Leah Has Gone Mad
1393 Words
From a young age, Leah's parents taught her: "The family must come first."
She had a younger brother.
He was The Evans Family's only son, named Graham by their parents. As far back as Leah could remember, she had been cleaning up Graham's messes.
All the family's money was Graham's.
All the hardships were Leah's to bear.
The parents loved and doted on their son, giving all the best things to Graham, including the generous dowry from The Carter Family when Leah married two years ago, which was entirely taken and squandered by Graham.
Perhaps living under this mindset for twenty-four years had numbed Leah's soul. It wasn't until she received her own late-stage cancer diagnosis that she vaguely realized she was actually a person.
With flesh and blood.
Who could feel pain and get tired.
Who could cry and laugh, a living, breathing person.
-
The Mercedes stopped outside K.L Club.
Leah got out of the car.
She entered, and the bar booths, which had temporarily ceased operations, were in a mess, with broken bottles scattered everywhere. The hall was crowded with people, divided into three groups.
On the left was Graham and his group.
On the right was the party involved in the fight.
In the middle were the bar manager, waiters, and over a dozen security guards. Both fighting parties had some background, so the manager didn't dare make any decisions, fearing to offend either side.
Seeing Leah enter, Graham kicked over a chair beside him and walked towards her, reeking of alcohol and arrogantly ordering: "Leah, I slapped that guy twice. You pay him 20,000, consider it a reward for him."
"Who... who wants your money! I want you to apologize!"
The man shouted.
Unfortunately, his face was too swollen, and blood was flowing from his mouth, making his speech unclear.
Graham laughed loudly, spitting out, "There's nothing in this world that money can't solve! And it just so happens that our family is rich. My ugly and stupid sister's dowry alone was 200 million."
"If we run out of money, we can always ask Frederick for more. He's the CEO of Carter Enterprises Group now, he's loaded. Isn't that right, Leah?"
Graham laughed arrogantly.
Hearing the name "Frederick", the man lying among his brothers suddenly got up. Covering his swollen face, he staggered a few steps and ran straight towards Leah.
As he got closer.
Leah recognized who he was.
Quinlan's youngest son, about seventeen or eighteen years old. He had a rather simple personality, a bit foolish and not very smart.
Graham crossed his arms, growing impatient. He turned to shout at Leah: "Are you going to pay or not? Give him 20,000 as a reward, and settle the bar's bill too. I entertained guests last night—"
"Slap!"
A resounding slap echoed through every corner.
Graham was caught off guard, his whole body tilted, half his face turned sideways. Orson, who had just rushed over, also froze, stopping in his tracks.
Everyone around held their breath.
No one made a sound.
It took several seconds for Graham to come to terms with the fact that he had been hit. He covered his right cheek, slowly straightening up, his eyes wide, glaring fiercely at the woman in front of him: "Leah, you dare to hit me?"
"Slap!"
Another slap.
This time on Graham's left cheek.
This blow made even Graham's lackeys take a few steps back. Orson, standing to the side, also felt a bit scared, staring at this woman who didn't quite match the reputation of Los Angeles' premier socialite. He didn't dare to speak, silently moving to the side.
Graham hunched over.
Humiliating anger surged to the top of his head.
Leah had hit him, and twice in a row. From childhood, even their parents hadn't dared to lay a finger on him, and Leah had always been obedient to a fault, doing whatever he told her to do.
Now she was hitting him.
And in front of so many people!
Graham straightened up, raising his arm to retaliate. But before his hand could reach Leah's face, she moved quickly, kicking him in the stomach and sending him sprawling on the ground.
His back hit the floor.
A bone-chilling pain shot through his body.
Graham couldn't get up immediately. He stared intently at Leah as she walked towards him step by step. He tried to crawl backward using his hands and feet, wanting to escape but failing as Leah's high heel stepped on his foot.
"Leah!"
The man suddenly shouted.
It was hard to tell if it was from pain or anger.
Leah looked down at him, expressionless: "You've been drinking all night, and you're this weak, yet you still want to fight back?"
"Leah, Mom and Dad won't let you off!"
Mom and Dad?
Did she have parents?
She couldn't remember.
It seemed like she didn't, otherwise how could she have gone twenty-four years without feeling parental love?
Leah tilted her head, her gaze falling on Orson a few steps away. Meeting her eyes, the young man immediately shrank his neck, trying to hide, but before he could succeed, he was called out: "Orson."
Hearing his full name, Orson first shuddered, then slowly raised his head, squeezing out an ugly smile on his swollen face: "Le...Leah."
"Come here."
"..." Orson trembled.
He took small steps to comply.
He shuffled to Leah's side, keeping a few centimeters of safe distance. Leah asked him: "Were those injuries on your face caused by Graham?"
Orson nodded.
He nodded several times, then quickly added: "Leah, I'm at fault too. It was my classmates being inconsiderate. They got into an argument with Graham and started fighting. I tried to mediate but failed, and got slapped twice."
"Hit him back."
"Huh?" Orson was shocked.
"Leah, are you even my sister?!" Graham, unable to move on the ground, shouted angrily.
Leah stepped on Graham again.
The pain silenced him.
She looked at Orson in front of her, putting on a kind smile, and said again: "Slap him back."
This smile, in Orson's eyes, was extremely dangerous, like a beautiful but deadly man-eating flower. Just looking at it made him feel scared. Orson fell to his knees with a thud: "Leah, I know students shouldn't come to bars. I've learned my lesson. You've already hit Graham, please don't hit me too."
Leah: "..."
She wasn't trying to stand up for Orson; her relationship with The Carter Family wasn't that close yet.
She simply wanted to hit Graham.
Hitting someone hurts one's own hand, and she had used full force in those two slaps, making her own palm sting. So, she wanted to call someone over to do the slapping.
Never mind.
Leah released her foot and, under everyone's gaze, called the police: "Hello, there's a fight going on in the main hall of K.L Club."
Hearing this.
Graham, lying on the ground, twisted like a worm, raging impotently: "Leah, you've gone mad!"
She actually called the police on her own brother!
-
Leah had truly gone mad.
Half an hour later, when Graham heard her tell the police she refused bail and even suggested they detain him for half a month for rehabilitation, he finally broke down completely.
He was pressed against a chair.
He shouted at Leah as she was about to leave: "Leah, if I'm detained and get a criminal record, it will affect your image as my sister too! You're the widely praised premier socialite of Los Angeles, you've maintained that image for so many years, are you willing to taint it with such a blemish?"
Leah stopped in her tracks: "So you know you're a blemish?"
"You!"
Leah continued: "If you're so self-aware, why don't you just die?"
Graham was speechless.
He stared blankly at the person in front of him. This was clearly Leah, but she didn't seem quite like Leah. She wasn't like this before; she didn't have the guts to talk to him like this.
Graham was about to say something when one of his lackeys suddenly covered his mouth. He wasn't afraid, but they were all sweating for him: "Graham, if you keep talking back, your sister might hit you again!"
The lackey covered Graham's mouth tightly. At least until Leah left the police station gates, she didn't hear that fellow's barking again.
- Writer
