Chapter 114

Sienna took out her phone and snapped a selfie using the regular camera. The photo showed no signs of her face having been slapped. She turned to Leon and asked, “Does my face look like it’s been hit?”

She’d planned to use her bruises against Phoebe, but now she was left with nothing. Leon clutched his stomach with one hand and his chest with the other. He said, “It doesn’t look like it.”

So, Sienna’s beating from Phoebe wasn’t as harsh as it had seemed. Sienna couldn’t hide her frustration. Phoebe had slapped her multiple times, yet there wasn’t a mark to show for it. From the looks of it, people might even think she wasn’t hit hard. But that was not the case. Eyes welling up, she said, “My face still stings.”

Feeling his own pain, Leon was running low on patience and thought Sienna was completely oblivious to his state. He wished she could notice his pain. Her flawless face didn’t look painful at all. Barely holding back his annoyance, he muttered, “I’ll feel better soon.”

Sienna thought, “How can he be so cold?” She thought Leon should comfort her and check on her face. Edith, rubbing her face, joined in. “My face stings too.” She genuinely felt the pain. She wasn’t faking it.

Meanwhile, Frank still seemed dazed from being beaten and yelled at by Brenda. He had no interest in consoling Edith. One of the other young men couldn’t help but say, “Honestly, your faces don’t look that bad. Mr. Harvey and Mr. Jenkins definitely got the worst of it.”

The others nodded, agreeing that Sienna and Edith were overreacting. Judging by the injuries, the men were clearly worse off. While the two girls had been slapped, their faces didn’t show any redness, so it must not be too painful. Although a bit of whining and dramatics were tolerable at times, they could have been more aware of the situation.

Sienna and Edith were speechless. These guys just didn’t get it. They were genuinely hurting. Leon noticed Frank was still lost in thought and snapped, “Hey, Frank, are you still out of it? I told you, Brenda isn’t someone to mess with.”

“She’s ruthless enough to slap her brother in public, let alone you! Now look, she’s even gotten to my sister.” Leon figured that if Phoebe dared to hit him, she must have been influenced by Brenda.

Hearing Leon’s words, Frank finally snapped out of it. His face and hands were bruised and aching. “I just didn’t expect them to be this ruthless.” He’d even felt a bit sorry for Reece before, but now he was the one who’d been beaten up. He asked, “Do you think Reece would’ve gotten the same treatment if he’d been here today?”

Leon scoffed. “I got hit. Do you think that scumbag would get off scot-free? I was just dragged into this because of you guys.” Leon felt helpless. Getting beaten by his own sister was too much. He was certain he’d been targeted because of his association with Reece and Frank.

Then he added, “Honestly, you should’ve invited Herce out here today; if Phoebe wanted to beat someone, it should’ve been him.” Frank nodded in agreement. “I really should’ve made him come along.” It wasn’t fair they were the only ones getting hit. Friends should share everything. He looked at Leon and asked, “What do we do now?”

Besides the humiliation, Frank felt bitter, as if he was losing his connection with Brenda. Leon’s expression darkened. “We’re not going to let them get away with this.” They couldn’t make too big a fuss; it would be far too embarrassing. But they could certainly use this to gain leverage over Phoebe.

Leon said, “Let’s go and copy the footage of when we got hit. If those two want to keep acting tough, I’ll be pressing charges against them.”

For Phoebe, who was newly famous, a video like that going public would be a nightmare. If she wanted to stay in the entertainment industry, she’d have to apologize and back down.

Frank frowned. “Isn’t pressing charges a bit extreme?” Leon rolled his eyes. Too extreme! So we’re just supposed to take a beating without consequence! Look, if you’re into that… I’m not. And I’m not filing charges yet. I just want them to apologize.”

Frank thought about it and finally said, “If you want to hold that over Phoebe, fine, but you can’t touch Brenda.” Brenda was already drifting away from him, and he didn’t want to push her further. Besides, he wouldn’t tolerate anyone mistreating her, not even Leon, his closest friend.

Leon couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “You and Reece are unbelievable.” One got his reputation dragged through the mud by Phoebe and still went crawling back. Frank here was shielding Brenda, even after she’d humiliated him in front of everyone.

Leon added, “Are you two masochists?” Frank shot him a cold glare. “You wouldn’t understand the matters of the heart. So shut up.”

An awkward silence fell over the group, and the others felt embarrassed. These two managed to turn on each other right after getting beaten up. They must have lost their senses.

Leon huffed. “If you two want to keep embarrassing yourselves, be my guest, but I’m out of here.” With that, he stood up, clutching his stomach and chest. He signaled to one of the others to help him as he made his way to the manager to request a copy of the surveillance footage.

Sienna felt a surge of excitement. Leon was on her side and wasn’t about to let Phoebe off the hook. Ignoring her stinging face, she quickly followed him. After a moment’s hesitation, Frank joined them. Edith felt a pang of bitterness as she watched him go. She couldn’t believe Frank was still protecting Brenda, even after getting publicly humiliated. Resentment filled her, and Edith hoped Leon and Sienna would press charges against those two “wild women,” ideally even get them locked up. She got up and followed Frank, her expression tense. The others exchanged glances and decided to tag along.

The manager, who knew them well, took them to the surveillance room when Leon requested access to the footage. The bar had a reputation, and trouble was rare enough that they didn’t usually keep a guard stationed in the monitoring room. The manager pulled up the surveillance footage from the requested timeframe on the second floor and played it back for the group. Then he asked, “Is this the part you want to copy?”

Inwardly, he wondered if Leon had some unusual taste for requesting the footage of him holding Sienna. The manager was an avid gossip, so he knew about the conflict between Phoebe and Leon, along with his siblings.

But when Leon watched the playback, they froze. Even the others behind him were completely stunned. One of them stammered, “How, how is this possible?” Another voice whispered, “Were we hallucinating?” A third gulped and muttered, “Maybe, maybe we’re dealing with something paranormal here.”

Because on the screen, there was no trace of Brenda and Phoebe beating them. From start to finish, the footage showed them calmly chatting and drinking. A short while later, the two women linked arms and walked off peacefully. Not a single blow was thrown, and they didn’t exchange a single word with Leon or Frank.

The most chilling part was when Frank appeared in the footage; his face and hands looked exactly as bruised as they did now. It was as if the beating had already happened. And yet the timestamps on the footage ticked away without a single skip, each second marching forward as if everything had been perfectly normal. It was terrifying.