Celine stood frozen, the rag slipping from her hand once more. The hatred in her eyes was suddenly crowded by confusion. She stared at Leo, her gaze sharp and wide. She could not believe the offer she had just heard.
"Have you lost your mind, Leonard?" Celine demanded. Her voice was piercing, sharp and trembling with a painful rage. "Ten years ago, you testified that I killed your mother. I killed your mother!" She emphasized every word through clenched teeth, as if spitting out hot coals rather than mere poison.
Leonard remained silent, his expression flat, like a cold stone wall.
*** Flashback: The Courtroom, Ten Years Ago
The courtroom was stifling, thick with tension. In the witness stand, a teenage Leonard sat upright. His eyes met Celine's in the defendant's chair, but he immediately broke the contact.
"Witness," the Presiding Judge said in a flat, authoritative tone, "are you certain you saw the Defendant, Celine Abigail William, intentionally push your mother down the stairs?"
A silence that felt like an eternity hung in the air.
"Yes, Your Honor," Leo replied. His voice was firm, without a shred of doubt, shattering Celine's last hope.
Celine had hoped from the start that Leo would be her primary defender, her lover. She stared, wide-eyed with shock and devastation. She shook her head violently, unable to process the betrayal she had just heard.
"No. He's lying! That's not what he saw! It was an accident! He knows it! He saw it clearly!" Celine rambled in a panic, desperate to convince anyone in the room.
"Defendant, please remain calm. You will have your turn to testify. Counselor, please settle your client," the Judge ordered.
Celine ignored her lawyer's touch. She shook her head in despair, looking at Leonard with a gaze full of disappointment, agony, and a newly born rage. Her tears broke, falling in rapid succession down her pale cheeks.
*** Present Day
Leo was completely undeterred. His face was a mask, but his eyes radiated a cold calculation.
"Isn't keeping your enemy close the most effective form of revenge?" Leo answered calmly.
Celine gave a bitter sneer, her tears dried up by her anger. "You're offering me a new prison? Only a fool would accept that."
Leo stepped closer. "I will take care of your mother. The best doctors, the best care, unlimited funds. And you won't have to go back to being a whore in a place like that."
The offer struck Celine exactly where she was weakest. She fell silent, torn between her pride and her mother's life.
Celine exhaled and pulled away. "Go away. The shop owner will be back soon."
Celine turned and hurried toward the kitchen, leaving Leo standing alone in the middle of the empty shop, watching the back of the woman who was now a hostage to his love and his vendetta.
In the kitchen, Celine stood before a stack of dirty dishes. Her defenses finally crumbled. Her shoulders shook as tears fell heavily. She sobbed, feeling the sheer cruelty of how the world toyed with her.
Leo stepped out of the shop. His two bodyguards, standing tall by the car, moved nimbly to open the door while the other moved to the driver's side.
However, Leo's steps halted near the car door when he heard voices that caught his attention.
A middle-aged woman named Martha was speaking with Mrs. Brenda, the shop owner.
"Hey, Brenda," the woman said in a sharp, gossiping tone, "don't you know that the girl you hired is a murderer?"
Mrs. Brenda, who was tidying the cash register, replied with a weak, defensive tone, "I know. But she's hardworking and polite. She keeps the place clean."
"Oh, please," the woman interrupted, shaking her head. "A murderer doesn't have a specific look. Plenty of people pretend to be nice when they're actually cold-blooded killers."
Mrs. Brenda only gave a bitter smile, seemingly aware of the risk she was taking but forced to remain quiet.
The woman continued, her tone becoming more excited and judgmental, "I'm telling you, be careful. Besides being a killer, her father was a corrupt official. Just watch out, or she'll steal your money!"
Leonard, who had been about to get into the car, suddenly went still. He didn't just hear the words. He felt the vibration of every cruel whisper aimed at Celine. The stigma attached to her was far deeper and more brutal than he had imagined.
Leonard pulled his hand back from the door handle and slid it into his pocket. The cold look in his eyes was no longer vacant. It was filled with a sharp, dangerous calculation.
He turned briefly toward Mrs. Brenda and Martha.
"That lady is right. The girl you hired, she's the one who killed my mother. My advice is to fire her immediately, before it's too late and you regret it."
Leonard finished his sentence with a convincing tone. Without waiting for a response, he got into his car.
As the car started, Martha rushed toward the window.
"So it was your mother she killed?" Martha asked in a whisper full of curiosity.
Leonard raised his hand, signaling his driver, Axel, to cut the engine. Leo looked at Martha with a forced expression of grief.
"Yes, ma'am. And I came here because I'm not satisfied. She only got ten years, even though she took my mother's life."
Martha immediately turned to Mrs. Brenda with a shocked look. "See?"
Mrs. Brenda, whose face had turned tense, nodded quickly. "Fine. I'll fire her right away."
Leonard finally instructed the driver to move. Inside the car, Leo wore a devious smirk that was only visible to Axel and his private secretary, Martin. The plan is working perfectly, Leo thought to himself.
***
"Celine," Mrs. Brenda called out in a stiff, slightly choked tone, just as Celine finished her remaining chores.
Mrs. Brenda handed her an envelope. "This is your pay, and a little extra for severance." She said the last word while looking down, her face clearly showing a piercing sense of guilt.
"Severance?" Celine asked, her voice catching and her eyes wide with surprise, even though she had suspected where this was going.
"Yes. Starting tomorrow, you don't need to work here anymore. I'm sorry, Celine," Mrs. Brenda said, refusing to meet Celine's eyes.
For a moment, the air felt thin around Celine. However, she was well-trained in hiding her wounds. She had been fired abruptly too many times before.
"Oh. Yes, ma'am. It's okay," Celine replied. Her voice sounded too calm, a forced strength. "Thank you for giving me the chance to work here these past three weeks."
Celine took the envelope and tucked it into her worn bag. Her hands trembled and her eyes began to glaze over.
"In that case, I'll be going now, ma'am." Celine bowed her head, trying to hide the tears that were about to spill.
With steps that felt heavy, dragging, and numb, she walked along the dark sidewalk. Her breath began to quicken, hitching in her throat. Celine tried desperately to hold back the tears threatening to fall from her eyelids.
But it was a futile effort. Her sobs broke through, uncontrollable. Her body shook violently, her steps became erratic, and her knees suddenly gave out. She collapsed into a crouch on the sidewalk, weeping bitterly.
In her helplessness and despair, Celine beat her own chest, as if trying to tear out the source of the pain striking her soul.
From inside his luxury car, Leonard watched Celine's fragile silhouette from a distance. He witnessed the suffering, the total devastation he had just created.
Leo remained silent and expressionless. There was no regret, no mercy, only a cold satisfaction.