During dinner, Heather turned to Leon who was seated beside Robert. As if they had a tacit agreement, both Robert and Leon did not mention anything about the conversation they had back in the study room. As she approached her usual seat, the rest of the family entered the dining room accordingly. Upon entering the room, Everly instantly noticed the handsome lad sitting next to her grandfather.
For him to show up here, he must be Heather’s acquaintance. Then, Everly took a quick peek at Heather and wondered, How could she attract so many men? There’s even a whole variety of them!
With that, Everly couldn’t help but feel jealous as men wouldn’t notice her. Even if she became ten times prettier, no one would take a second glance at her.
When her gaze fell upon Leon, he immediately noticed the admirable young lady and looked at her with interest.
As Heather and Everly were sitting not far apart from each other, he could easily compare their beauty. Much to his surprise, Everly was remarkably prettier than her cousin sister, which excited him. Upon facing his stare, Everly couldn’t help but feel bashful as she wondered why he would look at her in such a way—unlike the other men Heather had brought home.
At that moment, Robert also noticed Leon’s lustful ogle and suspected that he was attracted to Everly. Although Everly had always been overshadowed by Heather, she was undoubtedly the most glamorous among the Langston children as none—male or female—could trump her in terms of beauty.
“Does our food not suit you, Leon?” Heather coldly interrogated as she sent a piercing leer toward Leon.
As he withdrew his stare from Everly, he let out an awkward laugh. Given that it was rare for Heather to speak up during dinner, even the other family members were surprised.
Upon hearing Heather’s question, the Langstons couldn’t resist their urge to peek at Leon and speculate whether he was Heather’s boyfriend. Even Everly thought her cousin was jealous.
In that instant, after thinking she had made Heather jealous, Everly felt relieved to know that she wasn’t unattractive. She warily glanced at Leon and admired his appealing looks as she gradually became even more intoxicated.
“No way! They are great! I’ve never eaten such tasty dishes!” Leon sulked as he glanced at Heather, fearing that her anger would lead to his mass defamation.
It was unfortunate that he had made his intentions a tad bit too obvious, so she glared at him, hinting at him to stay away from Everly. As a woman, she understood that Everly’s charm tended to attract various attention and that included the eyes of degenerates.
Seeing as Everly grew into a compliant young lady, Heather thought Everly looked awfully like her young self and she would do anything to protect her.
Although the two cousins weren’t exactly enthusiastic around each other and they didn’t seem like blood relatives, sheltering Everly from harm gave Heather a sense of bliss.
As Heather had greatly contributed to the Langston Family and its members openly and discreetly, she no longer owed her family anything. Although she might look apathetic and unapproachable, she actually gave a lot to the family in silence without asking for any rewards.
She personally drove Leon home after dinner. Her behavior was odd as she volunteered not to send him to the gate, but back home instead.
Upon seeing her suspicious acts, her family members thought she had some nasty plans in mind with Leon—the pretty boy. Well, not that she cared about their thoughts anyway.
“Heather, I’m so sorry that you have to drive me home yourself,” he expressed with a grin even though not even a hint of apology was shown on his face.
“Since you can’t grab a cab here, I can only send you back,” Heather coldly replied.
Even when she was nice to someone, she would rather act in an unpleasant and rude manner than admit that she cared. And knowing that, Leon didn’t mind her irksome facade.
For a moment, Leon racked his brain for a topic to chat with Heather, but he didn’t know what would pique her interest. After infuriating her earlier in the evening and experiencing her cold treatment during dinner, he felt a little bad for agreeing to stay for the meal.
“Don’t even think about courting Everly.” Heather suddenly warned Leon when they were nearing his apartment. After all, Everly’s beauty was truly eye-catching, so there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t make his advances.
For girls at Everly’s age, his seduction would surely be irresistible. She would rather have Leon invest all his efforts into pursuing Paige than to have obscene thoughts toward Everly.
“Which one’s Everly?” Leon peered at Heather in confusion.
“The girl you’ve been staring at all night.” She stopped her car at the apartment gate, not intending to drive into the premises.
“Come on, you know Paige is the one I like. It’s not like I’ll have any nasty thoughts about others,” Leon explained hastily. Having assumed that Heather cared not one bit about her family, he realized now that wasn’t the case. She was a toughie on the outside, but a softie on the inside.
“As if! You’re not allowed to even be friends with her.” Shattering his fantasy, she had decided to never bring him back to the Langston Residence, forbidding him to see Everly.
In response, Leon answered with a pitiful face, “For real? She’s so gorgeous! Can’t I admire her solely for her looks?”
“No freaking way. She’s just a little girl and a rascal like you doesn’t suit her. Even as friends, you’ll surely corrupt her mind.” As Heather spoke, she unlocked the door on the side of the passenger seat, signaling him to alight from the vehicle.
An unsatisfied Leon exited the car and she instantly sped her car away. With a face full of sorrow, he gazed at the apartment gate, realizing she dropped him at the Eastern gate, which was the furthest from his unit and it would take another thirty minutes for him to arrive home.
