Having forgotten their surroundings, Leon and Heather were in their own world and were not quick to notice Dave’s approach.
Thus, from their perspective, Dave’s appearance was rather sudden. Warily, Leon eyed his grandfather and tightened his grip around Heather. His cautious stance made his care for her obvious to outsiders.
Holding onto a wine glass, Dave observed the pair with a neutral expression. Leon rarely cared about anything these days, and his actions only made the former more curious about Heather.
From where she was standing, Heather couldn’t see Dave. Nonetheless, she could feel Leon suddenly stiffening and burying her face against his chest.
The strange action made her suspicious and she tried to struggle out of his grip. However, he soon explained his actions. “Stop moving! My grandpa is here,” he said, wanting both to hold her and prevent her coming face to face with his grandfather.
“Let go of me, then,” she whispered to him.
“Trust me,” he answered instead, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
Now that he was closer to them, Dave sensed something wrong. From afar, he had already sensed that something was off and the nearer he got, the stronger that feeling grew.
The more he looked at them, the less he felt like they were a pair. Leon’s love for Heather seemed genuine—Dave could see his care and adoration for her in his eyes. As for how she felt about Leon, Dave had no way of knowing for now.
Knowing Leon’s temper, Dave spoke up first. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to the beautiful lady you’re hugging?”
Even from where she was pressed up against Leon’s chest, Heather could clearly hear how fluent and well-enunciated Dave’s English was. It seemed there was a reason for Leon’s good English after all, and that the patriarch of the family was responsible for ensuring that his children and grandchildren all spoke English to varying degrees.
“She’s not used to such occasions, Grandpa,” Leon told Dave now. All of a sudden, he no longer felt like having Heather put on an act with him.
“You sure know how to tell a joke, Leon. I heard she is a charming, elegant, belle of the ball. She should be used to such occasions.” Frankly, having collected whatever information he could find on her, Dave already had an understanding of her.
“Not here, though,” Leon answered, unrelentingly. By now, he wasn’t even willing to introduce them to the others.
“I fear you’ve yet to grasp the substance of today’s banquet,” Dave answered, his face growing unfriendly. Despite fearing him, his grandson continued to mouth him off. His patience for Leon wasn’t limitless, and he dearly hoped that Leon would grow up soon. The grandson he raised wasn’t one he hoped to see self-destruct.
Meanwhile, Heather was about to suffocate from the lack of air with her face buried in Leon’s chest. Since she desperately wanted to leave his embrace, she squirmed and caused him to loosen his grip slightly. Seizing the opportunity, she wiggled completely out of his grasp.
Very quickly, she was standing shoulder to shoulder with him. Neither acting proud nor in a self-effacing manner, she took Dave in and decided that he looked how she imagined him. He seemed spirited and not at all like he was in poor health.
Following that, she gave him a practiced, polite smile. It was the kind of smile he liked best—distant, well-mannered, but self-respecting at the same time. Already, he was forming a good first impression of her.
“Grandpa.” It was her first time calling someone else’s grandfather that and it made her feel immensely uncomfortable. Nonetheless, remembering her purpose here today, she still said that.
Even Leon was incredibly surprised. After all, she tended to be a finicky person who did not do such things easily. The fact that she was willing to address his grandfather like that meant she was giving the performance her all.
“Young lady.” In response, Dave gave her a kind and amiable smile, but it wasn’t one she would easily be dazzled by.
As he watched them interact, Leon suddenly felt like he had made a big deal out of nothing. He could see how satisfied his grandfather was with her.
Still acting like his girlfriend, she continued, “Leon’s too childish. Please don’t blame him.” She did it so smoothly as if she had done it before.
Happily, Dave smiled. It gave him some odd sense of joy to hear that being said about Leon since it was true; Leon was childish, and it was only a pity that such a talented child could have so many flaws in his personality.
“I’ve long gotten used to him and don’t find it strange at all. If anything, I’m sorry you have to bear the responsibility,” he quipped without hesitation.
Suddenly, Leon felt like he was a preschool child whose teacher was reporting his bad behavior to his parents before they all laughed about it together.
The inexplicable déjà vu left him feeling a little cold. It wasn’t as if he thought his grandfather would hate her, but he never expected them to get along so well that they’d draw closer simply by complaining about him.
Meanwhile, she was offering a modest, tight-lipped smile. Of course she wasn’t solely going to complain about Leon but compliment him as well.
