But Leandro’s gaze held no hatred or cheap revulsion; there was an analytical intensity in it, searching for the truth behind those sincere tears.
He kept his fingers resting on the young woman’s trembling chin, maintaining that disconcerting closeness while the entire library seemed to hold its breath in utter suspense.
Elisa trembled before that imposing figure, unable to decipher what was going on in the mind of that man accustomed to deciding destinies with a stroke of the pen.
The girl’s composure was completely shattered, paving the way for the next question that would forever change the course of that night inside.
Chapter 4 – The Unexpected Question
Leandro’s hand remained firmly supporting the chambermaid’s chin, ensuring that not a single millimeter of her despair escaped that severe and attentive scrutiny.
The silence of the room seemed to amplify Elisa’s trembling breath, which remained locked in that eye contact that stripped her of any possible defense.
The billionaire frowned slightly under the warm light of the lamp, demonstrating that he would not accept half-truths or beating around the bush at that delicate moment.
“Where is she now?” the powerful man fired back with a cutting firmness, framing the question with an urgency disguised as pure, cold, professional authority.
The direct question caught the young employee off guard, causing her lips to part slightly before any words could immediately escape her dry throat.
She expected to be shouted at by the perfumed women, not interrogated about the exact location of her dying mother’s bed.
Behind the young woman, the four high-society ladies began to lose their certainty about the mockery, exchanging confused glances at such a strange question.
The heiress, dressed in gold, crossed her arms more tightly, annoyed by the amount of time the host was devoting to the personal problems of a mere servant.
Leandro didn’t take his dark eyes off Elisa’s tear-streaked face, mentally awaiting the confirmation that his own sources were already secretly investigating.
The imposing presence of that man dominated every corner of the library, transforming a reading room into a courtroom where power operated in the shadows.
The young maid simply nodded tremulously, failing to understand the purpose of such specific curiosity coming from someone so far removed from her reality.
The patriarch slowly withdrew his hand, breaking the physical contact to begin the calculated action that would leave everyone in that mansion completely speechless.
Chapter 5 – The Order of Detachment
Leandro slowly removed his fingers from Elisa’s chin, allowing the young woman to regain her physical space while remaining motionless before him.
The chambermaid kept her head raised out of sheer inertia from the shock, watching the man lean back again in the soft back of the dark leather armchair.
With his free left hand, the billionaire reached for the walnut side table and picked up his black smartphone, whose screen was already lit up.
He stared at the screen for a fraction of a second before returning his steady gaze to the frail figure of that girl in the black and white uniform.
“Quit this job,” Leandro declared in a cold, measured, and absolute tone, uttering those three words with the coldness of a summary and irrevocable dismissal.
The impact of that sentence hit Elisa like a lightning bolt, making her legs tremble with the certainty that she had just lost her livelihood.
The four wealthy women in the background let out discreet, malicious giggles, celebrating their supposed victory in seeing the maid discarded like useless trash.
The woman in red took a half step forward with a victorious smile, pleased to see that the social hierarchy had been rigorously re-established.
Elisa clutched her apron with renewed despair, feeling the world crumble as she imagined how she would pay for her mother’s medicine without the household income.
The apparent cruelty of that order seemed to confirm the young woman’s worst nightmares, and she was already beginning to cry with a much deeper pain in her chest.
But the man holding the phone showed no sign of mockery or contempt, maintaining a rigid posture as if following strict protocol.
The trap of that apparent injustice was set, about to be undone with a single phrase that would silence the arrogance of everyone present.
