This was precisely why Heather held Leon in special regard. In addition to being a highly-skilled hacker, Leon had some distinguishing qualities that were absent in other people. Such a person was a great help to Heather, so she was glad that she and Leon were friends instead of enemies. “Gifts for friends should only be the best, of course.” Heather attached great importance to gifts, so she always strove to give the best and the most suitable presents. Furthermore, she put a great deal of care and thought into the gifts she chose. She was an earnest person most of the time, though she didn’t know how attractive her personality was.
“I don’t need anything—just prepare a table full of delicious dishes for me tomorrow.” Leon manifested a mysterious hint of danger. He had never tasted Heather’s cooking before, for the latter was always too stingy to cook for him. Therefore, he had been coveting the food she made.
“It’s a deal,” Heather agreed without hesitation.
“What’s the story about the person you want me to look into?” Leon couldn’t possibly look into a person based on a photo alone. There could be tons of information about a person, and he didn’t know what kind of information Heather wanted.
“Myra was tailed by this guy when she was abroad. I want to have a background check done on him, but it’ll be even better if you can find out whose orders he was under,” Heather explained while looking at the photo on her cell phone. This guy looked ferocious and sinister and was by no means a kind person.
“As expected, you’re doing this for Myra. You couldn’t have fallen in love with your bestie, could you?!” Leon couldn’t understand the friendship between best friends, but he had a feeling that Heather was willing to do anything for Myra. At the thought of this, he was somewhat jealous deep down inside. If only Heather could treat me the same way. I wonder how Myra bought Heather off and made her so devoted to her back then, he thought to himself.
“Stop talking nonsense. Can’t you grow up?” Heather asked helplessly.
“All right, all right. Matthias is the person you love, and your feelings for Myra are purely sisterly.” Leon was still unwilling to let Heather off. If it wasn’t illegal to commit murder, Heather would have killed him a zillion times.
“Do you still want me to cook for you?” Heather asked abruptly on a threatening note.
“Of course I do. I’ll shut up, so just take what I said as bullsh*t.” Leon kept his mind on driving. However, it didn’t take long before he went wild again. “By the way, my mission is to find out this guy’s background. As for whose orders he’s under, you’ll have to sleep with me for one night to know that,” he said shamelessly once again.
Heather massaged her temples; she really felt defeated by Leon, for he never kept quiet even once. “Make a turn at the front, then stop after you drive past the traffic light.” She just wanted to get rid of Leon, and she felt that her head would explode if she kept on listening to his nonsense.
“Hey, are you really treating me as a driver?” Leon was peeved by the way Heather brushed him off. I’m feeling very aggrieved, okay? he thought to himself.
“I’m getting off.” Heather opened the car door right away as soon as Leon pulled up.
“Be careful and take your time, you lady!” Leon shouted caringly, but Heather was already far away from him. As he looked at her from behind, he could only smile in resignation.
When Leon started his car again, the look on his face vanished and was replaced by a serious expression that resembled an ancient Greek sculpture. Blessed with ethereal handsomeness, he looked as good-looking as a legendary god. He fixed his eyes on his cell phone’s screen; the photo of the stalker was displayed on it, and he was trying hard to imprint the stalker’s looks in his mind. He had to drive back to his apartment as soon as possible, for that was where his laptop was. With his laptop in hand, he would be an almighty God.
…
It was almost noon when Heather reached the Langston Group. Not surprisingly, Blake was sitting in her office. Heather frowned at the sight of him, but she suppressed the feeling of disgust and impatience within her. She had wasted an entire morning because of Matthias, and now she was going to keep on wasting the wee bit of working hours she had left because of Blake. “Good afternoon, Director Blake.” She decided it would be better to call him ‘Director Blake’ to flatter his vanity.
“You don’t have to be so formal with me, Heather,” Blake replied with a contented look. Truth be told, being called this way by Heather gave him quite a sense of fulfillment.
“It’s quite improper to keep calling you by your first name in the company. It would sound more formal to call you ‘Director Blake’ anyway.” Heather didn’t want to come into conflict with Blake again.
However, Blake always did everything possible to give her a hard time. “You left home early this morning, so why didn’t you arrive at the company until now? Were you at an appointment with your client to discuss business-related matters?” he asked insincerely. He wouldn’t fall out with Heather openly and completely, but he would make things difficult for her in every way possible.
“No, I didn’t. I was involved in a car accident on my way here, so it took a bit of time,” Heather replied with a forced smile.
“A car accident?” Blake immediately stood up from his chair and pretended to be concerned. “Are you hurt? Since you were involved in a car accident earlier, you shouldn’t come to the company. Hurry up and go to the hospital for a check-up.” However, it was evident from Blake’s expression that he couldn’t wait for something bad to happen to Heather.
Heather shook her head and said, “My car suffered some serious damage, but I’m fine.”
“It’s good as long as you’re fine.” There was no trace of sincerity in Blake’s eyes, and Heather couldn’t quite understand why a family related by blood would reach such a point. “You must have been traumatized. Should I give you some time off this afternoon?”
However, the sight of the insincere look on Blake’s face turned Heather’s stomach. Great, I don’t even have to eat lunch at noon, she thought to herself. “Thank you for your concern, Director Blake. I still have lots of work to do, and work always comes first.” She smiled politely. How could she have the nerve to rest when Blake gave her a higgledy-piggledy mountain of unimportant work to do every single day?