“Even if he’s a little childish sometimes. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. In my eyes, at least, he’s very cute,” she lied with a straight face. sending him a smirk that made his knees go weak.
Perhaps she was too into the role. At this moment, even he was faintly buying the lie that she was his girlfriend and feeling a bit of joy in his heart.
Even if she was his girlfriend for only one night, it was enough to mess with his head, and he told himself that the goddess of a woman he yearned for was now by his side.
Meanwhile, Dave smiled cordially at her. “You young people only see the good side of each other when you’re dating.”
Hearing that, Leon couldn’t help but stand up for himself. “I am good.” In front of Dave, he couldn’t help occasionally displaying the petulance that the child of a family would have.
Heather could see where he was coming from and could tell that he was just the kind of person to insist on talking back when he didn’t actually hate his grandfather.
Virtually everyone was aware of his pride. If anything, he even somewhat humbled himself in front of her.
When the others at the party became aware of the happily chatting trio, they couldn’t help watching out of the corners of their eyes. After all, they dared not believe the scene, for Leon only ever made his grandfather angry on a normal day.
Yet, Dave was smiling at this moment and they all assumed it was the work of the woman that Leon brought back with him. Many of them had heard of her, but few had met her.
The three of them occupied the buffet area with Dave and Heather talking around Leon and, for the most part, complaining about Leon. Meanwhile, the subject of their discussion stood to one side and occasionally stepped in to protest that he hadn’t done anything too objectionable.
Yet, even while they enjoyed their discussion, the others quickly became unhappy with the fact that the focus of the banquet was quickly shifting to Leon.
What they wished the least to happen was for Leon to be treated with fondness, since he had managed to offend everyone in the family. They only hoped they would live to see him disowned.
The person who hated Leon most was his cousin who was only a few years older than him. To everyone else, that cousin was second in line to inherit the family wealth.
Yet, the cousin was well-aware of how large a threat Leon posed. While, as an illegitimate child, Leon did not have the legitimacy he had, Dave was especially tolerant of Leon’s antics. Thus, the fear that Leon would take his place was not unfounded.
At this moment, the trio moved out of the buffet area and closer to the dinner table. Dave was insisting that Heather sit by his side, and the honor made everyone else seethe with jealousy.
As Heather took in her surroundings, she could feel the animosity the others had toward Leon. Of course, it meant that animosity was now directed toward her. It seemed Dave and Leon were talking about very different things, and the only reason Leon could remain in his household was due to the protection of his grandfather.
Furthermore, it was clear that, in truth, Dave was very fond of Leon. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have noticed Leon’s vices. Nonetheless, because of how similarly stubborn they were, they were very bad at expressing how they felt about each other.
As she realized that, she wondered to herself whether there was something she could do to ease their relationship. She had Dave’s attention and right now, he was even overlooking the others in favor of talking to her.
Aware of the hostile and jealous glances that the others were shooting toward him, Leon stared back at them proudly. He was proud of himself for having the woman he loved by his side.
Never did Heather ever let him down. In fact, she always did things that surpassed his expectations, such as gaining the favor of his grandfather and allowing him to properly show off in front of his family for once.
“I heard you have high blood pressure, Grandpa. Perhaps you should have less of this kind of food.” Since she had heard Leon mention his grandfather’s health before, she chose an appropriate moment to express concern.
Such a seemingly natural expression of care gratified Dave, so he waved a hand at the unhealthy foods in front of him and told the attendant next to him, “Take these things away.”
At the same time, Leon winked at her. She was playing her part so much better than he advised her to that he felt like hugging her and giving her the biggest smooch.
In truth, she wasn’t rightly aware of how to please Dave and was merely treating him the same way she usually treated Robert. If she looked at him like he was her own grandfather, her actions would naturally seem truthful and sincere.
It wasn’t hard to socialize with the elderly. All they needed was a measure of sincerity, since they were much sharper than people gave them credit for and would always be able to tell who was being real and who was putting on a façade.
Since she never played any games in front of them and only ever said what was on her mind, she put them at ease and naturally earned their fondness.
A short while later, everyone took their seats, and Dave addressed the crowd. “Today, we have the fortune of receiving a visit from the beautiful Heather Langston, seated next to me. I’m confident that she will become a member of our family very soon.”
At his introduction, her face grew hot. It pained her to hear the words ‘become a member of our family,’ for in truth, she would never become a member of their family.
