Chapter 6

Sophia never expected there to be such a conspiracy behind Leo's imprisonment. Thinking back to how she had claimed that no one decent could possibly exist in a place like prison, Sophia felt a flicker of guilt.

Still, she refused to admit it. Curling her lip, she said to Leo, "So you're not a complete idiot. You got him to talk. But one recording? That's a party trick, not a case. It won't be enough to convict the Kirk family."

Standing outside the car, Leo let out a cold laugh. He turned away and said as he walked, "Who said I planned to use it to convict them?"

Sophia snapped, "If not for that, why even bother recording it?"

But Leo no longer paid her any attention. Expressionless, he headed straight toward Jasper.

Panic flashed across Jasper's face. "Don't just stand there, you morons! GET HIM!" Jasper shrieked, his voice cracking. "All of you! I don't care even if he dies! I'll handle the fallout!"

The group surged forward, swinging their clubs at Leo with full force.

"This nephew of yours is unbelievably stubborn!" Sophia stared nervously outside, clutching her phone. "The plan was that I'd stall them and you'd call the cops from the car—that way he'd be safe! But he insisted on showing off and jumped out on his own. Now when the cops get here, he's going to be the one in cuffs for—"

Before she finished, the scene outside left her completely stunned.

He was alone, unarmed, facing a pack of thugs built like wolves and armed with weapons. It should've been a one-sided beating. But somehow—unbelievably—the situation had reversed.

With one swift kick to a man's stomach, Leo sent him tumbling across the ground, rolling several times before collapsing flat and motionless. And the rest of Jasper's hired muscle—every single one—was already down. Not one remained standing.

"A bunch of useless trash." Leo looked down on them with icy indifference. "Anyone from Alcatan Penitentiary could wipe the floor with you."

Jasper was dumbfounded.

Hadn't Leo spent five years being broken in prison? How did he become this strong?

To be safe, he'd brought six men—each one among the strongest and most ruthless the Kirk family had ever recruited.

Yet in front of Leo, they didn't even last a few moves. The moment they engaged, they were taken down one by one—instantly.

Jasper wasn't an idiot. One glance at the scene, and he turned to flee, running straight for the car.

He scrambled inside. Just as he was about to pull in his leg and slam the door shut—bam! The door slammed back on him, trapping his leg between the frame.

"Ahhh!" Jasper screamed. It felt like his left leg had been snapped in half.

Leo stood beside the door, staring coldly. "Did I say you could leave?"

He grabbed Jasper by the hair and dragged him out like a dead dog, throwing him onto the ground.

As Leo slowly approached, Jasper's face turned ghost-white. Enduring the agony in his left leg, he scrambled backward and shouted, voice trembling despite his bravado, "Leo, what are you trying to do? I'm warning you—don't be stupid! Do you want to go back to prison?"

Leo stepped on his left foot, pinning him down. Then he lifted his leg—and stomped hard on Jasper's right knee.

CRACK.

The sound was sickeningly crisp, like a thick branch snapping. Jasper's body arched off the ground, a howl of pure agony tearing from his throat.

"Oh my God…" Inside the Cayenne, Sophia flinched violently at the sound. When she saw the unnatural angle of Jasper's leg, a hand flew to her mouth. She was paralyzed, a cocktail of horror and disbelief freezing her in place.

In the back seat, Julia was just as shocked. But unlike Sophia, she felt no sympathy—only deep, satisfying vindication.

Good. It was a fraction of what they were owed.

"Stop it!" The shout finally broke from Sophia's lips. She shoved her door open and stormed out. "Leo, that's enough! They're down! They can't fight anymore. Why are you still torturing him? This… this is assault! This is a crime!"

Leo ignored her. He lifted his foot again, this time stepping on Jasper's left arm—and began applying pressure, slowly.

The pain escalated from blinding to transcendent. Jasper was trapped in a waking nightmare. He couldn't pass out. He could only feel every incremental increase of force, the gradual yielding of muscle and the impending, inevitable snap of bone. It was pure, refined torture.

"LEO, I SAID STOP!" Sophia rushed behind him, reaching out to grab his shoulder.

Her brother was Reuben Carmeron, captain of Kingston's criminal police division. She knew exactly how far Leo had gone—well past the boundary of lawful self-defense.

How could someone be this savage and violent?

But before her hand touched his clothes, Leo turned. His bloodshot eyes glared at her as he roared, "GET. BACK."

Sophia instinctively stumbled backward, her face bleaching of all color. All her arguments, all her legal principles, evaporated in the face of that primal rage.

Julia rushed to Sophia's side, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders. "Sophia, don't. You can't stop this. This is justice. The Kirk family deserves this."

Trembling, Sophia found her voice, thin and reedy. "But he should call the police! Let the system handle it! This… this is barbaric! How can he be so… cruel?"

"CRUEL?" Leo spun to face her fully. "Was it 'cruel' when the Kirks fabricated evidence and threw me into hell for five years?

"Was it 'cruel' when the animals in Alcatan used me as a punching bag, breaking bones just to hear them snap? Was it 'cruel' when the only way to rebuild my body was to have every shattered piece re-broken and reset, awake and screaming? Where was your lecture on cruelty then?"

"I—" Sophia stared at him in horror. She had never imagined the hell he went through in prison—pain no ordinary person could survive.

Leo stared her down and asked coldly, "Tell me—if I were the one lying here right now, and they were the ones standing—do you think they'd spare me? Would you climb out of the car to beg them to show mercy?"

Sophia had no answer.

Of course, he was right. If Leo had been beaten down today, he might not have survived. And before dying, he would've suffered far worse than what Jasper was enduring now.

Leo let out a cold snort. "You protected Aunt Julia for five years. That's the only reason I've tolerated you. But you'd better remember this—if you haven't lived someone's pain, don't preach morality to them.

"When I take my revenge, don't lecture me about the law or about virtue. If your compassion is so boundless, go mount yourself on a pedestal and let the pigeons shit on you. Now. Get in the car."

"You—" Hot, humiliated tears welled in Sophia's eyes. She had no retort. With a furious, choked sound, she spun on her heel and stalked back to the Cayenne.

Julia followed, gently comforting her. "Sophia, don't be angry with Leo. He's been waiting too long for this day."

Sophia lifted her tear-filled gaze and asked, "Julia… it was all a setup? Everything they said about him… it was really the Kirks?"

Julia sighed and nodded. "Every bit of it. A carefully laid trap to destroy our family and take everything. Leo was the one who suffered the most. Tell me, after all that… how could he ever just let them walk away?"