EPISODE13:- THE WEIGHT BEHIND THE SMILE
630 Words
The next morning the classroom buzzed as usual, but Layla Beaumont sat in silence near the window, chin resting on her palm.
The sun caught her hair, but her eyes looked tired—shadows where spark used to live.
Students whispered about her newest “scandal,” the headlines on every campus phone feed.
She didn’t bother to hide the story anymore. The gossip would only end when something newer arrived.
Leo noticed the change the moment he stepped in.
Yesterday she’d walked into class like a storm; today she looked like rain after lightning.
Throughout the lecture she didn’t take a single note.
When the bell rang, everyone hurried out—except her.
Leo found her later at the basketball court, sitting alone on the low wall, staring at the empty hoops.
The late afternoon wind rustled the trees around them.
He stopped a few feet away. “You skipped your coffee stop today,” he said gently.
She didn’t look up. “Not in the mood.”
He sat beside her, setting his bag down. “You were quiet all day, even for you.”
Layla exhaled, her voice barely a whisper. “My father wants me to apologize to Ethan Blackwood. He says our business depends on it.”
She gave a humorless laugh. “Apparently being a Beaumont means saying sorry even when you’re right.”
Leo listened without interrupting. The breeze carried the faint sound of a game on the other side of campus.
“He wants me to call Ethan tonight,” she continued. “To accept his invitation and pretend everything’s fine.”
She rubbed her temple. “But I can’t stand the thought of it.”
Leo’s voice was calm. “Then don’t. Wait. Let things settle. The world moves faster than pride—today’s crisis becomes tomorrow’s headline.”
She looked at him for the first time that day. “You really think it’ll just fade?”
“I think,” he said quietly, “that people like the Blackwood’s feed on reaction. Don’t give them one.”
Something in his tone—steady, certain—made her shoulders ease a little.
For a moment the court felt peaceful again.
Then Leo’s phone buzzed in his pocket, the screen flashing HAWK.
He rose and stepped a few paces away.
“Talk to me,” he said under his breath.
“Master Leo,” Hawk’s voice came crisp and professional. “The business meeting in Milan went through. And about the Beaumont situation—news reached us. Would you like us to intervene?”
Leo glanced back at Layla, still sitting on the wall, lost in thought.
“Handle it quietly,” he said. “Make sure her family’s contracts stay untouched. No drama, no trace.”
“Understood,” Hawk replied. “The Blackwood’s are making noise, but nothing serious. You don’t need to worry.”
“Keep it that way,” Leo murmured and ended the call.
When he returned, Layla was watching him curiously.
“Business?” she asked.
“Just some family matters,” he said with a small smile. “Nothing that should interrupt good advice.”
She tilted her head. “And what advice is that?”
He looked out over the court, the golden light catching his eyes.
“Don’t let anyone decide your worth—not your father, not the Blackwood’s. The day you believe them is the day they win.”
Layla’s lips curved into a faint smile for the first time in days.
“Thanks, janitor boy,” she said softly.
He laughed. “Anytime, princess.”
For a moment, they both smiled at the shared irony of those titles—each one hiding more truth than the other could guess.
- Writer
