66"Leo?"I looked at Leonardo's deep dark eyes in confusion. I only felt that his gaze was very familiar, and I inexplicably wanted to cower.Leonardo bent down and held me tightly. Then, he raised his hand to turn off the light and kissed me for a while before whispering. "Pay me back when you have a long vacation."I was rendered speechless.Leonardo then said, "Answer me."I slightly hid under the quilt and felt that the grip of Leonardo's hand on my waist was harder. Then, I quickly whispered, "Okay."Leonardo snorted, hugged me, and closed his eyes. I did not know how long had passed when suddenly he pinched my arm and said in a deep voice, "If you can't stand it anymore, tell me about it so that you won't have a fever again."I was at a loss for words.Then, I clenched the corner of the quilt nervously, closed my eyes, and pretended that I was asleep and did not hear anything.67Leonardo kept his word. He did not touch me as I attended my classes. However, sometimes
74"Mrs. Xanthos, I still have classes..."I guessed correctly that Linda was here personally because there was something that she wanted. If nothing goes wrong, it was something that I did not want to do.Linda curled her lips and handed me my previous phone. Then, she said faintly, "Maddie."I was stunned for a moment, and my heart skipped a beat. I gripped the book in my hand tightly and whispered, "Mrs. Xanthos, this phone belongs to Luke. It's better to give it back to Luke."Linda raised her thin eyebrows but did not intend to take back the phone."Well, hello. I thought who it was. Are you still wearing my Aunt Lorelai's out-of-season clothes?"Melissa came out of nowhere, raised her hand, and held my arm. Then, she grinned as she looked at Linda. "By the way, has your son been discharged from the hospital?"Melissa spoke in a slightly bold way. I immediately pulled her. Then, I looked at Linda and said in a low voice, "Mrs. Xanthos, she—"There was a smile on Linda's f
86I held my breath and stood rooted to the spot. As I heard the conversation between the two people, I instantly understood the reason for Leonardo's anger. He was angry that I did not cooperate with him to take the photos."Where did you say Madeleine went to?""S-She's in the cashier."The man gave the answer very quickly.Leonardo could not help sneering and complained, "She's quite good at reserving her energy."I bit my lips slightly and heard Leonardo ask the man to go away. Without hesitation, I arched my body and sneaked away. Then, I ran back to the cashier quickly. After that, I kept the same posture as before and waited.When Leonardo pushed the cart toward me, he was very calm and just glanced at me.I lowered my eyes and looked up again. Then, I pretended that I saw him unintentionally. After that, I ran toward him quickly. "Leo."Leonardo raised his chin slightly and checked out on his own.I followed quietly, watching the products in the cart being cleared one
95"Grandma Natalie."Leonardo curled his lips, reached out, and put his arms around my waist. Then, he said naturally, "It seems that you have been in good spirits recently."I felt Leonardo pinching my waist. Looking at Natalie, I said softly, "Hello, Grandma Natalie."Natalie glanced at Leonardo once before turning to glance at me. She did not intend to respond at all. However, she merely leaned against the couch and looked at the housekeeper next to her. The housekeeper immediately clapped her hands.Suddenly, there were footsteps behind us. I unconsciously looked over and saw three or four housekeepers walking inside with whips in their hands."Grandma Natalie."Leonardo was instantly alert. He took my hand and said with a smile, "I don't think this is appropriate."Natalie gave an icy smile and scolded, "You jerk. Have you forgotten who made your mother go through everything? You put the person that she raised by your side. Do you think that you had lived enough?"In the
104When I saw Leonardo was about to turn on the phone again, I was a little nervous and sat down next to him."Leo...""What's the password?"Leonardo put the phone in front of me. His dark eyes were calm as if he was not angry. However, he looked cold as if he was interrogating his subordinate.I fidgeted and did not say anything.With a cold expression, Leonardo took out his phone from his pocket and threw it at me. Then, he said in a deep voice, "The password is 202151."I was rendered speechless.I was a little confused. I did not understand what he meant. In the end, he added, "It's best to be fair. What's your password?"I frowned and still did not say the password. I just unlocked the password using my fingerprints.Leonardo gave me a sideway glance and said, "You're petty."I bit my lips and watched him start to scroll through the phone. I inexplicably recalled the moment when I stayed by Lucas' side. If Leonardo were to find out that I wanted to save money, he woul
110"Maddie."Lucas gritted his teeth and choked up with sobs. "Don't tell me you like that person."When I looked at Lucas, I did not understand what was the point of saying it at that moment. Therefore, recalling the so-called relationship from the past, I asked him, "Is falling in love very important?"Lucas suddenly kept silent.I looked at him and wanted to tell him things that were on my mind. However, I felt that it was not going to be useful. Thus, I just smiled and told him the truth calmly."A feeling of love can't be exchanged for money. Moreover, it can't be exchanged for power as well."The only thing left was humiliation. It was just a blow to one's naivety."Maddie...""Luke, congratulations on being the CEO of Xanthos Group."With a smile, I pulled my hand out of Lucas' hand. Then, I placed my hand on the doorknob. When I faced the occasional chilly wind, I suddenly calmed down a lot, and my heart suddenly became cheerful.If it were me, I would not give up t
117At ten o'clock at night, at the barbecue joint in the city center, Leonardo became much more energetic after he slept for a while. While eating grilled skewers, he drank liquor. He said nothing. In just half an hour, the liquors on the table were finished."Sir, again...""Leo."Looking at the hint of drunkenness in his eyes, I could not help but open my mouth. I looked at the shopowner who came over with the liquor and I turned to Leonardo. Then, I whispered, "You can't drink anymore."Leonardo lowered his eyes and said nothing. The shopowner glanced at me and perhaps he thought that it was me who decided between Leonardo and me. Thus, he took away the liquor sulkily.After hesitating for a while, I asked the shopowner for a glass of apple cider vinegar. Then, I sat beside Leonardo and handed it to him.Leonardo tilted his head and looked at me innocently. He smiled. Then, he said as if he wanted to remind me, "If I were drunk and died, you wouldn't have to stay by my side.
125The refreshing scent was very close to me.I raised my head and looked at Leonardo's chin. Then, I leaned in his arms. I felt that the fear had disappeared a lot, and I even felt slightly sleepy.Maybe what Leonardo said when he was driving gave me a sense of security. I felt he could handle the matter well.As a result, the guy directly exposed the whole thing in public. He immediately cut off half of the business collaboration between Xanthos Group and the Hamilton family. The news was on the trending news on the same day. Then, he even made enemies everywhere and attacked all the media stations that reported on the news.Melissa was so happy that she regarded it as something that came out of a novel.However, I was so anxious. I seriously suspected that Leonardo was just smart superficially, and he was actually a naïve person inside. If he were to do this, it would be as if he had given a knife to Linda and waited for Linda to stab him.After all, the Hamilton family coop