Chapter 113
After leaving the bar, Phoebe and Brenda returned to the car. Since they had both been drinking, neither could drive, so Brenda called for a driver, who was about ten minutes away.
Brenda massaged her wrist, laughing. “Finally got to release some of that pent-up anger today!” Beating up those two had felt incredibly satisfying. Phoebe chuckled. “Exactly. Teaching Leon and Sienna a lesson had been quite a relief.”
“I’ll erase any evidence of our little incident.” With that, Phoebe pulled out her phone and hacked into the bar’s surveillance system on the second floor. She removed the footage showing her and Brenda fighting, Brenda taking photos, and their actions after they left.
Using her skills, she spliced the remaining footage together seamlessly and slowed down the frame rate to make everything appear continuous. The timestamps and visuals looked untouched. She scrubbed all traces of the edit, ensuring even a tech expert wouldn’t find any tampering.
Now, anyone watching the video would only see Leon, Sienna, and the others sitting around drinking and chatting, along with Phoebe and Brenda doing the same.
Brenda marveled at Phoebe’s hacking abilities. After watching the edited footage, she couldn’t help but admire Phoebe’s brilliance. Phoebe replaced Frank’s face and hand upon their arrival with a version that showed his bruises. She deleted the scenes where Leon was helped back to the couch after they left, stitching it instead with earlier footage of them all chatting over drinks. Brenda and Phoebe’s departure, which originally showed them heading off to initiate the fight, was edited so they appeared to leave arm-in-arm without causing any trouble.
If she hadn’t been involved in the scuffle herself, Brenda might have believed that none of it ever happened, just by watching the edited surveillance.
Brenda asked, “Are you worried they’ll use the surveillance to make a scene?”
The security camera was at some distance from where it all happened, and since the bar prioritized customer privacy, the audio was purposely minimized. It meant no conversations could be heard, only visuals of people moving. Plus, the second-floor camera was positioned at the top corner of the stairs. It was facing to the side of where they were sitting. The lighting was poor, so only their gestures were visible. However, it didn’t capture their lip movements clearly enough to determine what was being said.
So, while the surveillance could prove they’d gotten physical, it couldn’t confirm that it was Leon and his friends’ trash talk that set things off. After the fight, anything else they said while sitting around couldn’t be read either. So after Phoebe’s edits, there were no lip-sync issues to worry about.
Phoebe remarked, “Those two kicks I gave Leon are going to keep him sore for a couple of weeks at least. He’s too proud to broadcast that he was beaten by me.”
“But Sienna? She’ll spread it under the pretense of concern for him. And with the surveillance camera, she can complain to the Jenkins family.”
Phoebe paused and continued. “I’m not worried about her filing a complaint with the footage, just don’t want unnecessary trouble. Judging by her style, she might file a complaint against us. She will edit the surveillance to share online, framing me as viciously attacking my brother.”
“Getting physical like that could harm our reputation, so there’s no need to leave it around.” This world was full of people who loved preaching kindness without going through hardships themselves.
Phoebe added, “Besides, Leon could copy the footage and try to blackmail me, threatening to report us for assault.” Leon was the most cunning and ruthless of his brothers, always scheming behind the scenes.
If Leon did file a complaint, they’d have to take some responsibility, and unfavorable public opinion about them would likely surface. She wasn’t about to give him that kind of leverage.
Brenda nodded in agreement. “You’re right as usual, Pheebs. It’s best not to leave this evidence hanging around.”
Leon and Frank would rather keep the incident quiet to save face, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t try to use it against them. Although it wasn’t a real threat, it would still be a hassle.
Sienna and Edith might look innocent, but they were malicious. After getting beaten up tonight, they’ll be out for revenge. Using the footage to make a fuss was one way they might try to get back at them.
Brenda laughed with a hint of mischief. “I wonder if they’ll be mad when they realize what happened to the surveillance footage.”
Phoebe smiled. “Oh, they’ll be fuming. And not just that. Leon’s stomach and chest, and Sienna’s face, will keep hurting for days without a single visible mark.”
She leaned in closer to Brenda’s ear and said, “And as for Frank and Edith, they’ll be aching for at least two weeks. Now they’ll suffer?” She couldn’t just leave it at roughing up the four of them. She’d added a little extra twist to the situation.
Before landing those blows, Phoebe had worked a sliver of evil energy into their bodies. It would fade quickly but would amplify their pain, keeping the sensation going in the bruised areas. Whether they went to a doctor or even a spiritual healer, they’d find nothing out of place, no signs of tampering.
Brenda’s eyes sparkled as she gave Phoebe a thumbs-up. “That’s why you’re the best, Pheels.”
Soon, their designated driver arrived, and the two headed home.
Meanwhile, after Phoebe and Brenda had left, Leon’s friends rushed over to help him up. His stomach and chest were throbbing in pain. Once they’d helped him back to the couch, Leon finally snapped out of the shock of being kicked around so ruthlessly by his sister.
Not only had Phoebe dared to get physical, but she’d gone in hard, and her attack was as fierce as it was precise. Had it been anyone else, Leon would have been tempted to applaud her fighting skills. But since he was the one who got beaten up, he felt more than humiliated.
Leon was probably the first person in the circle to be beaten up by his sister in front of his friends. It was utterly humiliating.
Sienna’s face was stinging hot from the slaps Phoebe had given her. When Leon sat back down, she couldn’t help herself and threw herself into his arms, crying, “Leon, my face hurts so much from Phoebe’s slaps!”
Leon gasped as a fresh wave of pain surged through his chest from her impact. He reflexively pushed Sienna off him. Then, he noticed her shocked and hurt expression, which frustrated him even more.
Sienna was far too delicate, a clinging vine always needing someone to protect her. "This pain is killing me. Your face isn’t swollen, but if it hurts, I—"
But Leon had cared for her for so long that he reined in his impatience, saying, “My chest is… have someone bring some ice.” Even just speaking was making his chest ache, and his stomach kept cramping up, making him feel more irritated by the second.
Sienna blinked in surprise at his words, then quickly pulled out a mirror from her bag to check her face. Sure enough, her face showed no redness, not even a hint of a handprint. She was baffled. Phoebe had slapped her hard enough that her face should have burned.
Sienna expected her cheek to be red and swollen. It would have been embarrassing, but at least it would serve as evidence when she went back to complain, making it easy to accuse Phoebe of assault. Then she could upload Phoebe’s violent behavior online, letting everyone see just how rude and aggressive she was.
If Phoebe got detained for assault, she’d be out of the spotlight and unable to appear on next week’s variety show. It would be a perfect win-win… But now, there was no mark on Sienna’s face, which made no sense.