The moment Leon reminded Heather about it, he also felt that it was necessary for them to create a piece of big news. Once they had made their fake relationship official, it was much easier for the rest of their plans to continue.
“Heather, would it seem too deliberate?” he asked worriedly. If he announced their relationship two days before their family party, it seemed rather obvious that he simply found a woman to ward Dave off.
“Maybe we should double confirm one thing: does he mind if you lie to him? Heather still had not fully understood Leon’s current situation. She only knew that he needed to find a fake girlfriend for the moment to appease his grandfather.
“Of course. He hates it when people lie to him.” When he was younger, he had seen what happened to a man who lied to his grandfather. He still felt fear every time he remembered that.
She slapped Leon’s head. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Since he doesn’t want you to lie to him, you should tell him the truth!” She was quite pissed off by him.
“No, I can’t do that. The reason why he allowed me to come to Bradfort City is because I told him that I have a girl I like here and I want to date her.” His expression fell. If I knew this would happen, I wouldn’t have used this excuse in the beginning. Serves me right!
“What?” Heather looked at him incredulously. Everything that is happening now is a result of his own doing?
Leon helplessly looked at her. “Heather, this is why you are the only person who can help me now.”
He had mentioned her to Dave in the beginning. Since Dave was quite satisfied with Heather as a person, he finally allowed Leon to come here.
“What do we do now?” She thought that they had to pretend to be a couple for only a few days. Now, it seemed like they would have to maintain the pretense for quite a long time, possibly to the point where they needed to experience the entire process as a couple.
Leon had a blank look as he had no idea what to do next. “I can only take one step at a time and see how everything goes. I don’t want to go home—they are going to screw me up.” He had no faith in his own family.
“Let’s take a seat now. You should tell me the entire story.” At this point, Heather felt that she should know the entire story and its details.
He hesitated for a while before he reluctantly agreed. “Let’s speak about it upstairs.” As the living room was devoid of decor, he preferred the cozy vibes of the room.
As soon as both of them went to the second floor one after another, Leon went to the master bedroom immediately with Heather trailing behind him. This time around, there were some changes to the room. She immediately saw the carpet on the floor that looked cozy.
“You complained that my house was not cozy enough last time, so I made some changes to it,” he proudly explained since he was already used to doing something that she would approve of. It was like an instinct that he could not even control.
“Looks good,” she praised casually.
Leon looked pleased with himself. After all, he loved to receive her praises. Sometimes, he would want her approval as a substitute for his family. Perhaps this was also why he liked to meet her often.
In no time, both of them sat on the carpet with a coffee table between them. Since they were chatting together, it would be better for the atmosphere to be casual. As such, they had some tea, which would make it quite relaxing to chat.
Heather poured herself a cup of tea while Leon raised his own cup, hoping that she would fill his beaker as well. Looking at his childish expression, she had no other choice but to pour another portion of tea for him.
Now that she thought about it, she found it weird that he was increasingly clingy toward her, as if he was a little girl. She regarded him from head to toe as she commented, “You seem strange recently.”
While drinking his tea, he lifted his head to look at her when he heard her comment. He did not think that there was anything wrong with him, so he had no idea what she was referring to.
“Why are you behaving in a more feminine manner recently? Your pinky even curls up when you hold the teacup,” Heather noted in disgust because Leon’s femininity did not match his sinewy figure.
“Hehe.” He revealed a meaningful smile that looked slightly lecherous amidst his shyness.
“Perhaps your grandfather was wrong from the beginning. He shouldn’t have asked you to bring a girlfriend to the family party. Maybe what you need is a boyfriend instead,” she teased, which immediately dissolved the tension between them. It was only in front of him that she had the courage to tease so much.
“Heather, you usually treat me as your sister. I can’t believe that you actually thought about it this way,” he replied in amusement. It was difficult for him to display his masculinity in front of her.
After all, Leon could not even defeat Heather in a fight and she was better than him in many ways. If he seriously thought about it, he felt slightly ashamed of his behavior as a man. As her male best friend, he felt that he was becoming increasingly feminine. On top of that, he had recently been courted by a real man, which made him speechless.
Heather smiled unabashedly. “Actually, it’s pretty good that you’re like that. I don’t like men who are extremely masculine. It’s better that you are more feminine.” Now that they were on this topic, she admitted that she really had no interest in the typical masculine men. Even Matthias, whom she had fallen for, was quite soft and feminine. Not only that, he was handsome and gentle too.
“Let’s start discussing the main topic of the day.” As Heather had been chatting about such trivial things without even touching on the main topic, Leon did not want the entire day to be wasted just like that.
Heather nodded in agreement. “If you don’t mind, can you tell me more about your family in detail?” She had no knowledge about his family at all, so she was worried that she could embarrass herself at the family party.
Leon did not want to touch much on his family, but now that they had already arrived at this stage, there was no use for him to continue hiding.
