The kitchen was in total chaos—Heather was busy cooking while Leon washed the ingredients at one side. They didn’t have any fresh fruits and vegetables, so Heather eventually solved the embarrassing problem by placing an online delivery. Indeed, everything was easier with the use of smartphones these days.
“You weren’t like this when you used to cook, Heather. Why does it seem like you can’t do anything well today?” Damn it, why is Leon being so honest with his words? Heather was already nervous and jittery at the moment, and she almost exploded in anger upon hearing Leon’s frank remark.
“Shut up! Have you finished washing the ingredients?” Heather glared at Leon. Perhaps he shouldn’t have let her cook personally; they could’ve ordered takeout!
“Is there something you’re not telling me, Heather?” Just then, Leon leaned in close to her daringly, but he failed to notice the woman’s darkening expression as he did so.
How could Leon still have the audacity to make such an outrageous comment in front of her? Heather decided that she could no longer be so lenient to him, for she didn’t want him to become too bold.
“Be careful of what you say, Leon,” Heather warned him coldly as she held the chopping knife in her hand—clearly, she wasn’t kidding with her words.
Leon, who was still fooling around a moment earlier, went stiff with fright. He swallowed his laughter, for Heather’s deadly glare was too terrifying to watch. As a result, he returned Heather’s stare with a pleading look in his eyes as he tried to think of a way to soothe the tense atmosphere.
He hadn’t expected a simple meal to become so difficult to handle. As Leon rubbed his temples, the water on his fingers wetted his hair slightly.
“Why don’t we order some takeout if you don’t feel like cooking today, Heather?” Leon turned toward her slowly and warily, afraid of accidentally offending her again.
“No way,” Heather rejected him immediately. “Weren’t you begging me to cook for you?”
Leon nodded, but he felt quite dreadful inside. “The food’s burning, Heather.”
With that, he pointed toward the pan next to her. Heather had been so immersed in teaching Leon a lesson that she’d forgotten to stir fry the vegetables.
“Let’s start over.” Heather turned off the heat and tossed the vegetables straight into the trash can. Her gesture was swift and well-practiced, making it seem as though it was something she often did.
“All right.” Leon didn’t have the courage to argue. At this rate, they would have to skip lunch and go straight to dinner if they continued on like this.
In the end, the meal was finally ready after two long hours of preparation. Heather didn’t think it’d take this long either as she told Leon to bring the dishes to the dining table. Meanwhile, she stayed behind as the soup was still cooking on the stove. While she stared at the bubbling liquid in the pot, her mind got lost in a daydream.
Truthfully, Heather felt a little bored staying in a secluded area like this; Leon had always been an outgoing person, so she wasn’t sure how he was able to cope with being cooped up here as well.
She had also found out about the prices for the villas around the area. Since they were pretty overpriced, the occupancy rate was low. For that reason, it was no wonder that the area was so lifeless and quiet. After their meal, Heather and Leon went to the balcony.
The balcony had a European style layout as well, and there was an eye-catching recliner armchair which Heather occupied ahead of him. Hence, Leon reluctantly headed to the sofa by the side—it would’ve been nice to enjoy the sun in the recliner armchair.
“You’re so mean to me, Heather,” Leon grumbled in dissatisfaction. All of a sudden, his head started spinning as soon as he remembered the unwashed dishes in the sink.
Heather was only willing to cook; she had left the cleaning and tidying to Leon, yet she even took away his chance of resting in the comfortable recliner armchair.
“Why did you decide on this place?” Heather peered into the distance. However, there wasn’t much of a view to look at since the balcony was located too close to the ground.
“Sometimes, you just can’t explain it when it comes to love; I knew this was it the moment I laid my eyes on it.” Leon looked around his own villa. He loved it here, but he couldn’t explain why.
“It’s not like you’re looking for a soulmate.” Heather changed her position in her seat; it was rare for her to be so candid in front of others. After all, lounging against an armchair wasn’t an elegant position in her eyes.
“Tell me about Matthias, Heather.” Leon was in the mood to gossip. In fact, he had been wanting to ask about that for a long time, but Heather was always quick to avoid the topic. Hence, he could only go straight to the point this time.
“There’s nothing much to talk about. There isn’t anything interesting between us.” Heather felt no need to bring up their old disputes and rivalry from the past.
“I can see that Matthias is the reason you’ve changed,” Leon suddenly said with an oddly determined tone.
“Yes, partly.” Heather didn’t deny it, and she was rather open-minded with her response.
“I didn’t think you’d admit it so easily.” Leon was quite surprised. He’d thought Heather would brush him off with an excuse, but it seemed like she was planning to openly announce her relationship with Matthias.
“When you like someone, it’s only natural for you to change.” Meanwhile, Heather unhesitantly admitted that she did have feelings for Matthias.
Leon was astonished to hear such words from the latter’s mouth. At that moment, he felt a little unhappy inside. Sure enough, Leon had spent so much time and effort on her back then, but Matthias easily took the win from him.
“Have you really fallen in love with him?” In the end, Leon couldn’t help but ask her.
“Yeah, isn’t this what you wanted?” Leon used to actively create opportunities for the two of them to interact, so shouldn’t he be happy with such an outcome?
“Yeah, I just didn’t think it’d happen so quickly.” Leon assumed that Matthias still had a long way to go before he could pursue her. I guess love is a mystery after all.
“Sometimes, you just can’t explain it when it comes to love. Perhaps I knew he was the one the moment I laid eyes on him.” Heather adopted Leon’s words from a moment ago, and he turned to her in dissatisfaction. Discontent filled his chest.
