While Heather had been hanging out a lot with Leon lately, the reporters had been busy too. They were always around to tail them, one more skillful than the other. The Langston Family were already very furious when the newspaper and magazine wrote nonsense about her relationship with Matthias. Nonetheless, it did not stop them from prying around after that incident.
This time, Leon was the one who noticed the paparazzi. It was truly a displeasure to find that out while they were just trying to have a meal. However, it was hard to tell whether she was mad or not as she had a calm and composed expression.
“Heather?” He was asking for her opinion as to how to deal with it. After all, they were in her city, so it was only appropriate to let her decide.
She simply shook her head in response. She was smart so she must have noticed the reporters already, but she simply chose not to do anything about it so that the media would have its way.
Giving her a confused face, he did not understand why she wanted to put up with such incidents. Her scandal with Matthias had already caused a commotion. If a new male lead got into the picture, rumors would surely start again.
Taking a glance at Leon’s good-looking face, she mentally apologized to him. She did not intend to use him, but there was no better candidate.
She did consider Lucas, but she feared that he would hurt him. Despite not disliking him, she didn’t really like him either. It was true that he fitted her criteria of choosing a partner, but she simply did not have feelings for him.
Moreover, he wasn’t proactive. A future was nonexistent for two people who wouldn’t take the initiative for their partner. Even Philip had asked Heather out before.
Yet, Lucas didn’t take any action. Though she admired him, she did not like him enough to take the initiative, hence the current stagnant state.
After rejecting Philip thrice, he no longer attempted to contact her anymore.
She was still a little interested in Lucas, but Philip was completely not her cup of tea. Moreover, Philip was a friend to Tony and Myra, and he was close with Lucas. Therefore, she didn’t want any form of romantic relationship with him.
When they got back to the apartment, Heather could finally explain to Leon the reason. As a curious person, Leon would definitely not let her go if she didn’t tell him everything clearly.
“It must be a mercury retrograde for me.” Although she sounded serious, he was confused as to why it had anything to do with horoscopes.
“This isn’t my forte.” He shrugged. He didn’t expect that she would know a thing or two about horoscopes. She was truly a knowledgeable person.
“Things have not been smooth for me ever since I returned. It has been tense with the media,” she said helplessly. She didn’t want to let things get too ugly, but the media was crossing her boundaries.
“That’s why they secretly took pictures of you?” As he mentioned that, he sounded mad. He thought that privacy was a very important factor.
“There was a scandal involving Director Locke and I that spread very widely in Bradfort City, and it affected Langston Group. It’s quite complicated.” She briefly explained, but there weren’t enough details for Leon to fully understand the situation.
“Director Locke?” He was curious as to who it was. After all, he had just come to this city and had yet to know who the influential figures were and how they were related to each other.
“Locke Group is a top company in Tasnia City. It has recently entered Bradfort City, and it is messing with the balance here. The director, Matthias, is an ambitious man.” Heather could see his ambition in his eyes, and she thought he might become a businessman who was blinded by wealth and fame with time.
As she spoke, Leon made sure to observe her facial expressions. He had a hunch that Heather’s relationship with Matthias wasn’t simple. After all, she was not someone who would easily let the media catch her in a scandal. Even if the media threw mud at her, she would have the ability to change it.
However, she was now allowing the reporters to do as they wished, and Leon didn’t believe that she would compromise just like that. Hence, he believed that it had something to do with Matthias.
“Your type?” He said in a joking tone as he waited to see her reaction.
As expected, she didn’t have a big reaction, but he did manage to catch the fleeting uneasiness in her eyes.
“Yes.” She didn’t deny that as he was right; Matthias was indeed her type.
Obviously, she wasn’t bothering to mask her self-appreciation. It could be seen just from her criteria of a partner. Most people would pick a partner who complemented themselves while she simply liked people that were similar to herself.
It was indeed their similarities that drew her to him, but people who were too similar were bound to create some friction along the way.
In fact, Leon had realized long ago that guys Heather was interested in were typically akin to her. That was also why he would never be able to move her.
Though both of them liked to mask themselves, they were different in their methodologies. Even their mental maturity differed by a lot.
“Are you and him…” Leon offered her a smile to make her feel more relaxed.
He did not get an answer from her as she herself didn’t know the answer. She had lied to Myra and many others, and she did not want to lie anymore, especially when that person was Leon.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” He said it in a nonchalant tone to mask his true feelings. He had long expected something like this to happen—Heather would meet a guy who was her type and they would be together.