“I’ll help with the work, so go and take a rest now,” Blake urged while dialing Robert’s cell phone number. Not only was Heather unable to stop him at all, he was scheming enough to deliberately push the hands-free button lest she couldn’t hear the phone conversation clearly.
Then, Blake directly told Robert over the phone about the car accident. Robert was the last person Heather wanted to tell about her car accident, yet Blake relayed the situation to him on purpose. Robert was in poor health in the first place, and she didn’t want to give him a scare. “Blake,” she called helplessly. It’s really abominable of Blake to do this, she thought to herself.
Robert’s worried voice could be heard from the cell phone. “Let Heather answer the phone.”
As such, Heather could only answer the phone despite having an urge to slash Blake to death in a frenzied knife attack. She thought to herself, Hasn’t it ever occurred to Blake that Grandpa might be too weak to stand the shock? No wonder Grandpa doesn’t have much love for Blake as an elder. How could Blake demand that Grandpa show loving care for him as an elder when he hasn’t done enough to deserve it? She answered the phone and said softly, “Don’t worry, Grandpa. I’m all right, so don’t worry about me!” Her coquettish tone of voice disgusted even herself.
Blake was also very unaccustomed to such a tone of voice, but he had to admit that Heather was really sweet and sensible in front of Robert. What a pretentious woman she is, he thought to himself. He despised her inwardly upon recalling how she usually conducted herself in front of them. Perhaps he wouldn’t have hated her that much if she had a more adorable personality, but the lofty expression she always put on made her the kind of person he hated the most. He even found the words ‘The golden boy’ extremely annoying. He and Heather were both born into the Langston Family, but why did he have to be overshadowed by her? She outshone him in every aspect, and the potential she showed should have been his!
Meanwhile, Robert didn’t let Heather off until she reassured him and promised to go back at once for lunch with him. After putting down the phone, she gave Blake a long stare. She wanted to smooth out her relationship with Blake at times, but the final outcome always turned out this way—the tension between them could never be eased. “Blake, don’t you know that Grandpa is in poor health? How could you tell him about this directly?” she asked in displeasure while trying hard to suppress her anger. She was already numbed by how angry Matthias had made her, yet Blake wouldn’t leave her in peace.
Meanwhile, Blake pretended to wake up to the realization. “Just look at my poor memory—I forgot such an important thing in a moment of anxiety. It’s my fault this time.” However, such an act was rather affected.
Heather didn’t bother giving Blake another glance, for she thought she had probably committed a sin in her previous life to meet such an enemy now. “Perhaps it’s because you never cared about Grandpa that you forgot about his poor health,” she said before storming off since she couldn’t play nice to Blake.
As he looked at the angry and determined Heather from behind, Blake was lost in thought; the last part of her speech had stabbed him in the heart. He remembered how Robert had high hopes for him when he was a child. At that time, Robert would even put him on his shoulders to let him ‘sit on the shoulders of giants.’ He began to muse about his past. His relationship with his grandfather wasn’t so hostile back then, so when had their relationship become like this?
However, he could no longer remember it clearly. The more he wanted to acquit himself well in front of Robert, the more mistakes he made. As a result, he couldn’t do a good job of everything, and this made him feel a profound sense of loss. “Did Heather really seize all of Grandpa’s attention?” He couldn’t help making a self-examination. He always believed that he never did anything wrong and that it was all Heather’s fault, yet he reflected on his past on this day—it was really strange.
…
Meanwhile, Robert was sitting at the center of the living room with an air of authority when Heather returned to the Langston Residence. She had no idea what this situation meant, but she had a bad feeling about it.
Just then, Robert beckoned to her and said, “Come over here, Heather.”
Heather hurried up to Robert. Right now, she had to appease him carefully lest he fell ill from being upset. She wished he could enjoy a long life, for his presence brought some warmth to the Langston Family. If Robert passed away one day, she might not even be willing to go back to the Langston Residence. After all, she had no feelings for the rest of the Langstons, her parents included.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you were involved in a car accident?” rebuked Robert sternly.
Heather looked as timid as a primary schooler who obediently received a talking-to. Not daring to even look up at Robert, she hung her head and pretended to be reflecting deeply upon her mistakes.
“I’ve already called a doctor over to give you a check-up.” Robert pointed at a strange man sitting nearby.
It was only then did Heather notice this man, for his presence couldn’t be felt at all. “I’m really fine, Grandpa. I don’t need a check-up.” She was discomfited upon learning that Robert had called a doctor home. Isn’t this a bit exaggerated?! she thought to herself.
“Perhaps you suffered internal injuries that aren’t visible to the naked eye.” Robert insisted that Heather had a check-up, though. He could never be at peace if she didn’t undergo a medical examination.
At that moment, she finally realized that Robert was lying when he told her to come home for lunch. In reality, he wanted to force her into having a check-up. “Medical instruments are needed to examine internal injuries. You merely called a doctor over, so I’m afraid he won’t find out anything.” She was still finding excuses to put up a last-ditch struggle.
However, how could Robert not know what was on Heather’s mind? After giving her a fierce glare, he said something that distressed her even more. “In that case, I’ll take you to a big hospital for a proper check-up.”
