I stood at the entrance of Leon's room, my heart beating so loudly that even the silence seemed to echo it back at me. My fingers tightened around the tray of food in my hands. The silver plate rattled softly, announcing just how nervous I was.
I had already turned back once. Then twice.
But I didn't have the luxury of fear anymore.
I had postponed my plan to hurt his nanny. That woman… she wasn't someone I could handle easily. Her eyes were too sharp, too calculating, too experienced. She looked like someone who had survived wars of her own, and I knew I wouldn't be able to deceive her. So I moved to my plan B.
The more dangerous one.
The one that required Leon.
I took a deep breath. I raised my knuckles and knocked softly before pushing the door open.
The moment I stepped in, the warm scent of his room wrapped around me — faint wood, his cologne, something warm and masculine. I took a step forward, then another, slowly swinging my hips like I had practiced in front of the mirror.
I was wearing a royal red gown, soft and silky, hugging my curves in all the right places. My accessories glowed under the light, and my hair fell perfectly around my shoulders.
I made sure I looked beautiful.
I needed him to be distracted.
Leon was standing by the mirror, fixing the collar of his shirt. But the very second he saw me walk in, he froze. His hands slowly dropped. His eyes lifted, and then they didn't move away — not even for a single heartbeat.
The way he stared made my skin tingle.
I swallowed and forced a soft smile as I placed the meal tray down. Then I sat close to him, close enough that I could feel the heat coming from his body.
My fingers moved slowly, deliberately, brushing against his bare skin as I reached to help him adjust his clothes. I watched him through my lashes, locking his gaze with mine, holding it like I wanted to read his thoughts and let him read mine.
He didn't look away.
Not once.
But I couldn't read him. His face was calm… too calm. I could not tell if his look meant suspicion or surprise, or something else entirely.
But whatever it was, I had his attention.
Exactly where I needed it.
"No one has ever protected me like that before," I whispered softly, trying to make my voice shake, to sound fragile, grateful. I let my fingers linger against his chest. "You got hurt because of me, Leon. I don't know how to repay you."
My hand rose slowly to cup his cheek. His skin was warm against my palm.
"I made you something nice," I added gently.
I picked up the wine from the tray and scooped food. My hand shook almost invisibly as I lifted it toward his lips.
This was it.
If he would just drink…
Just one gulp…
Everything would finally end.
My entire body felt like it was praying.
His eyes moved from my face… to the cup I held… then back to my eyes. I held my breath.
Then, slowly, he opened his mouth.
Relief washed through me like a warm wave.
I smiled sweetly as I fed him—
But the drink had barely touched his tongue when everything changed.
Leon's hand moved lightning fast. He grabbed my waist and pulled me roughly toward him. Before I could breathe, before I could think, before I could even understand what he was doing—
His lips crashed against mine.
Shock blasted through me. I tried to pull away, but he held me firmly, strongly… too strongly. His lips moved against mine until I felt dizzy. He ensure I had a taste of what I had just fed him.
My eyes went wide.
I tried to jerk away, but he didn't let me. He held me firmly until I swallowed.
Until every trace of the food went down my throat.
When he finally let go, I stumbled back, gasping, covering my mouth with trembling fingers.
"What have you done!" I screamed, coughing as I tried to get the drink out but I had already swallowed it.
His expression was calm… to calm. A smile sat on his lips — a slow, knowing, victorious smile.
He finished dressing, buttoned the last button with a controlled elegance, then stood up and walked toward me with quiet confidence.
"Why are you afraid to drink what you intend to give me?" he asked softly. Almost gently. "Did you poison my wine?"
I staggered back with every step he took forward.
"I wouldn't have gone this far if you had just left me alone," I whispered, my voice shaking uncontrollably.
Leon nodded slowly, but something in his eyes broke.
Disappointment.
Real. Heavy. Painful.
He looked like someone who had hoped for something different — and I had crushed it.
"You want to leave that badly," he said quietly. "You hate staying here that much?"
Hearing the hurt in his voice pierced something small and soft inside me. I didn't want it to. But it did.
He stepped closer, and I felt myself shrinking backward until my back hit the cold wall.
