Filed to story: Seventeen Heartbreaks: When Love Has No Voice
“What do you mean by that?”
Realizing she had just slipped, Florrie quickly became silent, her eyes revealing her panic.
Landon’s thoughts raced as he angrily said, “Something is off about what you just said. You need to come with me to Gracelyn and clarify everything.”
When Florrie heard that she had to go to Gracelyn, she immediately panicked and shook her head vigorously.
“No, no, I was just upset and spouting nonsense. I didn’t mean any of it. I promise I won’t drag you into this again. Please disregard my words. They were spoken in anger. Just forgive me.”
Landon, finally losing patience, snapped, “Just go. I can’t stand you.”
Florrie quickly nodded, her eyes still holding a flicker of resentment as she hurried away.
Florrie then sought out Charli.
Charli, having been paid off by Florrie, wanted no further involvement with her.
Despite this, Florrie insisted on dragging Charli along.
Infuriated, Charli snapped, “What do you want?”
Florrie slapped Charli across the face. Her voice dripped with resentment as she asked, “Did you tell Leila the truth, you bitch?”
Holding her cheek, Charli responded with wide, angry eyes, “Why are you accusing me? I have nothing to do with this!”
Florrie scoffed.
“Only you can tell if you’re involved. Maybe you were scared Leila would punish you, so you sabotaged my plan by telling her everything.”
“Sabotaged?” Charli was taken aback by the revelation but felt a sense of relief. Leila had mentioned that she hadn’t seen Landon, much less had anything to do with him, but her demeanor was clearly off.
Charli had sensed something was wrong, but she never expected the plan had failed. Then why did Leila react that way?
Seeing Charli’s hesitation, Florrie grew more certain of her suspicions. She grabbed Charli’s hand.
“I’ll give you a choice. Either give me back the money, or I’ll reveal everything to Leila. Not just that, I’ll also go to Gracelyn with the truth.”
Charli panicked, more outraged than scared.
“I don’t know why things have turned out this way. I have nothing to do with it! Plus, you owed me that money. If you hadn’t kept me here that year, I wouldn’t have missed my last chance to see my mother.”
Florrie responded coldly.
“Your personal issues aren’t my problem. You took my money and didn’t follow through.”
Florrie’s tight grip nearly twisted Charli’s hand out of socket.
Though Charli knew Florrie was being unfair, she felt utterly trapped.
At her limit, Charli clenched her teeth and conceded.
“I can tell you about Miss Nixon’s strange demeanor when she came back. I have a hunch about what really went down.”
Upon hearing this, Florrie loosened her hold on Charli, smiling menacingly.
“If you’re lying, you’ll regret it. Understood?”
Charli nodded, her lip quivering. She then shared nearly everything about her recent exchange with Leila, carefully leaving out certain details.
“Miss Nixon mentioned she didn’t meet Mr. Collins but came across something else. It was something, not someone. She kept the specifics to herself, but she seemed terrified as she talked about it.”
Charli leaned in closer to Florrie, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. She revealed that Leila had been struggling with sleepless nights, tormented by nightmares. But worse than that-Leila had claimed to see something.
However, Charli never saw anything herself. Something wasn’t right.
Charli’s eyes darted around as if wary of unseen ears.
“I never saw anything myself, but-I think Leila is possessed.”
A chill ghosted over Florrie’s skin despite the afternoon sun. She exhaled sharply, masking her unease with irritation.
“Don’t be ridiculous. That’s impossible.”
Charli smirked at her skepticism.
“Impossible? Then why did you help Mrs. White bring in that spiritual advisor last time?”
Florrie’s expression hardened.
“You wouldn’t understand, I don’t believe in it-but I respect it.” Her voice was firm, edged with warning.
“And I won’t have you spreading nonsense.”
Charli’s smirk twisted into something colder.
“Anyway, if you try to report me, I’ll make sure Mrs. White knows all about your little schemes.”
For a moment, Florrie just stared at Charli, frustration curling in her gut.
Worse, Florrie couldn’t shake the gnawing doubt settling in her mind. As much as she wanted to dismiss Charli’s words, a deeper instinct told her there might be some truth to them. After all, Calvert had been acting strangely as well-whispering fevered apologies to no one, insisting it wasn’t his fault, begging unseen forces not to come for him. Could such spirits truly exist?
Florrie had never been one to believe in the supernatural, yet the weight of her own misdeeds made it harder to ignore the possibility. She had bribed the spiritual advisor, twisting the tragedy of the young White heir’s death for her own gain. What if the boy’s spirit had noticed? What if retribution was looming? Florrie refused to dwell on the thought any longer. She snapped out of her thoughts and turned a sharp glare on Charli, her voice edged with warning.
“Leila might act easygoing, but don’t fool yourself-she’s calculating. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up as nothing more than a pawn manipulated by her.” Without waiting for a response, Florrie spun on her heel and walked away.
Charli exhaled sharply, rubbing her wrist where Florrie had gripped it a little too tightly. Watching Florrie’s retreating figure, Charli felt a bitter taste rise in her throat. Manipulation? Maybe. But at least Leila never belittled her. At least Leila treated her like a person, not an inconvenience. Florrie had no right to pass judgment.
Squaring her shoulders, Charli made her way back to Leila.
The moment Leila saw Charli, she instantly sensed something was amiss and had a hunch about what had happened. She tilted her head, her voice light but probing.
“What happened to your face? Did someone mess with you?”
Charli’s throat tightened. Already feeling wronged, this simple question nearly made her crumble. She swallowed hard and quickly shook her head.
Leila let out a slow sigh.
“I’m not happy about what you did, but I can’t ignore the fact that you’ve been looking out for me. And I won’t just stand by while someone pushes you around.” Her gaze softened slightly as she leaned in.
“If you won’t tell me, then who else is going to stand up for you?”
Charli hesitated and then finally whispered, “It was Florrie. She-she lashed out at me.”
Charli swallowed hard before continuing.
“She thinks I told you the truth and ruined her plans. So, she took it out on me.”
The more Charli spoke, the heavier the weight on her chest became. Tears welled up and then spilled down her cheeks.
Leila’s expression darkened.
“I’ll speak to Gracelyn-Florrie won’t have the power to interfere with the people around me anymore.” Her words were calm, but there was a quiet finality to them.
Charli, overwhelmed by relief, suddenly dropped to her knees.