CHAPTER 3
1371 Words
The ride back to my house felt like forever. My mind was still all over the place. But just as I was nearing home, my phone suddenly rang. It was Katie, my assistant.
“Hello?” I answered, frowning.
“Ms. Leila! Where are you?” she asked, her voice panicked and rushed. And I could hear some noises in the background that I can’t quite comprehend.
“Why? What’s wrong?” I slowed down, feeling a tight knot form in my stomach.
“It’s—it’s bad. You need to come here. They’re—” She didn’t get to finish what she was about to say because the line got cut. I glanced at my phone and saw the screen was black. My battery had died.
“Damn it!” I muttered and broke into a sprint.
When I reached my house and opened the door, I instantly felt it.
Something was off.
I walked inside and everything was in chaos. The furnitures and the decorative vase on the floor shattered into a hundred pieces. My heels crunched over the glass shard as I rushed to our bedroom.
My heart sank.
The closet was empty. The shelves had been cleared out. Our safe was open, and everything inside was gone. Clothes, files, even the personal things I kept hidden—gone. He took everything.
My legs felt weak. I held the doorframe to steady myself.
No. I can’t let this happen.
I turned and ran. There was only one place left to go.
The law office.
…
When I got there, Katie was waiting outside. Her face was pale and her eyes looked freightened as she spotted me nearing the building.
“Ms. Leila! Thank God,” she said, running up to me. “You need to come inside. Everyone’s alarmed. They’re blaming you. They’re trying to frame you.”
“What? Who?” I asked, confused and panicked.
“Just come. Please.”
She dragged me inside.
The moment I stepped in, I felt every pair of eyes in the room turn toward me.
There they were, Marcus and Clarisse, the two person I was edging to see today was finally right in front of me—standing right in the middle of the crowd.
Marcus turned to me, his face falling into that fake, pitiful expression. I can’t believe it took me a long time to notice all of this. Just how blind was I? I’m so stupid!
“Leila,” he said in a calm, disappointed tone. “Why would you do something like this?”
I glared at him, confused. “Do what?”
“You haven’t watched the news?”
I clenched my fist and then I looked up and saw the TV. My face was all over on the news.
"Leila Vaughn, lawyer, under investigation for fraud, gross misconduct, immorality, and several violations of law. Possible debarment."
I read the headline and I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t hear anything. My ears rang and my vision blurred from fury. The lies. The absolute lies that were spread about me! I have always lived a virtuous life, and for this kind of news to break out, it can only be them!
I turned slowly to Marcus, who looked at me like I was a stranger. And then I saw Clarisse in my peripheral vision.
She was smiling. She was clearly enjoying me getting humiliated on my own office. That smug, triumphant smile like she had finally won something she had been planning for a long time.
I don’t know what happened next.
One moment I was standing still, and the next, I had grabbed a glass trophy off the shelf and smashed it against Marcus’s face.
There was shouting, screaming, and people rushing toward me.
Marcus fell, holding his bleeding face, but I couldn’t care less about him.
I turned to Clarisse who was clearly shocked by what I did. You see what you made me do now, huh? And you have the nerve to act scared?!
I threw the trophy aside, and marched up to her with raging steps while she stepped backwards. I didn’t even think. My hand came down across her face with a loud slap making her stumble to the ground.
She was holding her face while trying to steady herself. All the people around us were trying to stop me from advancing forward. Arms wrapped around mine, pulling me away.
“LET ME GO!” I shouted, twisting, trying to break free while Clarisse crawled away stumbling a fews steps just to get away from me.
I was raging the whole time
And the next thing I knew, I was sitting in a small room at the police station.
Two officers sat across from me.
The older one leaned forward. “Atty. Ledesma, what you did back there was an act of violence. Witnesses saw you attack two people. As an agent of law I’m sure your aware of your mistakes.”
I sat back calmly, crossing my legs. “Oh? Did they also tell you why?”
The younger officer frowned. “We’re the ones asking questions here.”
I gave them a small smile. “You’re free to ask. Doesn’t mean I have to answer everything.”
They looked annoyed.
“You could be charged for assault,” the older one said. “Depending on what’s revealed, this could make your case worse.”
I raised a brow. “Interesting. Considering I haven’t been formally charged yet, it feels like a lot of assumptions are being made.”
They stared at me.
I stared back.
I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction. I wouldn’t give them the story Marcus and Clarissa clearly wanted them to believe. I’d rather take the jail time over admitting something I didn’t do.
The officer and I were still at a staring showdown when a knock came on the door. Another officer entered and whispered something to the one doing the questioning.
They both glanced at me, then back at each other.
Moments later, they stood up.
“You’re free to go.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Someone clarified what happened. You’ve been cleared to leave.” They opened the door, showing me that they weren’t kidding.
How the hell did that happen? I was actually prepared to serve some jail time. Who helped me?
Still stunned, I walked out of the station and when I got out, my eyes squinted, not because of the blinding light, but because of the sleek, black luxury car parked just outside.
And most especially…him.
Rafael. What is he doing here? Don’t tell me this is just a coincidence because I’m not in the mood for some fantasy drama going my way.
He was standing leisurely beside his car, dressed in a black tux. Calm. Sharp. Every eye on the street seemed to turn toward him.
He smirked when he saw me and opened the car door. “Thought you might need a ride,” he said smoothly.
I stared at him. “Why are you here?”
“I’ll explain everything. Over coffee. Get in.”
I didn’t move at first. But because people were watching, I didn’t want another rumor to erupt so before they could even take pictures I hopped in his car fast and told him to get in fast.
Rafael slid into the driver’s seat beside me, still wearing that victorious smirk as if he just won some lottery.
I didn’t know what this was, or why he came.
But knowing that nothing comes free in this world, his intentions cant be simple.
I stared at him and he was just smiling, or was he even smiling. I mean his eyes were bright, but his lips were pressed together.
What am I even thinking?
“Quit staring or else I’ll assume you have fallen for me.” He said, turning to me. I didn’t reply to what he said, and my silence seemed to have intrigued him even more.
“You really weird you know that.” He said. I just crossed my arms and waited till we arrive to whatever place he was planning to take me this time.
- Writer
