive, these scumbags who hurt her would pay.
Hearing her, the young guys paused. The wiry one looked at her, greed all over his face. "You really got money? Any amount?"
"Yeah, no lie—I've got tons. Right, Elara?" Serena's voice steadied.
Hearing her calm tone, Elara forced herself to chill too, nodding hard. "Yep, she's loaded—I've got cash too. Whatever you want, we can give it. Just don't hurt us—let us go."
Right then, those guys' lust for money outweighed their lust for women.
"Really any amount? Then I want thirty thousand dollars," the wiry guy said.
"Done—I can transfer it now." Serena nodded, pointing to her phone. "But there's no signal. I need a signal to send it."
"Yeah, yeah!" Elara jumped in. "I've got fifty grand. We can send it all—just need a signal, and it's yours right away."
Seeing the guys perk up at the cash, Lenore's alarm bells went off. "No way—they're lying! They're just regular city kids—their parents are workers, no big money. I'm their roommate—I'd know."
'They can't leave. If they leave, I've got to marry that guy. I can't marry. I need to keep studying. I'm going to make something of myself. I won't be a baby machine trapped here forever. No way!' she thought.
"You know how city folks are—all stuck-up. If they were rich, why'd they be friends with someone like me? To save cash, we ate instant ramen together in the dorm all the time. Don't believe me? Look—" said Lenore.
Lenore grabbed her secondhand phone and pulled up a photo of them huddled around a little pot, eating instant noodles.
Serena remembered that pic. She'd come back late from the lab that day, starving. Lenore was cooking noodles and casually asked if she wanted some, so she joined in.
Elara had been asleep but woke up to slurp a few bites with them. Elara snapped the photo and posted it to her feed. It was meant to capture dorm sisterhood—now it was Lenore's dagger in their backs.
"Lenore, you're disgusting. So disgusting. I hate you," Elara said. For the first time, she felt hate so deep it tore her apart, like she could kill.
Lenore dodged Serena's eyes, ignored Elara's curses, and put her phone away. Cold and robotic, she told the men, "Don't let these two trick you."
"She's right," Olivia cut in. "These girls are playing you. Give their phones a signal, and they'll call the cops or their families. Then we're screwed."
The mother-daughter duo's words snapped the men out of their money daydreams. Besides, if these girls really had cash, they could make them have kids, and that money would end up in their pockets anyway.
With that, the men stopped messing around and ignored Serena and Elara's pleas. They gagged Elara, tied her up, and started dragging her out.
"Elara! Elara!" Serena yelled, blocked by the Barnes family, unable to get through. She screamed at the top of her lungs, "Elara, stay alive—stall for time—stay alive! I'll come save you! Wait for me!"
Smack. A slap landed on Serena's face. Olivia glared at her with a twisted, sick look. "Save her? You're about to have your own fun."
As she spoke, she pinched Serena's face with her rough hands. That look—it was like she was staring through Serena at someone else. "Bet you didn't see this coming—your daughter landing in my hands one day, Paisley."