She didn’t feel ashamed, only frustrated.

But since she was already here, there was no way to stand on her head and make it flow back in.

She made do with some gauze from the first aid kit, got dressed, and walked out of the tent.

Lily Bennett, enduring stomach pain, originally wanted to find Eric Carter to discuss escaping, but to her surprise, he didn’t show up the entire morning.

He was always so elusive. She had no choice but to set the matter aside for now and wait for him to come around and show himself.

There were two circus performances that night, but neither had anything to do with her—she, the little boy John Smith, and another group of older children were not qualified to perform on stage.

Their task was to steal things in the audience, anything at all—wallets, binoculars, pocket watches, rings, thimbles, necklaces, coats, hats. Whatever they could get, they had to steal, even food, but they couldn’t get caught.

So, before every show, Nanny would gather them together and have them warm up each other’s hands.

During the “hand warming,” Eric Carter still didn’t show up.

Lily Bennett couldn’t help but ask John Smith, “Where’s Eric Carter?”

“He’s injured,” John Smith replied absentmindedly. “The manager gave him a month off.”

He curled his lip. “Even if he wasn’t hurt, he wouldn’t hang out with us… What takes us a month to learn, he picks up in a glance. Nanny even lets him skip class with us!”

The other kids, hearing the name “Eric Carter,” all let out disgusted hisses.

No wonder Eric Carter, the most talented person in the circus, was isolated and rejected by those around him.

—Giving privileges to top students doesn’t encourage others to become top students; it only makes everyone else band together to exclude them.

Lily Bennett wanted to ask more, but John Smith tugged hard at her sleeve—Nanny had arrived.

She was a sharp-eyed middle-aged woman, temples streaked with gray, hair in a small bun on top of her head, wearing a gray long dress with a bustle underneath, creating an exaggerated curve at her lower back, and holding a long rattan cane in her hand.

She carried an air of authority; as she walked by, whistling, talking, humming, even breathing all ceased.

“Take out your tools,” Nanny swept her gaze around and spoke calmly, “I’ll check if your skills have improved.”

With that, she began inspecting their pickpocketing techniques one by one.

Lily Bennett instantly felt a chill in her heart.

Even though she’d never stolen anything before, she knew this was like magic—it took a lot of practice to fool others’ eyes, and there was no way to master it in a short time.

Sure enough, when it was her turn, her attempt at picking a wallet was full of flaws.

Lily Bennett swallowed hard and was about to defend herself, but Nanny had already raised the cane and ordered coldly, “Hold out your hand.”

“I’m sorry, Nanny…” Before she could finish, her palm was yanked out, and with a sharp crack, the cane landed hard on her hand.

Almost instantly, a red, swollen welt appeared on her palm.

Originally, she was only supposed to get five strikes, but because she talked back, she got five more.

During this, the two words Lily Bennett thought of most were: stay calm—stay calm, don’t scream, don’t curse back, don’t grab the cane and hit back, stay calm—

After ten strikes, she was in so much pain she couldn’t speak even if she wanted to curse. Her back was drenched in cold sweat, and her palm was red and swollen as if scalded, with blood threatening to seep out.

Nanny put away the cane, tossed her a small jar of ointment, and punished her to stay in the tent—no dinner, no wandering around. “Don’t come out tonight and embarrass yourself.”

Lily Bennett took the ointment, swallowed her anger and said thank you, then turned and walked toward her own tent.

Back in her tent, she immediately found the first aid kit in the pile of dirty clothes, swallowed an ibuprofen, and applied iodine to the wound.

She didn’t have any ointment for swelling and didn’t dare use the one Nanny gave her, so she could only lie on the bed in a daze, counting the time until the medicine took effect.

……

She didn’t know how much time had passed when Lily Bennett was awakened by a rustling sound.

Someone was dragging something heavy into her tent.

He seemed to be limping, his footsteps uneven, and whatever he was dragging was restless, struggling and making muffled “mmm” sounds.

Eric Carter?

Lily Bennett was instantly wide awake.

She didn’t dare get up, afraid she’d misjudged, so she kept her eyes half-closed, peeking out through her lashes.

Sure enough, it was Eric Carter.

The heavy thing he was dragging was actually Nanny.

Nanny’s mouth was stuffed with a rag, and her hands were tied behind her back with rope. She wasn’t slim—she was a sturdy, strong middle-aged woman, otherwise she couldn’t have kept so many big kids in line at the circus.

But Eric Carter grabbed her collar with one hand and easily lifted her, dragging her into the tent.

He not only had inhuman resilience, but also astonishing strength.

It was like a scene from a horror movie—he himself was the protagonist of a horror film.

The air was thick with the smell of sweat and urine. Nanny was so terrified by him that she broke out in a cold sweat and lost control of her bladder.

Eric Carter, however, seemed to have no sense of smell or hearing, ignoring the stench on Nanny and her muffled pleas for mercy. He tossed her onto a chair and tied her up tightly with rope.