“Congratulations to you and Matthias, then,” Leon replied stiffly. In fact, he sounded like a spoiled child who was throwing a tantrum.
“Can we stop talking about Matthias?” Heather asked pleadingly. Even though the two of them had just buried the hatchet while she also confirmed her feelings for him, she wasn’t interested in making him the subject of the conversation.
“Sure.” Leon went silent after that. Instead, he gazed at the view outside without a word.
Leon was seldom as quiet as this, so Heather didn’t speak as well. She shifted her gaze into the far distance, wanting to admire the view a little bit more.
The villa was conveniently surrounded by greens, and the beautiful landscape around them was aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Sunlight poured onto the tree leaves, and they projected gently swaying shadows onto the grass. At that moment, Heather found herself falling in love with the tranquility of the villa.
It somehow felt freeing and comfortable to live here—it was peaceful and serene. Undoubtedly, Leon had reliable taste in such things.
Nevertheless, the silence didn’t last long. Just then, Heather’s phone rang with a call from Matthias. She hesitated for a long while, debating if she should pick it up or not.
Since her peace was already disrupted, she didn’t have a reason to reject the call. After much thought, Heather picked up under Leon’s watchful eyes; he became even more enthusiastic on top of his affinity for gossip.
“Is there anything you need from me?” Heather asked Matthias before he even spoke. She deliberately lowered her voice as she wasn’t used to talking to him on the phone in front of Leon.
“I miss you,” Matthias said out of the blue, and Heather felt a little uneasy at his sudden remark.
“Just get to the point.” Heather continued to speak with a serious tone.
“I’ve looked all over Bradfort City, but I still can’t find you. Where are you hiding this time?” Matthias asked curiously. He thought that he could easily identify her location, but the outcome was to his disappointment.
“I’ll be back tomorrow, so don’t try to track my whereabouts,” said Heather patiently. It was already out of the ordinary that she wasn’t snapping back at him.
“Is Leon hiding you somewhere?” Matthias asked. He was only guessing, but he couldn’t think of anyone else besides the man.
“Is this important?” Heather wasn’t entirely sure how Leon was able to keep her so well-hidden here as well.
“Have you been staying with Leon alone for the past few days?” Matthias seemed to be hinting at something else with his question.
Heather could tell that he was jealous, and she didn’t expect him to assume the character of a boyfriend so soon. Needless to say, Matthias and Leon were two of a kind—one was even bolder than the other when it came to prying into her business.
“Yes.” Heather decided that she wouldn’t let him get his way. She knew how to deal with Leon, so she naturally knew how to deal with Matthias as well.
“Do you guys stay together like this very often?” After finding out the strange dynamic between Leon and Heather, Matthias was a little concerned.
He knew that Leon was interested in Heather, but he never took the fact personally simply because he didn’t expect the two to have such a history together.
The two of them used to collaborate frequently; one could even say that they had experienced life and death together. Their close relationship was admirable, but it was also unsettling to Matthias.
Moreover, Heather even had feelings for Leon some time ago, and they had almost gotten together. Matthias didn’t feel right for the two of them to maintain such an intimate relationship, so he couldn’t contain his envy at all.
“Yeah.” Heather gave him a short and determined answer yet again, and Matthias’ heart went cold for a split second.
“What are you trying to say after asking me all of that?” Heather turned her impulse into action. She couldn’t let Matthias ‘interrogate’ her without a reason; she didn’t like the feeling of being suspected, yet Matthias was challenging her limit so brazenly.
Mutual attraction between two people didn’t always mean suitability. Similarly, Heather and Matthias had countless contradictions in their personalities.
Oftentimes, Matthias wanted to improve their relationship by turning things around, but the situation would end up becoming more ridiculous in the end. Not only that, his efforts wouldn’t help at all; it’d make things worse instead.
“I hope that I’ll be the first person you think of when you need help one day.” Matthias was very jealous of the fact that Heather liked to turn to Leon for help. After all, he was more than capable to help her out as well.
At the end of the day, Heather just wasn’t willing to put her trust in Matthias; deep inside, she’d rather rely on Leon. Even though Leon wasn’t deliberately threatening Matthias, the latter had a strong possessive personality, so he couldn’t ignore it no matter what.
It was awfully difficult to occupy the number one spot in Heather’s heart, and something like this could only happen through time. Unfortunately, Matthias, who was usually calm and calculative, made a mistake on his first step in a relationship—he was rushing into it.
“Okay.” Heather didn’t express any dissatisfaction toward Matthias. On the contrary, she simply responded casually.
Throughout the entire time, Leon had been studying Heather’s expression from the side. The way they spoke seemed serious and business-like; from an outsider’s perspective, it even sounded like they were discussing business matters.
However, one’s facial expression would always reflect their heart. Even though Heather tried her best to hide her emotions, the slight shift in her facial expressions exposed her feelings inside.
It seemed like Heather and Matthias were having quite an unhappy exchange on the phone, but their topic of conversation was unknown. Leon was suddenly interested to know what they were talking about when he noticed the emotional look in her eyes.
After she ended the call, Leon gave Heather a knowing smile—he was probably the only person to have such a beautiful grin. Heather thought to herself that she probably didn’t expose anything odd from the conversation earlier. Nonetheless, she’d received a call from Matthias just after admitting that she had feelings for him—that alone was unbelievably awkward for her.
“Looks like you guys are done talking, Heather,” said Leon. His words seemed to carry more meaning than they let on.
