Chapter 676
Standing Before Love
After taking a long time to dress themselves up, Leon and Heather finally left the villa. As they walked, Heather noticed Leonâs resistance; he didnât look comfortable at all.
âYouâre not going to war. Why are you so worried?â She teased him. Looking at his expression, Heather felt that he was exceptionally cute at this moment.
Hearing her words, Leon replied with a faint smile. He didnât know how to explain his complicated mood to Heather at this time. Most people wouldnât understand his familyâs situation, anyway.
If there was a choice, he wouldnât want to be born into such a family at all. Unfortunately, he had the family blood flowing within him and he had no way to deny his identity.
âDonât worry. Iâm here.â Heather squeezed out a smile for him. She could feel his inner anxiety and she wanted to comfort him with a smile.
âHeather, I still canât change my way of addressing you.â Leon smiled at her faintly, pretending to be relaxed. There was no way he would show his fragile side in front of Heather.
âFrom now on, donât call me Heather again.â She reminded him. It would be strange for lovers to address each other without a pet name.
âBut Heather, I rarely address you as Emily. If I can, I would rather address you by your name.â Leon said awkwardly. He had long gotten used to addressing Heather by her name.
âJust address me however you feel comfortable,â Heather said helplessly. Never did she expect that Leon would change his mind out of a sudden.
âCan I call you Hat then?â Leon smiled at her. He had always wanted to address her with this name.
Therefore, this time he wanted to fulfill his dream.
âYou can address me however you like.â Heather didnât bother to argue with him over this trivial matter.
âHat!â Leon called out to her with a grin, as if he had forgotten the pain of the upcoming family dinner.
Even until they got into the car, Leon was still calling out to her from time to time, âHat!â It was as if he was addicted to her name and couldnât stop himself from calling her.
âStop calling me,â Heather warned with a look of disgust next to him.
At her words, Leon refuted righteously, âIâm just afraid that Iâll call you by the wrong name later on.â His reason was convincing and absolutely understandable.
With no choice, Heather could only give up paying attention to him calling her out. She knew what was on his mind. After all this time, he still had feelings for her.
âHow long does it take for us to reach there?â Initially, she didnât intend to ask this but as soon as she opened her mouth, she found that her words formed by themselves.
âAn hour.â Leon glanced at the time from his phone screen. The family dinner was about to start in an hour and a half, and he indeed did a great job in keeping track of time.
âArenât you afraid that weâll be late?â It was normal to be late if there was congestion ahead on the road.
âThat wonât happen,â Leon assured her. âWe wonât be late, so just sit back and relax!â
Seeing that he was so full of confidence, Heather kept quiet. It was just a family dinner. It shouldnât be a big deal for them to be late. Of course, there might be serious consequences that they had to bear too.
Based on her understanding of Leonâs family, she always felt his family was a little terrifying. No one knew what kind of abnormal rules they had within themselves.
âLeon, will your grandpa make things difficult for me?â Heather was a little worried as she couldnât possibly please everyone at once.
Her instinct told her that Leonâs grandpa might dislike her. After all, his family was strange. Would he take someone like her seriously?
âItâs hard to tell,â Leon answered honestly instead of comforting her.
It was just that Heatherâs expression was still dark as she said with dissatisfaction, âYou guaranteed that he wouldnât make things difficult for me and that youâve already reported to him before this.â She remembered those words clearly.
Reluctantly, Leon smiled at her, âLetâs put this aside first, alright? I believe everything will be fine when you are around.â
Suddenly, Heather remembered those comforting words that she had said to him. There was no way she could take back her words at this time. Otherwise, she would be reneging on her promise to him.
âLeon, sometimes youâre actually quite cute.â Her tone was definitely not praising him.
Hearing that, Leon smiled happily. âI think Iâm cute too!â Sure enough, this narcissistic man had to seize his opportunity to praise himself again.
The car drove smoothly on the road as there was no congestion at this time. Looking at the road condition, Heather was amused. It seemed that Leon was a lucky guy.
Along the way, the two chatted about all kinds of topics in the car. When Heather talked about what happened in the school, Leon followed and expressed his own opinion. It wasnât until she stepped into the society that she realized this place was not as fun as school and she was utterly exhausted.
âHat, if you werenât born in an entrepreneur family, what kind of person would you want to be?â Leon asked curiously.
Matthias once asked a similar question. Looking at Leon thoughtfully, Heather seemed to have forgotten how she answered Matthias before this.
âI donât want to answer a question that has zero possibility.â She didnât want to answer it again. It was enough for her to share it with Matthias only.
Seeing that Heather was not answering him, Leon continued, âIf I wasnât born in that kind of family, I wouldâve become an engineer.â He had always liked the job of an engineer. It was just that the family didnât allow him to pursue his dream.
âEngineer? What kind of project do you want to do? What kind of blueprint do you want to come up with?â Heather asked. It turned out this was the thing that Leon wanted to do the most.
