“Do I have to answer that?”

“What does it feel like to sleep with your sister?”

“I won’t answer that. But I will marry you.”

“Thank you,” Adele said with a satisfied smile. “I’ll be staying here from now on. I’ll have my things brought over gradually, but while I’m here I might as well move in permanently. I’ll use Leah’s room from tonight on. She can have the guest room. And tomorrow I’ll go shopping – for clothes, shoes, hats and jewellery. 

“Do what you like.

“We’ll make a wonderful couple.”

Adele said, her voice dripping with confidence as she sipped the last of the wine from her glass, a look of triumph on her face.

—

“I’m sorry, Leah. Truly, I am. I didn’t expect things to unfold like this, the Marquis caught me off guard by insisting so adamantly that I stay here starting today….” 

“It’s fine. This might be for the best.”

Leah replied, though her voice trembled slightly. No matter how hard she tried to stay composed, the quiver in her tone betrayed her feelings. 

“Even if I marry the Marquis, we’ll still be friends, right? You know that, don’t you?” 

“Yeah….” 

“Try to bear with a little noise tonight, OK? The Marquis will be in my room. Or I suppose it’s still your room for now, isn’t it? He’s certainly impatient, isn’t he?” 

“Uh-huh….” 

Leah’s mind reeled, struggling to make sense of Adele’s words. 

What just happened?

The abrupt decision for Zion to marry Adele was bewildering. Losing her room was bad enough, but the thought of Zion spending the night with Adele left Leah completely disoriented. 

Adele’s arrival had turned Leah’s once tranquil life upside down. 

‘What should I do?’ 

Leah bit her lip anxiously as she moved her belongings to the guest room next to Adele’s new quarters. 

‘What am I supposed to do now?’ 

Should she confront Zion and demand an explanation? 

But what if Zion admitted that he truly loved Adele? How would she handle that? 

Adele surely hadn’t come here without a purpose. 

Maybe, without her realizing it, Zion and Adele had been in touch all along. 

‘Perhaps I’ve been a burden to him. Maybe he thought I was too clingy and didn’t know how to turn me down….’

A whirlwind of thoughts raced through her mind. 

‘Does my brother really want to marry Adele?’ 

Just then, she heard footsteps. 

At this hour, all the staff would have returned to their quarters. 

The only ones left in the mansion were Zion, herself, and Adele. 

‘Brother…’

Leah pressed her ear against the door. 

The footsteps stopped in the room next door. 

Then, the sound of a door opening and closing reached her ears. 

‘Zion went into Adele’s room.’

Leah’s hands began to tremble uncontrollably. 

The bed where he had always shared love with her would now become the place where Zion and Adele spent a passionate night together. 

‘No… not with someone else… I can’t bear that….’ 

Though she had once been assaulted by another man, the thought of Zion spending the night with another woman was unbearable. 

She knew it was selfish, but the thought was still intolerable. 

‘I wish Adele would just die…’ 

The horrifying thought seized Leah’s mind. 

‘I just want her gone. I want Adele to die.’

Leah covered her face with both hands, trying to block out the rising emotions. 

“Ahhh! Marquis! Marquis!” 

Adele’s high-pitched moans pierced through the wall, echoing clearly into Leah’s room. 

The rooms were right next to each other, and every sound Adele made carried straight to Leah’s ears. 

Leah pressed her hands tightly over her ears, desperately trying to block it out. 

But no matter how hard she tried, the sounds kept reaching her. 

“Ahhh! Ahhh! Ah! Gently! Marquis, gently!” 

Right now, Zion was with Adele. 

Roughly. Passionately. 

“Aaahh! Ahhh! Marquis! Stop! Please, stop! Aaahhh!” 

How intense must it be? 

The image of Zion embracing Adele with such fervor brought tears to Leah’s eyes. 

“Aaahhh!” 

Adele screamed as if she were on the verge of breaking. 

Then, silence. 

‘Did they quiet down because they realized I could hear?’

Feeling wretched for overhearing, Leah let her tears fall. 

She wiped her face with the back of her hand before collapsing onto her bed and pulling the blanket over her head. 

How long had she been crying? 

Eventually, exhaustion overtook her, and she fell asleep with tear-streaked cheeks. 

When she woke, she blinked in the dim light. 

‘What time is it now…?’ 

The room next door was silent. 

‘Are they asleep?’ 

Still in her nightgown, Leah quietly got out of bed and opened the door. 

Slowly, Leah approached what had once been her room and carefully pushed open the door.  Adele was lying alone on the bed. 

Zion was nowhere to be seen. 

‘Where could he have gone?’ 

Leah, as if drawn by an invisible force, stepped closer to the bed. 

Adele lay there motionless, deeply asleep, her bare shoulders exposed. On the floor beside the bed was her crumpled and discarded robe. 

A dark thought began to take shape in Leah’s mind. 

‘If Adele were to die… if Adele were gone…’

If Adele died, Zion wouldn’t marry her. Leah could stay by his side. 

If Adele disappeared, Zion would belong to her entirely, forever. 

Leah’s trembling hands moved on their own, picking up the heavy gold candlestick from beside the bed. 

Gripping the candlestick tightly, Leah brought it down on Adele’s head. 

Thud! Thud! 

She struck Adele several times, the pillow and bedsheets quickly becoming soaked with blood. 

Suddenly, Leah snapped out of her haze. 

“W-what have I done…?” 

Her face went pale as she stared in horror at the scene before her. 

She had killed someone. 

She had committed murder. 

“A-ah… ahhh…” 

Terrified, Leah stumbled backward. 

Thump. 

Her back bumped into someone standing behind her. 

“Leah? What are you doing here?” 

It was Zion. 

Dressed in a robe, Zion had just emerged from the bathroom and stopped abruptly upon seeing her. 

“Brother…” 

Leah’s wide, trembling eyes were filled with panic. 

Zion’s gaze shifted from the bloodstained candlestick in Leah’s shaking hands to the blood-soaked bed and Adele’s lifeless body. His expression darkened, quickly piecing together the scene. 

“Brother… I… I killed Adele… I killed her…”