My head was beginning to spin.
The pill.
The pill was working.
My breath weakened. My knees trembled. My vision blurred.
"You…" I whispered, trying to steady myself, but everything was floating away.
Leon placed his hand against the wall beside my head, trapping me gently but firmly. His face was inches from mine.
"Why would you stay by the side of a man who abuses you?" he asked, voice shaking. "A man who hurts you? Why?"
His voice broke.
Broke.
Just for a moment.
And I saw it — pain. Frustration. Fear. Something else I didn't want to name.
Something like… care.
It hit me harder than it should have. Harder than anything had in a long time. No one had ever cared that I was hurt. Not truly. Not deeply.
For a second, it felt… good.
But good was dangerous.
Good was deadly.
"I wish you came earlier," I whispered, in my heart . "I wish this kind of love found me when I could still feel something for you. But now… now I'm empty, Leon."
He flinched like I had stabbed him.
"Why are you… doing… this?" I murmured, my eyelids falling heavily.
His lips parted.
"Because I—"
But I never heard the end of his words.
The darkness swallowed me whole.
My body went limp, falling forward, but he caught me instantly. I collapsed into his chest softly, the way a leaf falls into water.
And then everything went black.
---
I didn't know how long I was unconscious.
Minutes?
Hours?
A whole day?
When I finally opened my eyes, sunlight was drifting through the curtains, painting the room gold. My body felt numb, like I had slept in one position too long. Slowly, I stretched, letting out a soft tired sigh.
My mind was blank.
Completely blank.
It took a moment before memories tried to return — blurry, disconnected pieces — but nothing formed fully yet.
I turned slightly, looking for something familiar, but what I saw next made my heart race.
Leon was lying beside me.
Shirtless.
Asleep.
His chest rose and fell slowly, rhythmically. His hair was scattered over the pillow. The sunlight kissed his skin, making him look softer than I had ever seen him.
For a moment, my breath caught.
He looked… peaceful.
Almost innocent.
I almost jolted up, but something stopped me. Maybe the calmness in the room. Maybe the strange comfort of his presence. Maybe the memory of him saving me. Maybe the memory of him holding me so firmly earlier.
I lay there watching him, quietly, secretly.
From this close, he was undeniably handsome.
Too handsome.
My eyes drifted to his shoulder — the same shoulder Aaron had hurt when they fought. My chest tightened.
"My fight with Aaron is between us alone," I thought silently. "I didn't want you dragged into my darkness… but now you've stepped into it."
Slowly, carefully, I rose from the bed, making sure not to wake him. My feet touched the floor soundlessly.
I moved quietly around the room.
Then I opened his drawer.
I knew where he kept it.
Leon's journal.
I pulled it out and pressed it against my chest for a moment, breathing deeply before slipping out of his room as silently as a shadow.
Once inside my own room, I locked the door and sat at the desk.
Then I opened the journal.
And I began to write.
Not with my handwriting.
But with his.
I copied the curves.
The slopes.
The spacing.
Every letter exactly like his.
My hand moved slowly but steadily, forming the words — the words that would start a war.
A letter to Aaron.
A letter written in Leon's handwriting.
A letter that could destroy everything.
When I finished, I folded it carefully and placed it inside a small envelope.
My hands trembled.
My throat tightened.
My eyes burned with tears I didn't want to fall.
"I know you will never forgive me for this," I whispered to the empty room. "I'm sorry… but I have to use you to destroy my enemy."
My lashes fluttered as tears fell softly onto the envelope.
"After this," I whispered, "I will pay for my mistakes with my life."
I closed the envelope with a shaking breath.
It felt heavy.
Heavier than anything I had ever carried.
I placed it on the table and pushed it forward slightly, letting it sit under the dim light.
"It's just a matter of time," I said softly.
I felt something shift inside me. Something dark. Something final.
I had crossed a line I could never return from.
And I knew with every part of my soul that this letter… this single letter… would destroy a life.
Maybe more than one.
I leaned back slowly, my eyes unfocused as the weight of my decision settled over me.
"I am Brenda," I whispered to myself, my voice cracking, "and I lost my consciousness three years ago."