âSkyscrapers,â Leon replied, looking ahead. âItâs more challenging.â
âDo you want to build the tallest building in the world?â Heather asked tentatively, thinking that Leonâs dream was interesting.
âNot to that extent. A skyscraper thatâs higher than a hundred floors will do. I have no interest in competing for height at all. All I want is the feeling of designing.â Leon smiled with the side of his lips curled up. In fact, he loved talking about skyscrapers. Yet, it was a pity that he didnât become an engineer, so he couldnât see his dream through.
âHave you ever thought about pursuing your dream?â Noticing the unwillingness in Leonâs eyes, Heather asked, feeling a little sorry for him.
At the same time, she was envious of him. At least, Leon had his own dream. Unlike her, she only had the thought of doing business.
It was fine to do other things occasionally or for the sake of fun. But, Heather couldnât do anything else for a long time, just like writing a book. She had no motivation to write right now and she had a feeling that she was different from others.
It wasnât that she had no patience but it was just that she didnât even know what she wanted in life.
âHave you ever thought about it?â Leon asked in return.
âNope, being in the business is good enough. I donât have other dreams.â She flashed a pale smile.
Somehow, she felt as if there was a piece missing from her.
âYeah, youâre really suited for it. In the future, youâll definitely have a business empire built by yourself.â
Leon trusted her with all his heart. He believed that with Heatherâs skills, she would definitely have her own company sooner or later.
âTo be honest, I donât think I was born to be a businessperson.â There was one thing that she had realized throughout all this timeâshe was not qualified to be in the business.
âReally?â Leon asked curiously. There was no one else that was more suitable to be a businessman other than Heather, and he couldnât accept her statement for a while.
âWeâre getting out of the topic. Letâs talk about your relatives.â Heather wanted to do a last-minute revision for fear that she would get those people confused at the dinner.
âHave you read about the information that Iâve given you?â Leon had given her some simple profiles of those relatives back then.
âYeah, but there wasnât anything much.â The information was so simple that Heather saw no value in reading it.
âOkay, who do you want to know the most? Perhaps you can try asking me any questions about them?â
Leon gave it a thought. Since it was boring while driving, it wouldnât hurt for him to do something else at the same time.
âYour grandpa, of course!â Heather felt that Leonâs grandfather would be the most challenging obstacle for her at dinner. As long as she managed to deal with him, everyone else wouldnât be a problem to her.
âIf itâs Grandpa, what do you want to know about him?â Leon recalled the time that he spent with his grandfather. It seemed that they didnât have too many happy memories together.
âWhat kind of person is he?â First of all, Heather wanted to know his temper.
âA strange and stubborn man,â Leon answered in a simple manner. All in all, he didnât have too many pleasant memories of his grandfather.
âThatâs all? Be more specific. Otherwise, itâs still not too useful for me.â With her eyebrows furrowed, Heather asked again. For some reason, he felt that Leon had deliberately missed out on the main point.
âTo put it simply, he doesnât like anyone that is rebellious. Yet, he doesnât like those who listen to him as well. In other words, heâs a complicated and contradicting old man.â As long as Leon mentioned his grandfather, his mood instantly turned bad, thinking about the distance between the two of them.
âDoes that mean I have no way to deal with him?â Heather felt that his words were a little vague. What could be considered rebellious and what could not? How was she going to identify the boundary between these two?
âEven I havenât figured out his temper until now, and he wouldnât be nice to me whenever he sees me.
Heâs always angry at me.â In Leonâs mind, there were only unpleasant memories of his grandfather.
âWill he be angry at me too then?â Heather was worried that the old man would scare her off as soon as they met and that would be too troublesome. She was never a person who would take in grievances and stay quiet.
âOf course not. After all, youâre still a guest. Heâs not as inhumane as you think he is.â Gently, Leon comforted her, feeling that she was thinking too much.
âHow should I greet him then?â She didnât know how to leave a good first impression on his grandpa.
Puzzled, Leon turned and glanced in Heatherâs direction. âHat, youâve even forgotten how to do simple greetings?â He was confused, but Heather really seemed nervous at this moment.
âOf course not! Itâs just that I want to leave a pleasant first impression on him. How can you not provide even the slightest bit of useful information to me?â Heather nagged at him angrily, feeling disappointed with his efficiency at work.
âHat, I have no choice. I really donât have much of an impression of them and I donât know how theyâre going to treat you later.â Leon couldnât imagine it at all. After all, it was his first time bringing someone home.
âIâm starting to regret my decision to attend this dinner with you.â Without the full details of his relatives, Heather had no confidence at all. It was all Leonâs fault! He was such a great disappointment!
âHat, my instinct tells me that theyâll definitely like you.â There he went again, saying lies without blinking his eyes.
âMy instinct tells me that theyâre going to give me trouble,â Heather answered with a fake smile tugging at the corners of her lips.