âMom, Mr. White said itâs not his son. I trust him,â Leila said so firmly, but she still wondered if she should trust him.
âHe said that to you, didnât he?â
âYes.â Leila nodded. Looking up, she found Theodoreâs car was going out from the entrance. She became nervous immediately. âMom, Iâve got something to do. Got to go. Please donât worry.â
As she spoke, she hung up the phone. She turned around and wanted to hide behind the stop board, but Theodoreâs car had been pulled over. He also pressed down the window.
âLeila, where are you going? I can give you a ride.â
âNo, thanks, Professor Hall.â Leila could only turn back. Then she saw the bus was approaching from afar. âThe bus is arriving. See you, Professor Hall.â
âOh!â Theodore looked back and saw the bus, a hint of helplessness flashing through his eyes. He didnât insist. âAll right. Be safe on the way. See you.â
âBye!â Leila didnât expect that he would agree so easily. Without overthinking, she got on the bus.
The bus stopped in the busy downtown area. Leila was thinking of buying the Armani jacket. She didnât know how much it cost yet, and for a moment, she didnât know how she could compensate it to Arthur.
She was wandering in the mall. Then she was in front of Pippaâs store. A saleswoman was standing there. She asked Leila with a smile, âGood day, Miss. Do you need anything?â
Leila was a bit surprised. She nodded. Then she looked around and asked, âBy the way, isnât your boss here today?â
âOh, our boss? She went to Japan for a vacation. Miss, do you know her?â
âShe went to Japan for a vacation?â Leila was taken aback, her whole body stiffened.
Mr. White went to Japan, didnât he? The entertainment news said that the family of three boarded the plane. Leila wondered if Pippa truly had gone to Japan with Mr. White. What on earth was the relationship between them?
Leila was in a daze, turning around to leave.
âMiss, our boss will come back in a week. You can come to find her then.â The saleswoman was quite friendly.
âOh, I see. Okay. Thank you!â Leila nodded, looking quite awkward.
After walking out of the shopping mall, Leila suddenly lost her confidence. She felt like a ghost without a soul, wandering around on the busy streets while feeling so empty in her heart.
She didnât want to go home, because she would be alone after going home. Seemingly she was always alone from the beginning.
Pippa also went to Japan for a vacation, didnât she?
A family of three?
Reechoing the words in the newspaper, Leila felt extremely depressed.
Passing by a showcase of a store, Leila saw her reflection on it -- she didnât put on any makeup, looking quite childish.
Suddenly, she recalled Pippaâs elegance. Comparing herself, she looked like a typical student. She never put on the makeup, only makeunder. She had nothing on her hair. She always wore a t-shirt and jeans. When she went to work, she would dress in a shirt and jeans. In this way, she couldnât be compared to any woman around Mr. White.
She wanted to buy something to vent her depression. However, she didnât have much extra money in her pocket. She didnât make much money from her job. All she earned from her part-time job had been used as the tuition fee for taekwondo. The allowance from her mother would be spent as her daily expenses. She still owned Arthur an Armani jacket. Although she has a bank card from Vincent, she didnât want to use it.
In the showcase window, the gorgeous jewelry, beautiful dresses, a lot of pretty and delicate bags, and stylish shoes.
Those never belonged to her before. She never paid special attention to them before. However, until today, she realized that it was not that she didnât love them, but she didnât have time to pay attention to them because she had always been busy.
It turned out that she wished to dress herself up as most of the girls wished.
It turned out that she also had vanity.
Although she was leading a fulfilling life and she always told herself that she was quite satisfied, when she faced those things, she couldnât help feeling down. âLeila, it turns out that you also long for those things,â she thought to herself.
âDaddy has planned to let me be a government officer. Should I go on like this? Leading a plain life without any change and earning an average income that wouldnât starve me to death. But if I lead such a life all my lifetime, will I be willing to?â she asked herself inwardly.
She couldnât help wondering if she was willing to work in the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Municipal Government after graduating from the university. Then she would have a stable job and lead a boring life.
She passed by a jewelry store. A delicate and dazzling sapphire necklace was hanging on the modelâs neck in the showcase window. It was so resplendent that Leila was totally obsessed for a moment.
She didnât notice that a man was standing next to her for a long time. He was staring at her all the time.
