Looks like someone is already impatient, Matthias thought, placing the document back into the folder. After thinking about it again and again, he took out the document once more from its folder. Then, he stood up and strode to the paper shredder. It’s better that no one else sees this, he decided, putting the document into the shredder.
Before he moved here, that person already instructed him to defeat Hart Group, and not only did that person want Locke Group to take over Hart Group’s position in the business scene of Bradfort, but he even wanted to occupy the Hart Group.
Back then, Matthias was devoted to his promise, but he was wavering now because he admired Tony and didn’t want to destroy the Hart Group. At least, he didn’t want to play the role of the villain as there were too many complicated relationships involved.
In addition, he now had plans to be with Heather, so he really didn’t want to harm Hart Group. Compared to destroying Hart Group, he wanted to destroy Locke Group even more.
Amidst this turmoil, Matthias knew his place very well, and he was caught in a dilemma. So for now, he could only pretend to comply. He used to be a sharp blade of the Locke Family, assisting them to expand their territory, but this sharp blade had gained its own consciousness.
Currently, he already had his own plan, and it was to live a simple life with Heather. To achieve this purpose, he was willing to take the risk.
While the conspiracy was beginning to take shape, Heather was busy with starting up her company to fulfill her dream. In the meantime, she had to be alert to any possible crisis that might arise anytime.
Leaning on her side leisurely on a couch in Leon’s apartment, Heather watched as he sat in a small stool across herself with her laptop on his lap, wearing a frustrated look on his face.
“I’m not interested in the fight between your families,” Leon declared in annoyance as he glanced at her, feeling incredibly unfortunate that she was using him as free labor again.
Without raising her head, Heather continued to peel the mandarin in her hands as though she hadn’t heard anything, which made him even more annoyed, and his face crumpled into a frown, showing his protest against her tyrannical behavior.
“Heather, you can’t keep forcing me back to my old profession,” he said righteously, condemning her actions.
Only then did she lift her head slowly and swept her eyes at him nonchalantly. What a pretty boy. He looks so cute even when he’s mad.
“It’s a given for a junior to help out his senior, no?” she said with a smirk. Finally, she finished peeling the mandarin and would be able to enjoy it soon.
Resentment crawled all over his face; all that was on his mind now were ways to woo Paige, and he was not the least interested to be involved with this mess Heather was presenting him.
“Here, I’ll share my mandarin with you, at the most.” Breaking the mandarin into two halves, she then handed one of it to him.
Despite his disgruntlement, Leon accepted the mandarin without second thoughts. Heather’s attitude today seemed odd to him, and even the way she spoke was weird.
Then, he looked at her warily until she popped a piece of the mandarin into her mouth. Only then did he stuff the entire half of the mandarin into his own mouth.
He’s such a slob when he’s eating, Heather thought with a frown. “Are you eating the mandarin to savor its sweet juices or just to fill your stomach?” she asked, changing the topic to a menial issue.
“The mandarin is so tiny that I can eat one in one mouthful, and I feel so anxious when I watch you eat it piece by piece. It’s just a waste of time,” he said, expressing his point of view. It seemed that he was easily distracted by Heather. Just a second ago, he was still complaining about her making him as her free labor, and now, he had become a debater.
“Only by eating piece by piece can you taste the essence of the mandarin. It’s a form of enjoyment. It’s unrefined of you to gobble it in one mouthful. You won’t be able to savor the mandarin from all aspects,” Heather argued as she grabbed another mandarin and shook it in front of him.
“I don’t want to argue over this with you,” he uttered, completely uninterested to discuss how to eat mandarins.
“How’s it going with your research?” she asked while she continued to peel another mandarin, thinking that it was a rather pleasing thing to do.
Helpless, Leon pouted his lips and answered, “I’m a hacker, not a seer. I can’t make up a story for you if it’s not existent on the internet.”
Despite her disappointment, she already thought of such an outcome before this. Computers weren’t such a common thing back then, so many things wouldn’t be uploaded on the internet. Looks like it would be impossible to make a breakthrough from the internet, she thought.
“Never mind. Let’s stop here for today.” Hopping off the couch, she knew that Leon had tried his best and had already given her all the information he could find. Really, there was no way he could find out anything anymore.
After closing the laptop in his hands, he hesitated before deciding to tell her something. “Perhaps the only place where you can get more information is from the military and police departments.” He was a law-abiding citizen, after all, and had yet to hack into the military and police departments because he still had a certain taboo against the government.
With a wave of her hand, Heather brushed off the idea, saying, “It’s alright. There’s no need to do anything illegal.” Then, she flashed him a sweet smile. Today, she was being a little sweet, which was so unlike her. “Here’s a mandarin for you,” she offered, handing him an entire mandarin she had just peeled. When she dropped it into his palm, she instructed, “Eat it piece by piece.”
Leon peered at the mandarin on his palm, shrugged his shoulders, and popped the entire thing into his mouth, which made Heather turn around and cast him an annoyed look as he gobbled it hastily. This guy’s stubbornness is comparable to mine, she thought.
