The bright light from the large flat-screen television lit up the living room. On the screen, a news reporter stood outside a tall, modern glass building. The reporter held a microphone close to her mouth. Her face looked very serious.
"Reporting live from the penthouse of Mr. Issac Smith," the reporter said. Her voice echoed in the quiet room. "Mr. Smith was found dead in his room late last night. This comes just after he was declared innocent yesterday in the highly publicized rape case at the Supreme Court."
The television showed a mini video of Mr. Issac Smith. He was a rich man with gray hair. In the video, he was smiling as he walked down the steps of the Supreme Court. He wore an expensive gray suit. Behind him in the video, the family of the victim was crying.
The reporter continued speaking. "The police have sealed off the entire building. Investigations are still going on, and no one is allowed to go inside. The cause of death is currently unknown. The police chief stated that..."
Camilla Hudson pressed the red button on the remote control. The television went off. The screen turned completely black. The room was perfectly silent again.
She leaned back into her soft, white leather sofa. She closed her eyes. She let out a long, happy sigh. Her chest rose and fell slowly. The tension in her shoulders finally melted away. She opened her eyes and dropped the television remote onto the glass coffee table in front of her. It made a soft clicking sound.
"There is nothing like a job well done," Camilla said out loud to the empty room. Her voice was calm and steady.
She thought about Mr. Issac Smith. The law had failed to punish him. The judges and the lawyers had let him walk away free. He had paid a lot of money to hide his crimes. But Camilla was different from the law. She did not care about clever lawyers. She cared about results.
Suddenly, a harsh buzzing sound broke the silence.
It was her burner phone. The cheap, black plastic phone vibrated on the glass table. It spun around in a small circle. Camilla stared at it for a few seconds. She had been waiting for this call all night long. This was the final step of her job.
She reached out her hand and picked up the small phone. She pressed the green button to accept the call. She brought the phone to her ear. She did not say a word. She just listened.
A deep, rough voice spoke on the other end of the line. The voice sounded like it was using a machine to hide its true sound.
"Well done, Black Widow," the voice said. "The target is eliminated. There is no trace left behind. Your money is in the account. The transfer is complete."
The phone call ended immediately. There was only a dial tone. Camilla took the phone away from her ear. She looked at the screen. It was blank. She did not smile, but a look of deep satisfaction crossed her face. She walked over to the kitchen counter. She took a heavy metal hammer from a drawer. She placed the burner phone on the marble counter. With three strong hits, she smashed the phone into tiny pieces. She swept the broken plastic and metal into the trash can. She would never use that number or that phone again. That part of her life was closed for now.
She stood in the middle of her living room and stretched her arms high above her head. She arched her back. She was wearing a simple, dark blue swimsuit. She adjusted the straps on her shoulders. She pulled the fabric down slightly over her hips. The house was warm, and she was ready to relax.
"Now, that is out of the way," she said softly.
She walked over to her large desk sitting in the corner of the room. On top of the desk was a small, brown leather notebook. This was her bucket list. It was a list of all the things she wanted to do with her life. Her job was dangerous. She knew she could die at any moment. Because of that, she wanted to make sure she enjoyed her life when she had free time.
She opened the notebook. The pages were filled with her neat handwriting. There were so many unchecked boxes. She had written down things like "Learn how to bake a perfect chocolate cake" and "Go skydiving in Dubai."
She picked up a black pen. She found the line that said, "Relaxing reading novels." She drew a careful, dark tick inside the box next to those words.
She moved her eyes down to the next line. The next goal she wanted to achieve was written clearly: "Vacation in Maldives with handsome guys."
Camilla squirmed a little bit. A small smile appeared on her lips. She imagined the white sand beaches. She imagined the clear blue water. She imagined the warm sun on her skin and a tall, handsome man bringing her a cold drink. It was a wonderful thought. She had enough money in her secret bank accounts to stay in the Maldives for a whole year if she wanted to.
But for today, the pool in her backyard would have to be enough.
She put the pen down. She picked up her reading tablet. The screen was clean and bright. She walked toward the large glass doors at the back of her living room. She slid the doors open and stepped outside.
The heat of the afternoon sun hit her skin immediately. It felt good. Her backyard was private and surrounded by tall green trees. In the center was a large, sparkling blue swimming pool. The water looked cool and inviting.
Camilla walked to a small outdoor table. She picked up a tall glass of cold orange juice. She carried her juice and her tablet toward the pool. Floating in the shallow end of the water was a large, comfortable balloon raft. It was shaped like a giant white swan. Next to it was a small, round float designed just to hold a drink.
She carefully placed her glass of juice into the drink float. Then, she slowly lowered her body onto the balloon raft. The raft shifted under her weight, but it held her perfectly. She leaned back against the headrest. She stretched her long legs out in front of her. The cool water splashed gently against her toes. She sighed again. This was true peace.
Suddenly, she heard a soft sound.
"Meow."
Camilla turned her head. Walking slowly along the edge of the pool was her cat, Winston. He was a large, fat, orange tabby cat. His fur looked bright under the sun. He walked with a lazy, heavy step. He stopped and looked at Camilla with his big green eyes.
Camilla smiled warmly. Her eyes softened. She liked animals much more than she liked most people.
"How are you, Winston?" Camilla asked. Her voice was sweet and gentle. It was completely different from the voice she used for her work.
Winston opened his mouth. "Meow," he answered back. He did not like the water, so he stayed away from the edge. He turned around and walked toward the patio. There was a large patio umbrella that cast a dark shadow over a soft outdoor bed. Winston climbed onto the chair. He went right into the middle of the shade. He stretched his front legs out long. He closed his eyes and quickly went to sleep.
Camilla watched him for a moment. Then, she turned her attention to her tablet.
She unlocked the screen. She tapped on the icon for the "Webnovel" application. She had been binge-reading a specific story for the past three days. She was completely addicted to it. She had spent a lot of her money buying digital coins just so she could unlock the new chapters.
The story was interesting to her because the main character shared her name. The character was called Lady Camilla. But Lady Camilla was nothing like the Black Widow.
Lady Camilla was a weak, kind-hearted noblewoman. She was always bullied by the servants in the manor. Lady Camilla never fought back. She just cried and accepted her terrible life.
The Black Widow found it frustrating, but she could not stop reading. She wanted to see Lady Camilla finally stand up for herself. She wanted to see her get revenge on the people who hurt her.