“It’s not possible for me and him,” she immediately said. She only talked about the possibility and didn’t deny that she had feelings for him.
The answer was rather obvious and not only Leon could see it. Even Robert had seen through her some time ago. However, feelings like that were often disregarded in a family that ran huge businesses. Moreover, their situation was complicated, so how would she get caught in a mess as such?
“Impossible doesn’t mean you don’t like him.” Back when Robert heard Heather’s reply, he no longer said anything, but things were different with Leon. He hoped that she could be truthful with herself.
“You can tell me that again after learning about the messy situation in Bradfort City.” She didn’t want to explain to him any further as he didn’t understand that the distance between Matthias and her could fit an entire milky way.
“Your life is too stressful.” He looked into her eyes as he daringly said. There were many times she felt the urge to choke him to death.
As Leon could see through her just like that, Heather was feeling pressured and didn’t want to continue this conversation with him. Being read like a book was not always a good thing.
Having noticed her uneasiness, he decided to cut it off before he annoyed her for real.
“Well, now that I’m well-fed, I’m getting drowsy. Do you want to sleep with me?” he asked in a joking manner. At once, she rolled her eyes.
“Go sleep by yourself.” She knew that he had purposely switched the topic for her sake. Moreover, it was indeed getting late and it was time for her to go home.
When she was leaving, Leon, who was standing behind her, offered, “I’ll walk you downstairs.”
She didn’t look back as she rejected, “It’s fine. You’re not good with directions.”
Looking at the back of her figure, he smiled helplessly. He wasn’t so bad with directions. He had just forgotten once where Heather ended up driving him to his destination.
Ever since then, he thought that it wasn’t too bad of a thing for her to see him as someone who was bad with directions. After all, it was another excuse for him to spend more time with her.
Feelings were often hidden in details, but nobody knew how far relationships like these would go. Leon was someone who would always put on a facade that masked his sorrow while Heather was a smart woman. Hence, he had to be extra careful when he was with her.
Though he was content with his current relationship with her—beyond friends but not lovers—he would still get jealous when someone who attracted her appeared. He still couldn’t fake his nonchalance such that he could give his blessing to her and another man.
When she got out of the apartment, she didn’t expect that she would bump into Matthias at a rather private place like this. Heather had bought this apartment for Leon a long time ago. It was a rather quiet place, so it was truly a surprise that she would walk into him by chance at this location.
Nonetheless, her reaction was even more interesting. She acted like she didn’t see him and walked past him. She didn’t feel anything, and she was sure that she would not feel anything if she were to bump into him in outer space as well.
There was also something that she had been investigating. She and Matthias had suddenly become a hot topic at the wedding, so she wanted to find out who was the mastermind.
Naturally, Matthias was her prime suspect. Although it seemed impossible, she knew that this man was full of tricks, so she still listed him as the prime suspect.
After being reminded by Robert, she began to suspect Matthias’ ulterior motive as he had never stopped attacking Hart Group before Myra’s wedding.
After Tony went away for his honeymoon trip, the scales of his actions were getting bigger and bigger. Heather wasn’t sure whether Matthias was indeed so smart and powerful or he was just arrogant.
Moreover, because the media deliberately hyped up news about Heather and Matthias, what was supposed to be Tony and Myra’s big day suddenly became a backdrop for their scandal. She could not help but suspect that it was his doings.
“Heather,” Matthias called out to her.
Upon hearing that, she halted her steps. She wanted to see what he was up to now. Since she bumped into him here, someone must have given Matthias the news.
Nevertheless, it was unexpected that he was even faster than the media. With a mocking smile, she recalled how she thought he was a loyal lovelorn guy. Now that she put two and two together, she was starting to see his motives.
She could only wonder how long he had been planning all these. She was even suspecting that there was a reason that he came to Bradfort City a few days before she returned to the country.
“I guess this is fate.” Without much of an expression, she looked at Matthias, who seemed to have lost some weight. It had only been a few days, but he already looked like a druggie.
Those deep eyes stared right at her, as if she had done him wrong. He was the one who had been suffering for the past few days while Heather simply chit-chatted and had fun with other people. When he got the news this evening, he couldn’t stop himself from coming to find her.
There were a lot of things that he pondered about, and relationships were the most inexplicable among them. Even he himself didn’t know when he had started to like her!
