Chapter 22
“Gigi’s still in the hospital. How could you be so heartless as to say something like that?”
“Cheryl, we can let the fact that you hired someone to kill us slide. However, you’ve injured Gigi. For that, you have to…”
After listening to their explanations, Cheryl finally understood why they’d come to meet her. Cheryl genuinely believed from the bottom of her heart that Leon, Steve, and Zane were utterly brainless idiots.
“Do you guys not own functioning brains? I’m being framed. It’s the oldest trick in the book. Can’t you tell? Dylan, could you find that driver, please?”
“Of course.” Dylan sent his men out to find the driver.
Then, Cheryl turned back to the three men and continued, “Initially, I hadn’t wanted to give you guys or Giselle the time of day. Although Giselle did try to drive a wedge between us, the main issue was the fact that the three of you believed her without question.”
She pulled out her phone and unblocked their numbers. Then, she made a group chat with the three of them, sent a few messages, and left. Their numbers were blocked immediately after doing so.
“Take a good look at what your precious Gigi has been up to.”
At the repeated pinging of their notifications, Leon, Zane, and Steve began opening the messages. As they watched, their expressions turned grim.
All of the messages were surveillance footage from the Jennings mansion. Whenever Giselle saw them coming over, she would pretend to fall over in front of Cheryl. Then, she would simper and make a few complaints, twisting the facts in her favor.
Leon, Zane, and Steve would then scold Cheryl for it without once doubting Giselle. They protected her unconditionally and wouldn’t listen to Cheryl’s explanations. Watching the video, it was evident that Giselle had fallen on purpose.
The last video showed the gangsters who had tried to rob them back in school reverently obeying Giselle’s every whim. They knew each other well. Leon, Zane, and Steve’s relationship with Giselle had been founded on a lie.
As they struggled to process what they’d seen, Dylan’s men got back to him.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you guys to see the driver.”
The three men got into Cheryl and Dylan’s car, still dazed and confused.
“I can’t explain it. It was like I was bewitched. I listened to that woman because I needed to pay off the debts I accumulated from gambling…”
Leon pulled up a photo of Giselle on his phone and showed it to the driver, asking him whether it was her. He took one look and confirmed it, even showing them the chat records on his phone.
The three of them stared at the evidence of Giselle’s maliciousness. It was like they were being mocked for their stupidity. Feeling as though they had been played, Leon, Zane, and Steve’s humiliation morphed into anger. They vented it out on the driver.
They were embarrassed beyond words as they looked over at Cheryl, who was watching them make a fool of themselves.
“I’m sorry!”
They apologised genuinely to Cheryl for the first time and promised that they wouldn’t harass her in the future. Then, they left. Cheryl eyed them as they left. As long as they remained in their positions, she would be drawn into trouble, time and time again.
She sent a few videos and recordings to their respective families. As for the rest, she left it to Francis and Meredith.
When Leon, Zane, and Steve returned to the hospital, they were met with the sight of Giselle sleeping soundly on one of the hospital beds. They were livid. They called a bodyguard over and sent her over to their newly acquired mansion. Initially, they’d planned to move into it, as it was in a more convenient location. However, it would serve a different purpose now.
Giselle had no idea what was happening, even while she was being dragged to the mansion. She was roused from her sleep by the guards‘ manhandling. Just as she was about to scream for help, her mouth was stuffed, and a sack enveloped her head.
When she could finally see, she was already in a basement. The three men she was very familiar with sat before her.
“Leon, Zane, Steve, what’s going on?”
She’d just rescued them. Weren’t they supposed to be spoiling her like a princess? What was going on here? Had they figured it out? It couldn’t have happened in such a short amount of time. /
“Giselle, I’d advise you to look at these before you speak.”
Leon waved the bodyguards over, who came with a monitor. He played the videos Cheryl sent and showed her the evidence from the driver’s phone.
Chapter 23
1/1
Chapter 23
Giselle knew that nothing she could say would save her. She could only attempt to use her tears to trigger their sympathy. However, Leon, Steve, and Zane had long developed immunity to it. Her crocodile tears couldn’t hide the extent of her evil.
“Giselle, didn’t you love getting injured to inspire our pity? You’ll now be experiencing all of that soon.”
“Aren’t you happy? We’re fulfilling your little kink.”
“Didn’t you say you loved staying in a mansion? Well, now you can stay here for the rest of your life.”
At their malicious words and maniacal smiles, Giselle felt fear for the first time. She shouldn’t have pissed them off.
“I’m begging you, please let me go. I’ll never approach you guys ever again. I’m sorry… I’m really sorry…”
Although there were tears and snot covering her face, Giselle could no longer pay attention to whether she was crying prettily or not.
While she did like staying in a mansion, she could already imagine how nightmarish her life would be here.
The three men left. They didn’t care whether or not Giselle had truly realized her errors in her ways, or whether she was trying to fool them again. It no longer mattered. She would never walk out of the mansion on her own two feet.
Feeling exhausted, Leon, Steve, and Zane hopped onto a plane back to Southstead. They no longer dared to seek Cheryl out. They’d hurt her way too much.
However, the second they got home, they were struck with catastrophic news. Their status as heirs to their respective families had been revoked. They were sent to a rehabilitation center with living conditions even worse than what they’d forced Giselle into.
After losing Cheryl entirely, their families had chosen others to groom into their heirs. With nothing left under their name, the three men collapsed, blood dribbling out of their mouths as they fell unconscious.
While they were unconscious, the three of them seemed to experience the same dream. From a third person perspective, they witnessed Cheryl’s past life.
Two months later, the three of them woke up. However, they seemed to have lost their souls. Initially, they had been brainstorming ideas to beg for their families‘ forgiveness. Instead, they seemed to have lost all their energy and aged a decade in two months, grey hairs taking over.
After a year in the rehabilitation center, they wrote an apology letter to Cheryl on an ordinary afternoon. Then, they committed suicide in the bathroom using their bedsheets.
When Cheryl leamt of their passing, they had
been buried.
Ever since they left, Cheryl had never seen them again. She treated them like strangers.
While Meredith was telling her about it, Cheryl interrupted, “Mom, I’m pregnant.”
Meredith’s attention was immediately diverted to Cheryl’s baby. She discussed how she and Francis were going to Northdale to see Cheryl as soon as they made arrangements for their business operations.
After setting a date, Chery ended the call and sighed. Then, she pushed all thoughts of Leon, Zane, and Steve to the back of her mind.
“Cherry, come and taste this new dish I learnt to make!” Dylan shouted from the kitchen.
“I’m coming.”
