“Yes, he …”
“Enough!” Aaron shouted. Her entire body jerked as her head snapped to the side for relief in her eardrum, which echoed with the sound.
“I agree, it is enough! Let her go!” Leonard demanded again.
Aaron’s twisted grin widened as he savored Leonard’s anguish. “I am surprised you’d plead for her life. Didn’t you claim you hated being deceived into marriage?” he mocked, his tone dripping with malice. “Wished it had never happened?”
Sally’s body was tense at the words, though she knew now they were spoken not out of a dislike for her but because of something far deeper. Still, it wasn’t pleasant to hear. She watched Leonard’s hands clench into tight fists, his jaw tensing.
“I said those things out of fear,” he confessed, his gaze never wavering from Aaron’s chilling stare as Sally observed them both from the corner of her eyes. “My father might have stolen from his workers but he was a far worse man than that. Every time anyone told me I was like him, I fear … I feared loving anyone as I thought I’d repeat his mistakes. But I love Sally now, with every fiber of my being. No matter how hard I tried to resist, I can’t deny it anymore.”
Sally’s breath caught in her throat at Leonard’s confession, her heart aching with longing to be with him. She had never heard him speak with such raw vulnerability before, and in that moment, she felt a surge of love and gratitude wash over her like a wave crashing against the shore.
But Aaron only laughed, a sound that sent shivers down Sally’s spine. “Love,” he scoffed. “I am to believe you were so noble you not only tried to help your father’s victim, but you also sought to shield her from what might be? Your Grace, you have a hero for a husband.” He was taunting them both, it was clear.
“That is the truth, you can believe it or not. Besides, it seems you are the one who lied and deceived, not I. What I did was out of a desire to protect those close to me, what is your excuse?”
“My excuse, if you insist on calling it that, is much simpler. Vengeance. Your father drove mine into an early death, so I thought it only fair if I repay the favor. I thought at first it would be enough to find evidence that you are just like him and ruin you but then I got to know you – this false goodness you display to the world while being the spawn of evil sickens me. And then I see the way you are right her,” he said and yanked on Sally’s body, so she had to take a step backward. “Back and forth, unrepentant. Just like your father.”
“That is not true! I did what I did because I cared for her and I love her, Sally, do not listen to him,” he implored, and she wanted nothing more than to run into his arms and reassure him.
“I’m sorry I doubted…”
“Be quiet!” Aaron hissed, and Sally snapped her mouth shut.
“What are you planning to do, Aaron?” Leonard demanded. “Your issue is with me, not her. Let her go!”
“No, I will not. I’ll tell you what I will do. I’ll take care of all of you,” he declared. “First, her, then you. Just like I took care of your father.”
Sally’s blood ran cold at Aaron’s words, her heart pounding in her chest like a trapped bird. She felt a surge of terror gripped her, threatening to overwhelm her senses, but amidst the fear, she couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of hope stir within her.
Leonard’s eyes bore into Aaron’s, and the shock was evident in them. “My father? What in the world do you mean?”
“Say, Sally. Did ole Leonard ever tell you what happened to his father? That he didn’t die of a heart attack at all but was murdered?”
Sally’s breath caught in her throat as Aaron’s sinister question hung in the air like a heavy fog. She felt a surge of panic coursing through her veins, her heart pounding in her chest as she shook her head, unable to form any words.
Aaron’s smirk widened into a cruel grin as he tightened his grip around her, the sharp edge of the letter opener pressing against her neck like a threat. She winced as the cold metal dug into her skin, a sharp reminder of the danger she was in.
“Is that a no?”
“No,” she croaked, eyes on Leonard, who looked as though he was ready to topple Aaron if not for Sally’s situation.
“What do you know about my father’s death?” he demanded.
Aaron’s smirk widened into a malevolent grin as he stepped closer, his gaze cold and calculating. “I know everything,” he taunted. “Because I’m the one who killed him.”
Sally’s heart pounded in her chest as she struggled to process the horrifying truth. The room spun around her, the walls closing in as she grappled with the enormity of Aaron’s confession.
Leonard’s fists clenched at his sides, his face contorted with a mixture of disbelief and fury. “You’re lying,” he spat. “You couldn’t have...”
But Aaron only laughed, a sound that sent shivers down Sally’s spine. “Believe what you want, Leonard,” he sneered, his eyes glinting with a twisted satisfaction. “But the truth remains. Your father’s blood is on my hands. Do you want to know how I did it?”
The dimly lit room seemed to shrink around them as Aaron’s words cut through the tense silence.
Aaron leaned in closer, his eyes glinting with a malevolent gleam as he recounted the events that led to Leonard’s father’s death. “Before my father died,” he began, “he told me everything about your father’s despicable actions. I swore to him that I would avenge his honor. When his heart gave out, I knew I had to be true to my promise. And I was.”
“After your father’s death,” Aaron continued, “I confronted him. It was an ugly, he tried to deny it all and in the end, threw me out because he knew I didn’t have the evidence to actually take him out. But I knew I had to bring him down, to make him pay for his crimes.”
