CHAPTER 102: YOU, COME FORWARD

"Before I forget, we need to have all the staff checked. My bus was tampered with—someone used a suppressor, and the brake was cut," Grace said, quickly rising to her feet. She had forgotten with everything else going on.

Leo hugged Grace tightly, halting her in her tracks. His hands trembled as he held her, imagining how bad things could have been.

The thought of losing her made his mind go blank. His powers surged, and the air around them thinned, making it hard for Grace to breathe.

She pinched his side. "Are you trying to finish the job? Calm down... you’re stuck with me for life."

Her firm declaration snapped him back to reality, and he quickly reined in the poison surging out of control.

"I’ll hold you to that promise. Or else... I’ll poison the world to the ground," Leo said, voice trembling.

Grace hummed softly, running a hand through his hair to soothe him. She knew he meant it. Everyone who knew them knew—she was the leash on this lunatic.

"Let’s go find that rat," Leo said darkly, releasing her.

Grace nodded. Thankfully, the staff didn’t live in the mansion, so the culprit wouldn’t know she was back yet.

"Tell the butler to bring everyone to the training room. Don’t tell them I’m back," Grace said as they reached the door.

Leo turned to her. "When we find the person, let me handle it."

His voice was so cold that Grace shivered. She even felt a flicker of pity for the culprit, but it vanished quickly.

"Fine. But control your powers. I don’t want to be stuck healing everyone—I’ve got work to do."

Grace relented, knowing he needed to release the anger in his heart—it wouldn’t be healthy for him to keep it all bottled up.

Leo nodded. He knew if he let loose, others could get caught in the crossfire.

Seeing him nod, Grace was filled with doubt—things never went that smoothly.

Leo walked away, his steps echoing through the hallway. As he reached the familiar bend, his footsteps grew heavy, crushing tiny stones underfoot with suppressed fury.

He moved past rows of buildings before stopping at the servant quarters—a three-story apartment.

The butler and the chef, who were about to head to the mansion for the noon meal, spotted Leo at the door—and quickly picked up their pace.

"Sir, we’re about to go prepare lunch," the butler said, assuming that was why Leo was here.

"Call every staff member to the mansion in five minutes. No one is to be absent," Leo said coldly, then turned and left.

The butler and chef exchanged a puzzled glance before the butler rushed inside to call everyone.

"Everyone, to the mansion! You have five minutes!" the butler’s voice boomed through the quarters as he knocked on doors and the chef headed upstairs to call the remaining staff.

"What’s going on? The butler sounded serious and urgent."

"Are we getting an early bonus?"

"Hopefully. My savings are so low I’m breathing air at this point."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd of staff as they hurried toward the mansion.

When they arrived, they found their boss seated in the living room, his expression unreadable. The air around him was so cold that many instantly sensed—something was very wrong.

"Master, everyone’s here," the butler said, arms behind his back as he waited for Leo’s instructions.

Leo rose to his feet and waved for them to follow. The staff obeyed, but the chestnut-haired woman couldn’t help feeling panicked; her eyes kept twitching ever since the butler asked everyone to gather.

She noticed the butler’s gaze fixed on her. While everyone else moved forward, she stood frozen, like a sore thumb.

Taking deep breaths, she hugged herself and followed the others. Each step felt like her legs were weighed down by lead, and beads of sweat formed on her face.

"Are you okay? You look pale," a staff member asked with concern. The sudden sound of his voice startled the chestnut-haired woman, causing her to flinch back and almost lose her footing.

"Sorry," he said sincerely, then fell silent and quickened his pace to catch up with the others.

She hugged herself tighter, trying to steady her racing heart. ’They couldn’t have found out. Madam’s dead. There’s no way...’ Her thoughts momentarily reassured her, but a sinking feeling still weighed heavily in her chest.

But thinking of having Leo to herself someday brought a smile to her face, helping her ignore the rising dread.

They entered the training ground. Leo, waiting by the door, shut it as the last person stepped in.

The chestnut-haired woman, now closest to him, blushed. But before she could say a word, Leo walked past her.

Disappointment flashed through her heart, but she believed it wouldn’t be long before he noticed her charm—especially now that Madam was gone.

Her brief joy vanished when a familiar voice cut through the air, freezing her in place. Her body felt as if it had been thrown into an icy cellar.

"I’m giving the culprit who tampered with my car one last chance to come clean—and die painlessly," Grace said.

