Chapter 666
Standing Before Love
The situation became quite tense at that moment. While Heather considered in her mind how to broach the subject with Leon, he was also trying to figure out what to do next. Both of them looked at each other while looking lost.
âHeather, as far as Iâm aware, you recently seem to be overly close with a particular hotshot detective,â
he asked tentatively. He was considering whether he should mention it since it was something private.
Meanwhile, she was slightly taken aback before she gave him a strange look. âLooks like youâve been following my tracks,â she said this with a hint of annoyance.
Leon never expected Heather to say those words. I really need to be careful with my words around women. He felt like he had fallen into a trap once again. At that moment, he responded by looking at her with a dumbfounded expression âI swear I didnât secretly trail you! Heather, someone took a photo of you with the detective.â
Upon hearing that, her expression slightly changed. She persisted and asked him, âWhen did this happen? Whereâs the photo?â Zayne and I are usually careful, so how did that person manage to get a photo of us?
He raised both hands and replied in fear, âHeather, please remain calm for the time being. I only took a look at it, but I didnât retain the photo.â
Heather was slightly doubtful as she didnât trust Leonâs words. It was hard to trust someone once theyâd broken that trust. He gave an awkward smile as he noticed her distrust and he acted as if a smile could conceal everything.
âHeather, can you please trust me? Thereâs no need for me to lie about this.â He felt quite dejected at being doubted by her because it was quite an uncomfortable feeling.
She reluctantly nodded her head because she was much more concerned about the photo. âWhere did you see that photo?â
Leon looked at her with a torn expression and it seemed like he had qualms about mentioning it.
However, Heatherâs eyes bore into him and he had no choice but to speak the truth. âIt was from a reporter. I donât know how he obtained that,â he replied gingerly as it was something that happened a few days ago.
âReporter? Whatâs his name?â She continued with her interrogation and was insistent on getting a conclusive answer.
Leon looked at Heather with a slightly ugly expression. âI donât remember his name. All I can distinctly remember is his features.â
After all, his answer fitted with his personality; he was the type of person who rarely remembered a person and he could at most recall the personâs looks.
âSketch it out for me. I want to seek him out.â Heather felt that she should resolve this issue before the family dinner. She didnât want to encounter any blunders then.
âHeather,â Leon suddenly called out her name. âThat issue isnât the priority right now. We should focus on tomorrow nightâs family dinner,â He tried to gently express his thoughts.
âYou canât provide any useful information for tomorrowâs dinner, so itâs a waste of time to continue our discussion on that.â She gave her justification since she was speaking the truth.
âThen, are we going to spend the rest of the time tracing this unknown little reporter?â A displeased Leon voiced out his thoughts since he felt that Heather had her priorities mixed up.
Meanwhile, she responded quite matter-of-factly, âThis is quite important to me and it could have an adverse effect on tomorrowâs dinner.â
He looked her in the eyes. Since he was convinced by her words, he knew that he couldnât seem to ever reject her request.
âOkay, Iâll show you where to find him.â Leon didnât have anything urgent to do, so he decided to head with her to see the reporter since she was so mindful of that.
âDo you know where to find him?!â Heather suddenly felt slightly awkward as this hadnât crossed her mind.
âYes, I know his workplace. We should be able to catch him there at this hour,â he replied while he looked at the time. Tabloid reporters like that man usually worked overtime.
âLetâs go now!â Heather was suddenly full of energy. She didnât know whether anyone else had seen the photo so she was worried about Matthias finding out. Actually, come to think of it, it doesnât matter even if he realizes this. She wasnât sure of the reason for her worries, but she maintained an apprehensive feeling.
âThereâs no rush for that.â Leon wasnât sure why she was so frantic. Sheâs normally the most level-
headed one.
Heather then glared at him. Obviously, he wasnât anxious about it, but it was a different story for her.
She considered it for a moment before she decided to inform Zayne about this.
Based on Zayneâs professional acuity, he should have in fact realized this. By then, the list of suspects in Heatherâs mind grew and Zayneâs name was included in it. She suspected him of hiding something from her.
After all, if Leon had lied to her easily, it would be quite plausible for others to lie to her as well. Right now, the general trust she had in people had greatly decreased.
âLeon, do you have something that youâre purposely hiding from me?â Heather was annoyed by Leonâs apparent calmness. She sensed that he was hiding something from her.
âHeather, I honestly havenât hidden anything from you. Iâve told you everything that you need to know.â
His brows were furrowed into a single line. How can I explain myself?!
âRight now, youâre rather low on my list of the people I trust,â she replied with a displeased expression.
Upon recalling the things that he had done before, she felt a burst of anger âHeather, Iâve only made one single mistake, so could you please not treat me like this?!â Leonâs expression was quite forlorn. He felt like he was banished into the dungeons with no sign of escaping at all.
âYou deserve it! Think of all the things that youâve done to me!â Heather mentioned angrily, âI used to trust you so much, but I didnât expect you to lie to me. You made use of me and our relationship became merely a business interest in your eyes.â Her anger continued to rise as she aired her grievances and her expression turned quite savage. If looks could kill, he would have immediately dropped dead since she was quite disappointed in him.
