Returning to Golden Grove Manors, Leanne took a bath and lay down, her eyes closed, ready to drift into sleep.
Her cat came over, nudging her hand, seeking affection. Leanne stroked its fluffy head, feeling the softness under her fingers.
As she was about to fall asleep, the unsatisfied cat nudged her hand again, startling her from the light veil of sleep.
This repeated a few times. Perhaps due to the frequent disturbances, she slept restlessly and soon slipped into a long-forgotten nightmare.
In her dream, she was trapped in a huge, labyrinth-like abandoned factory on a night so dark and black.
There were two cold bodies lying on the ground, bathed in the chilling light of the moon, their faces devoid of life.
In her sleep, Leanne became restless. Her hand pressed against her chest unconsciously tightened, the blanket squeezing her throat, the suffocating sensation seeping into her dream.
The scene abruptly changed to a chaotic day. A frail woman with her hands bound by ropes desperately lunged at a man, only to be effortlessly caught by him.
The man wore a tight black mask, one hand firmly clenching her throat, a mole visible on his hand.
Her face turned pale with pain, and Leanne choked alongside her in the dream.
"Mom..." She cried out, wanting to save her, but her throat was blocked by an invisible force, leaving her unable to speak or breathe until...
She woke up with a start, her room filled with the sound of her heavy breathing. Leanne felt as though she had just been pulled from deep water, gasping for air under the nightlight's glow faint. She fought back the tears, reaching for her phone on the bedside table.
The overwhelming fear and desperation from the dream made her fingers tremble uncontrollably.
The phone slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor, her tears following.
Leaning over the bed to pick up the phone, she realized the call had already connected.
There was the sound of men laughing in the background. Curtis had been out at a dinner party. He sounded a bit tipsy and more languid than usual, his voice tinged with a shallow laugh, "Miss me?" Leanne, on the verge of breaking down, found a semblance of support at that moment, helping her pull out of the nightmare back into reality.
She suppressed the sobs threatening to overtake her voice, trying to sound steady, "Wrong number."
Curtis replied, "But you dialed me. You must be lucky today. Go buy a lottery ticket."
"Don't need to," Leanne turned on all the lights in her room and leaned back against the headboard, "I've got enough money. Let someone else win the jackpot."
"Forgot we've got Dr. Castillo the millionaire here," Curtis joked. "Does carrying all that money wear you out? Maybe I should help lighten your load?"
"I've got Joy to help me carry it. You're not tricking me out of my money."
Curtis laughed aloud, "Strong scam awareness!"
His jokes relaxed Leanne and they chatted casually, the phone pressed to her ear, his lazy voice comforting.
At some point, she faintly heard a car horn.
She belatedly realized the laughter from Curtis' dinner had stopped.
"Are you in the car?"
"You caught that, huh? How did you get so smart?"
"Did you leave the dinner?"
"I skipped out." replied Curtis.
The finance prodigy, the legend of his generation, deep down was still that rebellious troublemaker.
"Something came up more important than them." he continued.
Leanne bit her finger, "What is it?"
Those two seconds of silence were filled with bubbling anticipation and the fear of being presumptuous.
Curtis' voice came through the phone, clear and casual, "My baby missed me and I had to come to comfort her."
His black Bentley, like an elegant beast, sped along the wide, flat highway at night, the city lights illuminating the path to his destination. Perhaps he should buy a lottery ticket, his journey home unimpeded. Entering the code to open his door, Curtis found Leanne standing under the spotlight at the bedroom door.
Her smoke-pink silk nightgown shimmered with a lazy luster, swaying gently with her movements by her calves, like a playful sprite sneaking out under the moonlight, innocently enticing.
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