The Devil's Sweetheart

Gripping her bag tightly, she walked past the WD building, slipping through the guards, and went to the spot where she first dislodged the metal ring from her body. Upon reaching near, she found a silhouette of a man in a black t-shirt and vintage bell-bottomed pants leaning his back to the bark of the tree. A flowery mask was loosely hanging from his left hand. 

''William.'' She softly called.

William lifted his head and smiled, his eyes crinkled at the edges flaunting his ripe age. ''How did it go with Heather?''

''She accepted the gift. I pushed her to put the daisy plant in her bedroom. The love she has for plants, I bet we are at the game.'' She doesn't care if Francis also dies along with Heather. She is least bothered about his life anymore. Rosalie then fished out the tiny metal from her handbag. ''This is for Leena.'' She passed the box to Willliam.

William opened the box and found a small delicate ring inside. He wondered if it would break if he just touched it. ''Ring? I thought you would get poison.'' Before he attempted to touch it, Rosalie stopped. ''Don't touch it. It's a very delicate ring.''

''But ring_''

''A poison ring,'' Rosalie said. ''It is specially made by the nomadic tribe from Mongolia. The outer coat is made of a metal that melts at the touch of liquid. I have done my part. It's your responsibility to put it in Leena's juice without setting suspicion on the other co-workers.''

 ''What are the chances that Leena will ask for juice?'' William questioned.

''I am pretty confident in my assumptions. I gathered all the information I could from Heather about Leena during my one-week stay at the hospital,'' Rosalie added. ''Her daughter has the habit of drinking juices and smoothies after every meal.'' A month ago, she planned to harm Leena's drink at the party, but she later learned from Heather that Leena rarely drinks due to her low alcohol tolerance. She doesn't want to kill innocent people along with Leena by poisoning all the dishes. Besides, she doesn't have enough poison quantity.

''The dinner course has started already. Soon, Devin will ask the staff to prepare a juice for Leena.'' Rosaile said. ''This is where you should dive in. Will you be able to do that?''

''Fret no." William said. "Devin agreed to the event management director, and allowed for this unique dress code. So, the mask will keep my identity hidden. But are you sure this poison will work?"

''Trust me,'' Rosalie assured. She wouldn't have opted for the party if she was not confident. ''It's a slow-acting poison, and this special poison cannot be detected in urine or blood. So, there is no chance of finding the cause after Leena's death unless....'' Rosalie trailed off. A thought induced in her mind, but she brushed it off. Not many doctors know that microscopic analysis can be made on a hair to find the poison in the body. ''Just go, and finish off work.''

''Alright. I will take my leave then.'' William said, putting the mask back to his face. He took the job of a waiter to execute mother and daughter. 

''Meet me here once you are done,'' Rosalie said.

William nodded. Putting the metal box inside the pocket, he went off. Rosalie took a deep breath. She only hoped William would find a way to catch his hand over Leena's juice. With thoughts around, she went to the washroom. Exposing her body to the cool temperature for a long time has caused her bladder to inflate.

....

Meanwhile, at the other end, the party turned into a festival. Everybody was enjoying life like no today. At one end of the table, Devin was putting veggies into Leena's plate. Sitting opposite Devin, Kurt imitated Devin's moves precisely. He keeps adding meatballs to Kyle's plate. 

''Will you stop the drama, Kurt?'' Devin snapped. He had enough of Kurt's imitations today. 

''Only if you stop replying 'Okay' to my messages.'' Kurt shot at Devin.

''Or you should stop sending 'I hate you' texts in the first place.'' His mobile flooded with 'I hate you' messages every day. Devin thoroughly fixed on the thought that Kurt had gone nuts. But everything made sense to him when he walked into the party hall, hand in hand with Kyle. 

 His friends were in a bolt-out-of-the-blue situation for a while.

Devin cast a sharp look at Kyle. She pursed her lips, shaking her head in a way telling her it's not her fault. Never in her dreams, she thought Kurt would act like a possessive brat.

''Mr. Sweedish Butler is exceeding my jealousy line.'' Leena has still not recovered from Kurt, and Kyle's love story. Kurt told her he is in love. At least he gave her a heads up to her initial shock but hooking up with Kyle? She never expected it. When did it start? She has time to pry for later. But right now, she needed her last fill. ''Devin_''

''Banana smoothie.'' He completed, rubbing her nose. ''I got it.'' He called the waiter and ordered him to make a smoothie.

''Thank you, babylicious.'' Leena kissed his cheek. ''You are the best.''

He leaned forward to her ear. "That's not how you thank."

On seeing Devin's face flashing in delight, Kurt gripped his fork tightly and turned to Kyle. ''Kyle.''

 ''What?'' Kyle snapped at him fiercely. She is going to kill him today if he imitates another of Devin's moves again. She is getting tired of babysitting him today.

Kyle's harsh tone caused him to swallow his words. ''Nothing,'' Kurt said and moved his gaze back to the plate, but he kept an eye on Devin.

...

After finishing the dinner, Heather and Evelyn went to the restroom, talking about the delicious food all the way. Evelyn was on period, so she was spending a longer time than usual inside the bathroom stalls. Humming to a song, Heather sat on the countertop, scrolling through an Instagram page to pass her time. Out of the corner, she heard a mobile vibrating in desperation. Other than Evelyn and her, there is no other woman in the bathroom. ''Should I take, and handover to the security?'' While Heather was in a dilemma, the door was opened by a familiar woman. ''Rosalie_''

Rosalie didnot look at Heather. On spotting the mobile at the corner of the countertop, she sighed in relief. ''I need to go, Heather. Catch you later.'' She grabbed the mobile and turned to leave.

Heather looked at Rosalie's retreating figure and noticed her back zipper. ''Hey..Rose..your back zipper is..'' Before Heather could complete the sentence, Rosalie was gone. 

Jumping onto the ground, Heather quickly followed the woman behind. As she stepped down the stairs, Heather noticed Rosalie hastily going towards the restricted area. ''Why is she proceeding towards a dark place?'' Something was not going well with Rosalie. Curiosity killed the cat. Thinking of the odds happening around her, Heather quietly followed behind her. The faint voices disappeared after a while, and the place turned eerily quiet. Heather removed her sandals, and followed barefooted in order not to get caught. She quickly hid behind a tree bush when Rosalie halted her footsteps all of a sudden. Heather almost thought she was caught, but sighed in relief when in actuality Rosalie stopped to make a call. Heather ducked her ear to attentively hear her muffled voices.

"Did your co-worker suspected you?''

''That's a relief, William. So, are you specially taking the banana juice to her?'' 

''...Of course it will work. I spent days getting a hand on that poison...Leena has to die tonight...Alright...Let's not talk here. Finish the job, and meet me at our usual spot.''

Poison! Leena? Why she is talking about my daughter? Heather's brain went numb.