Too Late For Regrets [Extra #1]

Part 24

I easily found out the truth about my husband's involvement in the whole trafficking thing. Before I set off to the secret place where I would find the kids that were auctioned, I asked my Duke to investigate my husband and his possible connection to the organization that ran the auction house. I received his report only after I reached the meeting spot, and much to my relief, my husband wasn't part of the trafficking business.

I could concentrate on the kids I was about to get.

"These are your purchases, Madam," the bitch gestured at the container before us with a gleeful smile. From what I gathered, we were at some sort of trading port, since we were surrounded by many huge containers, and I could hear water nearby.

I wasn't happy about the cunt's tone of voice. She was so shamelessly happy that it got on my nerves. Nonetheless, I told her to open the rusty container, only to nearly faint in shock when I saw that my previous suspicions were correct. There were five kids that were clearly younger than five years old. And one of them was just a toddler. He was being carried by one of the older girls, who still looked no older than twelve. She was probably the green emerald I bought first, since her eyes were so strikingly green I could tell their color even in the dark.

I was stupefied. All of those kids were younger than twelve, and most of them were girls. Those perverted old fucks that were present at the auction were trying to use those children for their own sick pleasure. It was disgusting. I was glad that the man I married wasn't like that. According to the Duke who investigated my husband, his involvement was purely coincidental. He was invited to the event only because of his association with another man, who I knew was his business partner. They were most likely invited together, since I saw that other guy at the auction as well.

'At least I didn't marry a monster', I thought in relief, still unaware of the future that would soon befall me.

"Shall we deliver them to your house, Madam?" the bitch asked casually, as if the kids weren't standing right before us and fearfully listening to our every word. I couldn't take the cunt's audacity anymore and without a warning punched her in the face. She hit the ground with a loud thud, which caused the kids to gasp in pure fear. I sent them a sad smile and said, "It's alright, children. I won't hurt you. I'm here to take you home."

"Don't trust her," the oldest girl said with a snarl. "She's like them. The other lady also said she would help us, but she didn't!" she cried out, still holding the young baby in her arms.

"I know you have every right to be apprehensive, but I'm really trying to help you. I will take each of you back to your families, and if you want, I can arrange for you to stay together for a while so you know I don't have bad intentions. Soon, my men will come here and we'll take you to a safe place then punish everyone involved in what happened to you. I promise you that every person that took part in your misfortune will pay for it."

"How can we trust you?! What if you're like them?" the girl asked bravely, seemingly having taken the role of the leader of the group.

I only smiled at the courageous girl before me. I liked her. She was stuck in a situation where she could have been bought by an old pervert, yet she still put others' safety before hers. "Do you know the Red Empress?" I asked gently.

"Of course, who doesn't?" she frowned in confusion, then her eyes widened up in shock. "No..." she muttered and her hands started trembling.

"Your suspicion is correct. I am the Red Empress. And I'm here to destroy the people who did something so horrendous," I smiled at the kids softly. For a moment, they only looked at me in shock, but then some of them burst into tears and lunged at me. They wrapped their arms around me and held onto my coat so tightly it nearly ripped. I was glad they took it so well, though, since it would make everything much easier.

"Let's get you out of here, okay?" I stroked the head of one of the little boys clinging onto me, then led the kids to the spot where my Chiefs had parked their cars. They brought two trucks that would fit all twelve kids, so I told them to take the children to the nearest safe house while I went with the others to raid the auction house. There were still many people involved that needed to be taken care of.

And that was our job.

I only hoped there would be enough scumbags involved in that shit to get our monthly supply of organs. Our objective was not to pointlessly kill filthy scum, but to repurpose them so they could be beneficial to society again. We harvested their organs and sold them on the black market. That way they were no longer a waste of air and had one final chance to do something helpful.

My only concern was their state of health. They had to be caught alive and tested in many different ways before they could be used. We harvested everything that had value, from kidneys, lungs and hearts to retinas, skin and even hair. Whenever we got women, we shaved their head bald and anonymously donated the hair to a foundation that made wigs for oncological patients. Sometimes we also harvested their eggs so they could be sent to various fertility clinics if there was a demand for that. Of course, we also take the blood and plasma. It's the most valuable thing apart from internal organs.

I wish I could say we were good people who tried to make the world a better place, but we weren't. Our best customers were people who didn't exactly operate legally. We did have normal customers, of course, but since we weren't a legal organization and worked in the so-called underworld, it took a certain amount of effort to reach us. But once someone reached us, we always managed to get what they wanted. We lacked for nothing. We could get our hands on absolutely everything. And all of our merchandise came from people who were useless to society. Criminals, scumbags, perverts... they were all just meat bags that we could cut up and reuse.

I created the Red Empire myself, along with the Dukes, and in just few years we brought it to the point where we were nearly untouchable. We were famous, and the Red Empress was both respected and feared. I liked it that way. Fear kept people from trying to search for me and dig into my life. I could have a normal life while simultaneously running the Empire in absolute secrecy.

As I drove back to the auction house, I received a call from one of the chiefs who was in charge of taking the kids to the safe house. He told me that they'd reached the place already and the kids had been safely tucked into their beds. They wanted to share one room, so they were taken to the biggest room available, where the guys put a bunch of single beds together so the children could sleep peacefully. I told him to keep watch on them and tell the staff working at the safe house to take good care of the kids. I probably didn't need to tell them that, since they knew well what their job was, but I still liked making sure everything was just like I wanted.

When I reached the auction house, everything was over. There were no people there, except for my favorite duke. He smirked at me as he stood proudly in front of the building with his arms folded over his chest. "You think I'd let you face all those assholes in your state?" he titled his head mockingly as if daring me to argue with him.

"You took care of everything?"

"Of course I did. I couldn't possibly let you deal with this shit," he glanced pointedly at my stomach. To be honest, I didn't even think about my pregnancy during the whole situation. It never crossed my mind that I could be in danger or that I shouldn't do something because I was pregnant. My goal was to rescue the children that were trafficked and almost sold to perverts and I intended to achieve it no matter what. It was my absolute priority.

Too bad I forgot about my husband. I still had things to discuss with him and a deal to finalize.

And my husband decided to bother me with that deal when it was the least convenient for me.