The creatures called women were terrifying! In helplessness, he walked home with the knowledge that he would no longer get to enjoy the sight of such beauty. In the past, Heather once told him about a cousin of hers whose looks were as heavenly as an angel’s. Now that he had personally seen the said cousin, he realized Heather really wasn’t exaggerating.
He originally thought that she was just toying with him. Little did he know that Everly’s grace exceeded all expectations. Her facial features were even more delicate than those of Heather as if she was a gift from God.
Discarding those messy thoughts from his mind, Leon thought that since he decided to court Paige, he should stay faithful and not be distracted by Everly. Besides, with Heather as the girl’s guardian, he had no way to get anywhere close to Everly, so he’d rather focus his efforts on wooing Paige.
On her way home after sending Leon, Heather turned her car as she received a mysterious message.
In fact, she had already seen it when he exited the car, but she didn’t care to read it at the time. When she finally opened it, the message showed a time and it was nearing the hour.
Feeling as if something bad was about to happen, she floored the gas pedal, knowing not many people would show up at such a time, so the road should be clear.
For some reason, time became significantly precious as Heather prayed in her heart, Please be safe! Judging by the speed she was driving, she could probably reach Leon’s apartment within five minutes. Racing against time, she wished that she had a pair of wings to accelerate her pace.
Unfortunately, there were only three minutes left until eleven and she strongly wished for time to slow down. The moment her car came to a fast stop before his apartment, a loud boom thundered from the 21st floor.
Without any hesitation, Heather sprung out of her car and charged into the apartment. In dismay, she raised her head and realized that it was the floor Leon lived on. She forcefully grasped her cellphone, almost as if she was about to crush it.
Reluctant to believe he was involved in an accident, she was so anxious that her body trembled as she prepared to barge in and check for herself. As her heart was filled with guilt and self-blame, the expression she made was terrifically unnatural. Someone must have cursed me!
Before she could take a step, a familiar voice sounded from behind. “Why are you here, Heather?”
In disbelief, Heather turned and saw Leon. In an instant, she rushed toward him and hugged him, nearly bursting into tears as she did so.
She tightly clutched to him, having been struck with the terror of almost losing him to death. Then, she muttered in his ear, “I’m so sorry, Leon. I’m so sorry…”
In response, a confused Leon gently patted Heather, attempting to comfort her out of her uncontrolled emotions.
When he heard the explosion earlier, he hastened his pace, only to notice her before him.
What truly shocked him was the fact that she took the initiative to hug him for the first time. It was such a tight embrace that he could feel her quivering. At that moment, she was at her weakest, needing someone to support her.
“It’s okay, Heather. It’s over now.” Leon glared at the stairs with the knowledge that the detonation had happened in his room.
As it seemed like he was related to the explosion, a trace of gloom flashed across his eyes. He hadn’t the faintest idea as to who would be cruel enough to finish him off with a bomb.
Like survivors of a tragedy, the duo firmly held each other, unaware of the person taking photos of the scene behind them.
The moment Heather got out of Leon’s arms, she awkwardly looked at him as she regained her composure. At the same time, he noticed how she was still tightly grasping her phone and couldn’t help but stare at it.
Heather immediately showed Leon her phone. “Before the explosion, someone sent me this text. Perhaps you could find out the source.”
Since it wasn’t something worth hiding, she revealed the message in the hopes that he could trace it. As of now, she couldn’t tell whether the sender was a kind person who warned her or the bomber himself.
While reading the text message, he instantly frowned as aggression filled his eyes. Switching off the phone, he handed it back to her. “Do not report this to the police.”
Since the police would arrive soon, they planned to wait for them. After all, Leon was a resident of the apartment while Heather was its rightful owner.
Even if they tried to escape from the police, the latter could easily summon them back to the police station, so they decided to await the policemen’s arrival. They hoped to gain some information about the explosion.
“Some men thought I was interfering with their business and wished to kill me off,” Leon expressed with a condescending scoff. Like his family, he wasn’t a person whom anyone would simply mess with.
“Is it related to the investigation you did for me?” Heather blurted as the first thing that came to her mind was the family grudge she recently begged Leon to look into.
“It’s not,” he answered decidedly as he didn’t want to burden her, knowing the main reason behind her mental breakdown earlier was her self-blame.
“You’re lying.” As she observed his attitude, Heather assumed that she was related to the case. She had never expected to drag Leon into her personal matters.
“You’re overthinking it. Don’t you believe in my ability to obtain information without anyone knowing? I’m like a shadow in the dark! No one could find me even if they tried!” Leon exclaimed boastfully as he felt the need to ease Heather’s emotions at that time. Given that the things he had experienced in the past were much worse than what happened tonight, he didn’t put much thought into it.
“I’m sorry,” she remorsefully apologized as her heart was filled with penitence.
“Perhaps you don’t know my family that well. They might even be the cause of the explosion,” he stated with a casual face. Well, it wasn’t like he chose to be born and raised in that family.
