Chapter 52 A Beautiful Girl Fell
Leitana sat on the tall chair, her legs swinging slightly because her feet didn’t quite reach the floor. The whispers about Celeste Rey circled her thoughts like flies she couldn’t swat away.
Who is Celeste Rey?
Did she really jump out a window?
Naked?
Was she alive… or dead?
And what did Ravial have to do with something so frightening?
Her stomach twisted uncomfortably. She stared down at her hands, trying to make sense of it all.
Lafu returned then, carrying a bottle of cold water and a small cup holding something pink and glossy.
“Here, sweetie,” Lafu said, handing her the water first. “You look warm.”
Leitana took it gratefully. “Tank yu."
She sipped carefully. The cold steadied her, easing the strange dizziness in her head.
Then Lafu offered the small cup. “Try this. It’s a strawberry macaron. You’ll love it.”
Leitana studied the delicate pink treat, round, smooth, cream sandwiched in the middle. She had never seen anything like it.
“What… what is dis?” she asked, eyes wide.
Lafu laughed, half shocked, half delighted. “You’re serious?”
Marco leaned in, grinning. “Fancy cookie sandwich. Sweet. Light. Melts in your mouth.”
Leitana nodded.
“Slowly,” Lafu encouraged.
She held it between two fingers, careful as if it might crumble, and took the smallest bite.
Her eyes fluttered shut.
“Oh,” she breathed.
She took another bite, then another, savoring each one.
“Mmm… it good. Real good.”
Lafu laughed softly. “You’re so cute, I want to put you in my pocket and take you home.”
Marco snorted. “Careful. Don’t let the boss hear that.”
They laughed.
Heat crept into Leitana’s cheeks, but she smiled, warmth spreading through her chest in a simple, unfamiliar way.
Lafu reached out, touching her face gently, her expression turning thoughtful. “I’d love to photograph you,” she said. “You’re beautiful. Naturally.”
Marco nodded. “Perfect for a shoot.”
A woman with a sleek haircut and sharp eyes approached. “But she’s the boss’s wife. Why can’t she model?”
Marco snorted. “Because Lafu nearly got her head bitten off for snapping her photo at the charity gala.”
Lafu groaned. “I was shocked I still had my camera and my job, the next day.”
The woman frowned. “Why? She’s exactly what we need for next week’s shoot.”
“What shoot?” Leitana asked quietly.
“Island Earth,” the woman replied. “Raw beauty. Natural. Skin and soul.”
Lafu ran her fingers through Leitana’s long waves. “He won’t agree,” she said softly. “Not him.”
Then she glanced at Leitana. “I gave you my card that night. You never called.”
Leitana’s heart dropped.
The truth rose immediately, He tore it up in front of me but she swallowed it down. She didn’t want Lafu to feel bad. Didn’t want Ravial to seem cruel.
“Mi… mi lose it,” she said quietly.
The lie tasted sour, heavy in her chest.
She knew it was a sin.
She didn’t take it back.
Lafu nodded easily. “Ah. It happens.”
Leitana glanced around the busy set again, cheeks warming at the skin and bright lights.
“Do you like what you see?” Lafu asked.
Leitana shook her head quickly. “Dey almost naked. It no right. Ungodly.”
Laughter burst out.
Lafu squeezed her shoulder. “You’re so honest.”
Not about everything, Leitana thought.
Stacy smiled gently. “It’s their job, Mrs. Ashbourne. Modeling, clothes, sometimes skin, for magazines and ads. It pays well, but it’s hard work. Long hours. Cold rooms. A lot of waiting.”
Leitana’s eyes widened. “Dis… dis a job?”
They nodded.
“Yes,” Lafu said. “Stressful work, too.”
Leitana nodded slowly, absorbing it.
Then the question she’d been holding back slipped out.
“Hu… who is Celeste Rey?”
The laughter stopped.
Marco’s brush froze mid-air.
Lafu’s hand fell from Leitana’s hair.
Stacy looked away.
The air shifted.
Leitana knew she’d stepped on something sharp.
Lafu broke the silence first. “Um… darlin,” she said carefully, “where you hear that name from?”
“Mi hear people talk,” Leitana said softly. “Dey whisper close by.”
Lafu’s hands clenched.
A broken sound slipped from her throat.
Leitana looked at her, alarmed. “Mi say something wrong? Mi no mean bad.”
Lafu shook her head quickly but turned away, hands on her waist.
Stacy took a steady breath. “No. You didn’t.”
She paused. “Celeste Rey was a model. Very famous.”
Leitana waited, heart pounding.
“She’s dead,” Stacy said quietly. “She passed away two days ago.”
The word hit like ice.
Dead.
Leitana went still. The room felt too bright, too large.
“She… she die?” she whispered.
Stacy nodded.
“Why?” Leitana asked. “What happen?”
Stacy glanced at Lafu, then back. “Police say she overdosed. And it looks like she fell from her penthouse window. Thirty-second floor.”
“She didn’t just fall,” Lafu cut in sharply. “And she didn’t jump either.”
Silence followed.
“We don’t know yet,” Stacy said gently. “It’s still under investigation. But she was found below. Naked. It was terrible.”
Leitana nodded slowly, struggling to understand.
“So… she fall from high place?”
“Yes.”
Her chest tightened.
Then the question she didn’t want but couldn’t stop, escaped.
“Ravial… Ravial get anything for do with it?”
Marco let out a quick, nervous laugh, waving his hands. “Of course not! He’s the boss, big boss of all of us. He wouldn’t hurt anybody like that. Rumors only, honey. People always talk nonsense when a famous person dies.”
Stacy nodded fast. “Yes, just rumors. Internet people love to make stories. Say she slept with sponsors, or with the boss for big jobs. Say somebody pushed her to keep quiet. All stupid talk. No proof.”
Lafu stayed silent, eyes on the floor.
Leitana looked between them. “But… why people say dose tings about him?”
Marco shrugged, trying to smile. “Because he’s powerful. Rich. Mysterious with the blindfold. People get scared of what they don’t understand, so they make up bad stories.”
Leitana nodded, but the cold feeling stayed.
She looked at Lafu. “Yu… yu know her good?”
Lafu lifted her head. Her eyes were red. “Yes,” she said. “She was my friend.”
Leitana reached out, touching her hand. “Mi sorry. Real sorry.”
Lafu squeezed her fingers once, then let go.
“When a beautiful, famous girl dies suddenly,” Stacy said softly, “everyone wants drama.”
“People talk,” Lafu added quietly.
Leitana nodded.
“Mi no like dis,” she whispered. “Too sad. Too scary.”
“You’ve got a soft heart,” Lafu said gently. “That’s not a bad thing.”
Leitana looked down at their joined hands, gripping her water bottle tight.
And she wondered what kind of world she had married into, a world where beautiful women fell from windows, and no one knew if it was an accident… or something much worse.