When she heard the cries of agony from below grow louder, she was so overwhelmed by her emotions that she finally cried out loud.

The fight between the beast and the human on the stage below had ended. This time, a new, even more frightened slave, was thrown into the arena. The man was a debtor who had sold his family out of desperation. He was so terrified that he didn't even get a chance to react when a lion attacked and bit his neck.

Ariana was crying out loud, her heart aching with every sob. "I've lived clean, never crossed the line, never put a foot wrong... Why does life keep kicking me while I'm down?" Her emotions burst forth, a torrent of pent-up frustration and despair.

She couldn't hold it in any longer, not even caring about Bennett standing nearby. Tears streamed down her face as she poured out her grievances, cursing Zayden between her sobs.

Bennett half-listened as she recounted her struggles and cursed Zayden, catching snippets of her story.

Thinking to himself, he muttered, "Rich families sure know how to hold a grudge. Lucky for me, I sorted out my family's mess a while back."

Rubbing his ears, he wondered if all women were this emotional.

Ariana had been crying for ages, wasn't she tired?

Watching Ariana cry, Bennett frowned and remarked in a less-than- compassionate tone, “You're really quick to cry, huh? I didn't even ask you to go to the arena!"

Ariana snapped back amid her tears, "Easy for you to say! I've never faced anything like this before. I'm barely hanging on now!"

After a good cry, Ariana felt some weight lift off her shoulders.

She wiped her tears away, sniffling pitifully, and with a mix of defiance and red eyes, she demanded, “So what's the plan now? Where are you taking me, and what fresh hell awaits?"

She had realized that Bennett didn't intend to kill her immediately, but he certainly wasn't about to set her free, either. Survival became her priority now.

Bennett, pleased with the way things were progressing, clapped his hands cheerfully. His subordinates emerged from the shadows, standing before him with deference.

Casting a glance down at the arena below, he gestured with a wave of his hand, saying, “Take her there."

His subordinates nodded and, without needing to use force, gestured for Ariana to follow.

Just as Ariana turned to leave, her hunger overcame her, and she collapsed, everything fading to black as she lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, in the gloomy depths of Mercy Hospital's underground ward, Sadie found herself once again confined to the darkest corner of the facility. This was the very place where Holden had once implanted a weak heart in her, and the memories alone sent shivers down her spine.

She couldn't help but feel that death would have been a preferable fate to her previous captivity in this wretched space.

She had been here for four days, terrified. It was surreal to her that she had ended up back in this same dreadful place.