A stunned silence hung in the air before murmurs began to ripple through the crowd.

"Madam’s car was tampered with?!"

"Who dares try to kill our madam? Whoever did this better come clean."

"Thank God madam is okay. But who among us would want to hurt her after all she’s done for us?"

Everyone started looking at one another with suspicion, and the murmurs grew louder—this time, they were accusing each other.

"Brook, it’s you. Where were you when madam was getting ready to leave that day?"

"Don’t point fingers at me. It should be you—I was on leave that day and wasn’t even in the mansion."

"It must be you. I saw you sneaking around that day when I came back from relieving myself." A man pointed across the room at the chubby man.

"You bastard! Do you think I’ll tell you when I’m taking a dump? I’ll punch you to death,

you stupid idiot!" The chubby man cracked his knuckles and was about to jump at him.

"Enough." Grace’s words instantly silenced the crowd.

She scanned each face. Her eyes lingered—long enough to make a few nearly drop to their knees—but moved on just as quickly.

Thirty of them stood frozen, their bodies stiff, shoulders tense, and hearts pounding loudly in their throats, terrified of being wrongly accused.

Meanwhile, the chestnut-haired woman was in a full-blown panic. She tried to hide, but her body shook so badly it was obvious to everyone.

When Grace’s gaze landed on her, her knees buckled, and she hit the ground with a loud thud. But the pain in her knees didn’t dull the rising dread inside her.

"You, come forward." Leo’s cold voice cut through the air. On any other day, she would have been thrilled to get his attention, but now she just wished he’d ignore her like usual.

"Step forward," Leo repeated, his tone colder than before. But the woman stayed rooted, head down, her hair hiding her face.

At first, he thought she overreacted to Grace’s gaze, but now her hesitation made him almost certain—ninety percent sure—that she was the culprit.

He stepped away from the wall and approached her, crouching down as he reached her.

"You are the one that tampered with my wife’s car, aren’t you?’’ Leo spoke in a sure tone, and the women flinched, her mind blank with fear.

"I-I-I didn’t put the suppressor--" She froze, realizing they never said anything about the cause.

Looking up, upon meeting Leo’s frosty gaze, her heart hammered in fear, and her mind raced quickly, coming up with an explanation for her earlier blunder.

"N-No, I didn’t mean that. I think Madam is very strong, and if anyone wanted to kill her, it would only be with that... that’s what I meant." Her explanation made the other staff nod to her words, knowing there was some sense to it.

Grace came forward and stopped beside Leo, looking down at the woman with a bland smile.

"But I never said it was tampered with any drugs; why are you sure it was a suppressor, huh?’’ Grace tilted her head with a murderous glint glimmering in her gaze.

Her words stunned the crowd. As they thought it over, their gazes turned suspicious toward the kneeling woman—especially since she was so sure it was a suppressor when Madam hadn’t mentioned any drug.

Leo rose to his feet, pulled a black glove from his bag, and slowly put it on, his eyes never leaving the kneeling woman.

The older staff among the crowd broke out in cold sweat at the sight of Leo’s gloved hand; they hoped they wouldn’t suffer like last time and could only cast Madam pleading glances to save them later.

The others, unaware of the significance, continued murmuring among themselves, casting angry and hostile looks at the pale woman, blaming her for her betrayal.

"No, no, I was forced!’’ The chestnut-haired woman recognized the gloves instantly.

Since she had a crush on him, she had gathered every bit of information about him from others, and this was one of the most chilling details that had given her nightmares for days when she first heard it.

"Why did you do it? Or what did they force you with?" Grace asked, curious of the reason.

The woman’s head snapped toward Grace, her eyes blazing with hatred. She lunged, her nails aiming for Grace’s face.

A shout rang out from the crowd, shocked by the woman’s sudden attack.

"Slap!’’

A sharp sound rang out, and the woman was hurled across the room, slamming into the wall with a loud bang.

The others winced as if feeling the pain themselves, and their fear of madam only deepened.

Leo froze, and a cold, curt laugh escaped his lips—he was royally pissed.

The air in the room sizzled and thinned, making it hard to breathe. A pale mist slid from Leo’s gloved hand, and the ground it touched sizzled like it had been scorched.

Grace promptly shielded everyone with a green field, preventing them from breathing in the air—if they did, she wouldn’t be able to save them.