“I was born in an ancient family. My ancestors were aristocrats from the middle ages. Even up until now, the family members still use the same standards for themselves. I, however, am just an accident. I’m the illegitimate son of my grandfather’s favorite third son. The biggest stain of his dear son’s life is probably me.” Toward the end, his tone became increasingly sarcastic. It was quite apparent that his relationship with his family was indeed terrible.
He paused for a while and took a sip of his tea before he continued speaking, “I was raised by my mother since young, but they found us later and asked me to return to the family. Just like that, I was forced to stay with them in their mansion. However, I was not happy at all. I had enough of their competition both in the dark and in the open. Apart from that, my so-called father also hates me and vice versa. By forcing us to be together, it only resulted in us hating each other even more.” When he finished his sentence, his voice was thick with hatred. It was without a doubt that he hoped for his father to be dead.
Heather remained silent. She could tell that Leon became more irritated at the mention of his family. She tried to use a gentle expression to soothe him as she felt sorry for his background.
“After finally escaping from the family, I will not return there anymore. I don’t want to meet that man at all. Do you know what I hate most about him? He looks almost exactly the same as me to the point that I find myself disgusting whenever I look at myself in the mirror.” As he spoke more, he vented his emotions more strongly.
She continued to use a gentle tone to comfort, “Now that you are out from the family, you are not restricted by anyone now, so don’t think about the past anymore.”
He laughed at himself. “Not restricted by anyone? No. Even though they are far away from me, they would also want to control me remotely. I hate this feeling a lot. I owe them nothing and they have never raised me. Why should I even serve their interests? Do they think that they can move me with just some money?” he spoke in annoyance as he hated the arrogance of his family members to the core.
Heather stretched out her hand to caress his forehead. “Don’t overthink it. You will get your freedom. I will help you.” In the past, he had always been giving his all to help her out. This time around, she wanted to help him accomplish his goal for once.
“I’m afraid not.” Leon smiled bitterly. “Unless you agree to marry me. Otherwise, my grandfather will not let me regain my true freedom.”
She looked at him with peculiarity. “Your family is so weird.” What even is this weird idea? Now, he makes me want to meet Dave in person to see that weird man.
“You have to bear children for me too,” he added. If she had not seen his serious expression at this moment, she would have already punched him.
He’s teasing me! “What the hell?” Heather felt defeated. What the hell is this?
“The old man said that it’s fine to sever ties with the family as long as I give them an offspring. Actually, he has already given up on me and reserved his energy to groom my son.” It was precisely because of this reason that Leon was even firmer in his resolution that he did not want any children. He did not want the next generation to suffer the same pain as him.
If he were to talk about this in a crude way, he was just waiting for Dave to reach the end of his life. As soon as Dave was gone, there was no one else who could control him. Before that, he would never settle down and have children. This was also the reason for Dave demanding such an outrageous request from him.
Heather immediately understood everything and asked tentatively, “The reason for them to ask you to marry someone is because your grandfather wants you to have a son soon.” She gave Leon a sympathetic look. Unexpectedly, Leon’s only remaining value is to bear children for the family.
“Yes. That’s right, but I won’t let them have their way. I’m fine with marriage, but I will never have children,” he spoke firmly.
“You’re fine with marriage? I don’t think you have any suitable marriage partner,” she teased quietly beside him.
“You!” Leon smiled wickedly. “Heather, as long as you agree to marry me, the old man will never turn a blind eye to the things that have been going on at the Langston Family.”
Heather narrowed her eyes as she could finally see through his intentions. So, this is his plan, but it actually makes sense—it’s only until we become a family that Dave would finally help out the Langston Family. “Do you think I will agree?” she asked with half a smile on her face.
“You will.” When he replied, he seemed to have changed into a different person.
She looked at Leon, who had finally revealed himself. In that instant, she suddenly understood quite a number of things. It seems that Leon is more familiar with the current situation in Bradfort City.
“Do you know something that I don’t?” Heather asked. At this point, she was sure that Leon had been quietly hiding something from her.
“Yes,” he replied calmly, which made her blood freeze. She did not expect that he would involve her in his calculations as well.
Looking at her suddenly darkened face, Leon thought about it before apologizing, “I’m sorry, Heather. To me, freedom is more important than love. I wasn’t deliberately planning to hide it from you. I just hope that you can help me.”
Heather looked at him in disappointment. “Why didn’t you believe in our close friendship? Why did you use this method to force me to follow your plans?” She was immensely disappointed that he chose to use tactics instead of believing in their friendship.
“In the past, I knew you would agree. However, now that you have Matthias, I won’t dare to take the risk. Both you and I are business people, so you should know that only profits are eternal. Now that our profits are tied together, we will eventually work together.” Leon was not remorseful at all. In fact, he did not believe that he had done something wrong. This made Heather even more disappointed. I can’t believe that humans can be so complicated.
Even Leon, whom I have always regarded as my best friend, will change into a completely different person in front of something that would benefit him. Who can I still trust now?
