Leo came out of the convenience store again. He walked close to her and watched her cry for a few seconds, then bent down to her level.
"Erm…" He hesitated to speak. He stood up and gently raised Scarlett to stand upright.
Scarlett fell into his arms and cried. "I… I didn't mean to. It was an accident…" she sobbed harder against his chest, leaving him dumbfounded for a second in a cute, stunned way as the rain began to die down.
"Well…" He paused. "It's okay," Leo said, comforting her without hugging her back. "Your clothes are soaked, and there are some stains on them."
Scarlett looked up, then down at her clothes.
"Take this." Leo stretched out his dad's credit card to her. "Go to the nearest mall and get new clothes."
Scarlett finally stopped crying, but her breaths still came in shaky little hitches: huh… huh… haah… She stared at Leo's credit card in disbelief.
"Oh… wait… you're Leo from my class," Scarlett said slowly, staring at him.
"You didn't know it was me? Like how…" Leo's tone rose, then he exhaled. "You know what? Never mind. I forgot you can buy it yourself with your money." He looked at the sky; the rain had already stopped. Only a few drops fell now.
He walked to his bike, removed the nylon he had used to protect it from the rain, got on, and drove off.
Scarlett watched him leave until he was out of sight, then looked at her phone screen.
"It's getting late," she told herself and walked off.
In Mr. Granger's mansion, Brittney walked down the stairs. Her father, who was in the living room, glanced at her.
"Brittney!" Mr. Granger called out. Brittney stopped. She looked like she had just seen a ghost.
Her mother, who had already heard her husband calling Brittney's name, looked in her direction.
"Stop looking so pale and come sit down here," Mrs. Granger commanded, pointing at the couch in front of them.
Brittney slowly walked to the couch and sat down.
"Ahem!" Mr. Granger cleared his throat importantly. "How has your relationship with Bruce been?"
Brittney interlocked her fingers and squeezed them gently from tension.
"I need an answer now," Mr. Granger insisted.
"Our relationship hasn't grown yet, but I am…" she spoke as fast as she could, but her words were interrupted.
Mrs. Granger scoffed. "You can't even capture his heart, and here I was thinking I gave birth to a smart and beautiful daughter."
"Mom, I tried, but…" Brittney tried to explain.
"Excuse! Excuse!! Excuse!!!" Mr. Granger lost his temper. "Do you want to be like your older sister who divorced a fortune, a connection?!" He questioned in anger. Brittney shook her head in disagreement and bowed her head in fear.
"If you decide to be like your older sister, just remember that she is nothing now," Mr. Granger said. He stood up and angrily walked out of the living room.
"You better find a way to win his heart so that we can have another great connection who can help us anytime, any day," Mrs. Granger said, sweetening her words before she left the living room.
Brittney raised her head in sadness. Tears filled her eyes as she rested her back on the couch.
Mr. Cole walked into the huge family room below Sheldon's company. The family was waiting. He walked to the podium so everyone could see him.
"I know we've all heard the news, and I am personally still confused," Mr. Cole commented.
"If Boss had allowed us to stay and watch over him, this wouldn't have happened," one of the violent-looking guys complained in a sad tone.
"Exactly. Why doesn't he want us to watch over him when he is enjoying himself?" a huge, hefty woman among them asked.
"I know you all are sad about what happened, but we can't wake him now. I think we have to focus on what to do," Mr. Cole suggested.
Blaine, a tall rugged man — the second in command whom everyone respected — raised his hand.
"We should find the killer and punish him or her ourselves," Blaine said with a sophisticated tone. Silence passed through the room.
"We already know the killer is Scarlett Joseph," Venom, a classy lady and one of the respected people in the room, spoke calmly.
"Scarlett Joseph may not be the killer, and that we will find out before the week runs out. If the killer is not Scarlett Joseph, we will blame it on her so that we can take the real culprit and punish him or her ourselves without the police noticing," Blaine gave his idea. The others gave him a round of applause.
"Okay, that's resolved. We should talk about the heir. When will he be here for the induction and ceremony?" Venom questioned Mr. Cole.
"Next month, he will be here. So let's prepare for that day so that we can give him the support we promised his father we would give his son."
"Case closed. We can now leave," Mr. Cole announced and immediately left the podium.
Mr. Cole, Blaine, and Venom stood up first and walked out of the room. They passed through the exit meant only for family members.
When they got out, Venom entered her red Lamborghini and drove off. Blaine hopped into his Mercedes Maybach and sped off. Mr. Cole got into his Aston Martin and zoomed off.
The others bowed. After they were out of sight, they raised their heads and entered their various cars, mostly black.
-What do you think Scarlett is going to do next?
Do you think she killed Sheldon?
Drop your predictions below — next chapter on Thursday.