“I’m bored, Heather. Should we go out together?” Recently, Leon had been staying home, and he felt that his head was about to explode from looking at the piles of documents every day.
“Where would you like to go?” Coincidentally, Heather was in the mood to go out as well, and she felt at ease hanging out with Leon now because there was nothing she had to be worried about.
“Somewhere Paige will be,” he answered with a sly grin. His mind was filled with Paige recently, but he couldn’t find a good excuse to look for her.
However, since Heather was with him today, it seemed appropriate if he went looking for Paige with her. While he rejoiced by himself, Heather could see from the wily look in his eyes that he had completely let go of her for real this time.
This was a good thing, but unfortunately, he had fallen for Paige, who was an incredibly tough person to woo. It wouldn’t be a breeze to woo her without going through some difficulties.
“Have you forgotten everything I told you the last time?” she asked sternly, distressed that he didn’t seem to remember any of her words at all.
With the past that Paige had been through, the only way to get to her would be integrating into her life bit by bit instead of wooing her openly and directly. Patience was needed in order to get to her heart, and Heather was concerned about the difficult path he would have to go through as she watched how impatient he was.
“Yes, yes. I remember it,” he answered helplessly. He couldn’t sympathize with Paige, so he didn’t understand her wary attitude toward relationships.
“The company will be operating soon, and you’ll be colleagues with her from then on, as well as her superior. So there will be tons of opportunities for you to meet her,” she assured. Seeing how serious he seemed, she thought that it might do good for his relationship with Paige.
“Alright, alright. I got it.” He nodded hurriedly. Guess I won’t be seeing Paige today, he thought with a sullen expression. Just a minute ago, he was still in high spirits, but he lost all of that energy now.
“Shall we go shopping instead?” Heather suggested. It’s been a while since I last went shopping anyway. And maybe it’ll help lift his mood.
“Sure,” Leon agreed, thinking that it sounded like a good idea because he could watch pretty girls while shopping.
For that, he dressed himself up meticulously. Already beautiful to begin with, he kept attracting the eyes of girls passing by after he dressed up so smartly. His charm was unmatched; not only were the young girls attracted to him, but even some middle-aged women couldn’t resist stealing a peek at him. Of course, amongst them, there were quite a few men who took a sly look at him, making Heather seem a little dull standing next to him.
Heather had a soft spot for furniture stores, especially those high-end, custom stores. While she insisted on dragging Leon into a store with her, he didn’t want to go to a gathering spot for middle-aged people, and she had to use brute force to drag him in.
“There are no pretty girls here, Heather,” he said in a huff, thinking that Heather was obviously setting him up.
“The salesgirl is pretty,” she replied, pointing to a salesgirl.
Unsure whether he should laugh or cry, Leo didn’t think that the salesgirl was that attractive, and just as he expected, the people walking around the store were all much older. My plan to watch some pretty girls has gone up in flames, he thought, turning to Heather to admire her beauty as that was his only choice left.
Happily, Heather tugged him into a bedding store. Thinking that they were a couple, the salesgirl kept showing them bedding items for couples.
When Heather didn’t want to listen to the salesgirl speak anymore, Leon was very interested instead, probably because she was the slightly prettier girl he had seen today.
I’ll let him continue to chitchat happily with her, then, she decided because she wanted to shop for bedding items by herself quietly. She had a weird habit—after a certain period of time, she couldn’t wait to change all the things in her bedroom to new ones, and now was that time again.
Engrossed in her own shopping, she didn’t even realize that someone was calling her name. If it wasn’t Leon who came to her specially to tell her, she would probably still be warped up in her own little world.
“Don’t bother me when I’m shopping,” she said in annoyance. As she loved to spend time on picking out the items by herself quietly, she hated it the most when someone disturbed her.
“Someone’s calling you,” Leon said, pointing in a direction not far off.
Looking into the direction he was pointing at, Heather saw that the person he meant was Myra. Subconsciously, she blinked a couple of times, thinking that it was such a coincidence to run into her in a bedding store by chance!
Despite that, she actually didn’t want to meet her during these times. Whenever she thought of the things Myra told her before, a throbbing pain would start in her head. She just hoped that Myra would get through the next few months safely and deliver the baby smoothly without any other complications.
“Heather!” Myra called out to her while walking over, pleasantly surprised to see her shopping in a bedding store with a handsome man.
Is he her new romance? she wondered as it had been a while since Heather last contacted her, and she happened to bump into this scene today. They look rather compatible together. It was the first time Myra saw someone more good-looking than Tony.
“Myra,” Heather greeted, going over to meet her.
A brilliant smile appeared on Leon’s face. Finally, he saw the person he had only heard about, and his eyes were filled with interest as he gave Myra a once-over.
Meanwhile, Heather nudged him with her elbow as a reminder for him to watch his actions, and Myra caught sight of that small movement. They seem rather close. Feeling happy for Heather, she couldn’t wait to know more about this handsome man in front of her eyes.
