"Leila, how couldn't you know what I'm talking about? Who could have sneaked into Sheryl's room in the middle of the night?" Melissa said with a scornful smile.
Nancy had found Sheryl in a breathless stage this morning. Leila must have sneaked into Sheryl's room in the middle of the night, so Melissa decided to trick her.
Leila panicked as she thought that Melissa had known about her crime.
"Aunt Melissa, I'm sorry. Please don't tell others. I'm begging you," Leila confessed immediately, too scared to lie. Unable to stop herself, Leila began sobbing. Her tears were enough to confirm that she admitted to trying to kill Sheryl.
Anxiety and guilt overcame Leila, and she couldn't think clearly enough to tell that Melissa was merely manipulating her. Thinking that she was already exposed, she decided it would be better to confess herself, hoping that Melissa would stay on her side and keep her secret.
Nodding her head in satisfaction, Melissa said, "You can rest assured. I'm not Charles. I don't care about who tried to kill Sheryl."
Then, she added, "But Leila, how can you be that stupid? It doesn't matter that you failed to kill her. But you should have kept yourself clean. How are you going to stay out of this now?"
As if she was ashamed of herself, Leila lowered her head. In truth, she condemned Melissa inwardly, 'Easier said than done. Why don't you do it yourself if you're such an expert? You never had the guts to do it. And now that I've tried it myself, all you can do is lecture me! At least I did something. You coward!'
Of course, Leila didn't dare say such words to Melissa's face. Instead, she bowed her head and listened to Melissa silently.
As Melissa continued, she got more and more excited. "If only we could get rid of her! I wish she'd just die already. She'll never do us any good. What a shame! She got lucky this time."
For the first time since they worked together, Leila realized that Melissa was just as vicious as her. She had underestimated Melissa before, it seemed.
"You're right. Sheryl just got lucky. That luck will run out, sooner or later."
That, at least, Melissa could agree with. Having been allies for so long, Melissa treated Leila as a real friend. For now, she could manage to keep her temper. Because of Shirley, however, things had been rather awkward between them lately.
"Charles is already suspicious of you. You need to be careful. You can't confess so easily like you did just now. I asked him to save you from prison before. But I can't do that a second time."
As she warned, Melissa gave her a pointed look, as if she was doing her a favor, and all that she could to help her.
"I know, Aunt Melissa. I'll be more careful." This, at least, satisfied Melissa. Leila's behavior made her feel more superior.
With that, Melissa headed back to her bedroom, her hands resting on her back. Behind her, Leila finally rolled her eyes after holding back during the entire conversation.
But Melissa was right. If someone like Melissa could guess that it was Leila's doing, a clever person like Charles must have already uncovered the truth. Otherwise, he wouldn't have let Nancy say such things to her. From what she heard from Nancy, Charles was dead-set on finding the murderer.
Because of Sheryl, Charles never had a good impression of Leila from the start. After the accident, Leila knew his image of her had become even worse. How was she ever supposed to win his heart?
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