It was Robin.
Who else could it have been? She had a fortune to begin with, then multiplied it by doing no real work.
"This is bullshit!" Errol shouted, snarling and hitting the table. "Fucking Bullshit!"
Dr. Wu gave him a withering glance. No one was intimidated by his outburst except for Lara.
"Robin won the auction. Please stop making such a scene."
"Fuck you!" Errol shouted back. "I have it in writing: I am her guardian. You can't give that away. That's not how it works."
"The Institution controls how it works. Not you." was Dr. Wu's grave reply.
He was ready to say something else, but she cut him off.
"You've been living outside your means for a while, right Errol? You never could access Lara's accounts, at least not to the degree you needed. I'm guessing that you planned to just borrow money now, then pay it back when you got her full inheritance. That's been your plan, right?"
Errol shook his head. He didn't seem to like where this was going.
"I have a right to her inheritance. I have this in writing," Errol said.
"As soon as she gets out of here, right?"
There was a pause. Lara saw fear on his face.
"What if we decided it was necessary for Lara stay in here for a year? Would your lenders be alright with waiting that long to get their money back?"
It was the nearest Lara felt to laughing, watching Errol's face as the gears turned in his mind. No doubt, he borrowed the money from some loan shark. Who else would he go to in order to get such a big loan, so quickly, with the collateral being an estate that wasn't even his? What would be the interest on such a loan? And what would happen if he failed to meet a payment?
"I-I would contest it. I would put in to have Lara transferred."
Dr. Wu laughed, but it was more derisive than anything.
"I am running out of patience. Robin won. I strongly encourage you to make peace with that. I would also warn you against doing anything that might upset anyone."
Errol's face turned red. It appeared difficult for him to remain quiet. Although she glad to be rid of Errol at least temporarily, Lara was no less afraid. Having Robin as her guardian was truly strange. Wasn't the girl younger than Lara herself? Adding to Lara's anxiety was the winning bid of eight million pounds that Robin had thrown down so casually. Then there was the strong attraction Lara felt towards the girl, even after all the horrible things that she had put her through.
"Lara, come here and kneel down for me? My feet are getting cold, I need you to keep them warm," Robin said.
As Lara moved to take her demeaning position, Robin addressed Errol.
"I will let you keep the money from her estate. But don't ever bother me about seeing her. I will share, but I hate to be bothered."
Lara felt Robin's bare feet rest in her lap, looking down at them instinctively. She had slender toes, and arches so high that she had to angle her feet a little so the curve of her arches matched the curve of Lara's bare thigh. Robin instructed Lara to rest her hands on top of her feet, to bundle the heat and help them warm even faster.
They were cold, especially around the toes, but they warmed quickly beneath the Tomb Liberator's hands. Lara was revolted to be a human footrest, but her conditioning made resistance nearly impossible.
"Mrs. Liao, I will fully cooperate with you about how Lara should make her restitution. As the Lady of Abington, you should probably live on the estate. It's not far from London - I could send Lara over there, practically on demand, to tidy up for you. Or anything else you need."
Mrs. Liao thanked Robin for her help. Errol was flabbergasted - he wouldn't even get the damn house?!
"Lara, please sign all these documents so we can get out of here."
With a gloved hand, Lara Abington signed her life away. Beneath the smiling faces of her enemies, she agreed to the most audacious terms of behavior once she left. Her property was gone, her family name too. She would leave here as Lara Rabynya, committed to a lifetime of servitude to the very people who had stolen everything from her!
"Stop wasting time."
**
"Stop wasting time."
Silly Lariska, daydreaming again.
She was on her 15 minute lunch break, sitting watching the screen they had in the break room. Whenever she would look at a screen it tended to make her think of the Institution. In fact there were many things that triggered flashbacks, but screens were one of the most annoying ones.
As bad as it was working for Robin, Lara was infinitely happy to be out of the Black Hole.
She washed out her cup. The same pink sludge she had eaten in the asylum was all Robin permitted Lara to eat now, on specious reasoning, but Lara was in no position to argue back. The pink much must have been cheap, but Robin still forced Lara to purchase it from her at great cost, from a drink dispenser in the break room.
The drink dispenser only accepted Pinkcoin, which was the only currency Robin allowed Lara to use.
Walking onto the floor of the salon still gave her anxiety. The place was busy today, with barefoot women sipping champagne and having a good time. A little of it was even contagious. The other technicians were getting large tips. Lara's client was Kelsey Lipton, a local influencer known for her long blonde hair and new age vibe. She had come with a few of her friends, and they were talking about her recent engagement.
As Lara covered her hands in moisturizing oils, her black wedding band tattoo was on display for everyone to see. It was a symbol to the world of her time in the asylum and a declaration that she was mentally unfit to enter into a marriage. The strange amative ink they used for that tattoo was still in full effect. It made giving foot massages quite pleasant, her hyper-sensitive ink responding especially well to prolonged repetitive contact with another person.
Kelsey was resting both feet together on the pedicure stand. She didn't even acknowledge Lara at first, she was so busy talking about her dress.
Lara began massaging Kelsey's feet, to signal the start of the pedicure.
Robin marketed her salon as a place women could come, relax, and practically have their hands and feet worshiped by the technicians. In a market where everyone else was trying to go cheap, Robin went as expensive as possible. The cost of each service was staggering - Lara had calculated it, roughly. Robin insisted on things like organic cotton was to be used as toe separators, never plain cotton, and the disposable pedicure flip flops had to be made of a biodegradable material.
Those were only the beginning of the costs.
Every step of the way, Robin outdid herself in finding a more expensive, more niche way of doing things. It did help with the marketing campaign, and the salon was busy pretty much all the time. The Chelsea location certainly helped things. It was on the exact street Lara used to walk down during her Christmas holidays, looking to purchase the most extravagant gifts for her friends. Now Lara worked there. Full time, in the nail salon, as the lowliest shop girl in the entire place.
Robin gave serious discounts to the shop girls at nearby stores. Because they didn't tip so well, Lara's co-workers would usually have her help these ones. They invariably wore high heels due to various dress codes, and were always very grateful for the massage. Lara's reward was that they would come back to her, sometimes the very next day, saying "can we do 30 minutes this time?"
It was also like an expensive clubhouse for Robin and her friends, right there next to the Chanel store, to prove that they made it and could afford such luxuries. If it ever lost money, Robin could easily afford to take the write-off. In fact, if she were to lose money in this business, she would probably lower her overall tax burden and made the money back somewhere else!
"You were Lara Abington, right?"
Any mention of the name made Lara cringe. Kelsey was looking right down at her, too! Lara had to choose her words carefully.
"Karen Liao is the Lady of Abington, now. I gave her my title. I am just Lara Rabynya. I was formerly a titled woman, but no more."
Lara worked as she spoke, filing Kelsey's nails, careful to shape them perfectly. She had nice nail beds.