Meanwhile, Leon was quite aware that he had mentioned the wrong thing. âIâm sorry, Heather.â Right now, other than apologizing for his bad behavior, he knew it was a wise idea to keep his mouth shut.
The more he said, the more there was a chance he would be at fault.
Heather focused her eyes on his face and there were a lot of words that she wanted to say but couldnât.
She merely shook her head at him. âStop apologizing to me. I donât need your apology.â
Upon hearing his apology, her mood worsened. She knew that he was quite good at understanding women, so she wasnât sure whether his apology was sincere or simply perfunctory.
âHeather, I have honestly realized my mistake. Could you please forgive me and stop being mad at me?â Leon was close to tears. Previously, he had thought that Heather was different from the women he generally met but right now, he realized that women were essentially similar.
She didnât answer his question and was reluctant to do so. Obviously, Leon is just being perfunctory.
Heâs not the least bit sincere.
âGet in the car.â They arrived at the garage and Heather didnât want to continue wasting her time talking about irrelevant stuff with Leon.
He removed the car keys and unlocked the car. She then opened the door to the passenger seat and climbed in. Soon after that, he hopped into the car as well and by then, she had already buckled her seatbelt.
There was a slight noise being generated from the car as he started the engine. Meanwhile, Heather glanced at her watch; she was quite worried about the current traffic condition at this time of the day.
Indeed, as per her expectations, the road was quite congested. The traffic at this time of the day was horrible beyond words. She then furrowed her brows. Unfortunately, it was the peak traffic after work that they encountered and the incessant car honks increased her frustration.
âHeather, itâs winter right now, but why is your temper so fiery like youâre in the peak of summer?â Leon looked at the slightly testy look on Heatherâs face. She seems to be turning more bigoted in her ways.
Furthermore, he suspected that perhaps this was her true personality.
In response, Heather shot a cold look at Leon. âFocus on your driving!â She finally understood why the cab drivers were generally quite foul-mouthed. Surely one would not be able to control their temper while being stuck in such congested traffic.
âHey, since weâre stuck here anyway, why donât I tell you a joke then?â He tried to lighten the mood, but she didnât seem to buy it.
Leon decided to continue with his jokes despite noticing her impassive look. âOne day, two tomatoes went shopping together. The one in front kept turning back to talk to the tomato at the back, but the latter didnât respond. Suddenly, as the skies darkened, she finally mentioned coolly, âI thought weâre tomatoes, so weâre not supposed to talk right?ââ
Upon hearing his joke, Heather merely replied, âHehe.â In actual fact, she hated gags as it just wasnât funny to her at all. Meanwhile, he finally turned to glance at the congestion in front of him after noticing her look of annoyance. I thought it was quite funny.
âThe car in front has moved,â she reminded him kindly. Actually, she was quite tempted to switch positions with him. Under such congested traffic, it was important to sneak in between cars, but his old-
fashioned way of driving would obviously waste a lot of time in getting to their destination.
As soon as The Apple Gazette came to her mind, Heather couldnât seem to control her anger. She seemed to be at odds with this tabloid ever since she returned to Bradfort City, but never expected that they had the guts to secretly take photos of her.
She decided that as soon as she arrived, she would first identify the reporter to learn more about the details. Then, she would destroy the company. In fact, she harbored an intense dislike of The Apple Gazette. I wonder who gave them the guts to go against me over and over again.
âHeather, based on the snail speed weâre going at, it might take us at least two hours to get there.â
Leon estimated the time. They were currently stuck in the outskirts of town and it was generally difficult to head into town at this time of the day.
âYouâre exaggerating. It will take us about one hour to get there,â Heather responded while she glanced at the time. She estimated that the congested traffic would clear soon and the drive would become much easier then.
âHeather, actually thereâs something else I forgot to mention.â Leon hesitated for quite a while before he decided to be honest with her.
She glanced at him and asked, âWhat is it?â
While slowly driving the car, he mentioned, âActually, Iâm not too sure about the reporterâs actual identity. He was the one who told me that he worked for The Apple Gazette, but I didnât confirm that information. I was thinking earlier that if he was actually lying about it, we would be wasting our time by going there.â
Heather gave Leon a searching look. âWhy are you only mentioning such a piece of important information now? I told you to sketch his looks for me!â
âYou wouldnât be able to find him right now with just a sketch!â Hr felt that her plan would take longer to execute, so it was much easier to head to The Apple Gazette to have a look for themselves.
âZayneâs the expert in this. Heâll be able to find that reporter in the shortest possible time.â Heather wondered, Why didnât I notice this dumb side of him before?
âIâve tried the way you mentioned, but I couldnât come up with any information.â In fact, Leon had previously taken a photo of the reporter and searched for him on the computer database. As his efforts were futile, this was the reason why she came to this conclusion.
Nevertheless, he no longer had the photo of the reporter on his phone; he wasnât sure when he had deleted it, but if he hadnât succeeded in identifying the person with an actual photo, using a sketch to search for that person sounded like an impossible mission!