âWhat a coincidence!â Arthur stared at Leila with a slightly evil smile. Although he was smiling, he brought her a strong feeling of pressure. She wondered how long he had been standing there and staring at her.
She raised her head and found it was already the dust. All the neon lights along the street were on, their colors overlapping and shining. She checked the time and found that the afternoon had passed already. She didnât expect that she would wander for a whole afternoon.
âOh, yes. Itâs a coincidence indeed.â Leila felt surprised. âI didnât expect to encounter you. I was about to find you.â
âHave you found anything that you like?â he asked Leila with a smile.
Leila blushed. Unexpectedly, when her gazes were glued on those luxuries, she was seen by someone, and that person was even Arthur. Judging from her look just now, anyone could see that she liked that sapphire necklace a lot.
However, so what then? She couldnât afford it and she wouldnât want others to buy it for her.
âIt looks so pretty,â Leila said in a soft voice, âThe showcase is beautiful and the model chosen has a strong personality. The necklace is more beautiful.â
He was still staring at Leila, his eyes presumptuous without any disdain. His gaze even seemed quite serious, but Leila felt quite awkward. âIâm sorry, your jacket...â
âIâve said I donât want it back.â His tone was quite calm.
âIâm sorry. This is the thing -- Iâve washed your jacket, but it shrunk. One of my family thought it was trash, so it was tossed away. I wanted to compensate one for you, but I donât have much money now...â
âSo?â Arthur raised his eyebrows.
âSo, Iâm terribly sorry.â
âIâve told you I donât want it back,â he said seriously again, âYou donât need to return it to me.â
âBut, I must return it to you. Could you give me more time, please? When Iâve earned money, Iâll give it back to you for sure.â Leila felt so embarrassed, but her most embarrassing moment had been seen by Arthur already, so she couldnât care much about her dignity. She just wanted to make it clear to avoid making him misunderstand that she deliberately kept his jacket.
âYou are so stubborn. Letâs talk about it later.â Arthur smiled. He cast a glance at the showcase and the sapphire necklace. He asked gently, âDo you like this necklace? Iâll buy it for you.â
His tone was quite casual, making Leila feel that he was greeting her. She knew the necklace must be quite expensive. Armani was costly, but he directly didnât want it. Unexpectedly, he wanted to give her a necklace. She was sure that if she nodded in agreement, Arthur would buy it for sure, but she was not that kind of woman.
âLetâs go. Weâll buy it.â He grabbed her wrist, dragging her into the jewelry store directly.
âAh! I donât want it!â Leila shook her head and wanted to break free from his grip, but he was so strong. She failed to break free. âHey! I donât want it.
Arthur, why are you so overbearing!â
Leila hadnât met such a person before. How could he do such a thing to a person who he had only met for the third time? And he would give such an expensive gift so casually. She wondered if he took her as a prostitute. Was he hitting on her?
Arthur didnât explain, only dragging her into the store. âYou donât want it, do you? I must buy it for you!â
âArthur, let go of me. If you are rich, just donate it to Project Hope!â Leila growled. âIâm not that kind of woman youâve thought. Stop dragging me!â
It seemed that she found Arthur so weird when she first met him. He was quite evil and domineering without rhyme or reason, quite similar to Mr.
White. No wonder Arthur was his vice president. They rubbed off on each other, and both were so evil.
âEven if you are rich, you donât need to show off in such a way.â
From the corners of her eyes, Leila could see that his lips were curled up to a deeper smile. He looked excited as if he was going to playing an interesting game. After they entered the store, they found the decoration inside was quite luxurious. Beautiful piano music was playing on the stereo.
There were not many guests -- only a few couples. They were selecting the jewelry next to the counters in which the spotlights were shining.
Leila thought that tearing and tugging with him in such an atmosphere was so embarrassing. Some of the salespersons and guests were looking over at them because they heard their argument. Leila could only stand firmly, inhaling deeply. She cast a glance at the price tags on the jewelry and found how expensive things were sold in this store.
At this moment, Arthur had already put on a gentlemanâs face. The smile on his face also became quite official. âLexi, you know what? Itâs so embarrassing to be rejected by pretty women. This is the first time that I'm treated this way.â
âI donât care,â Leila said in a light voice, âIâve got to go. Iâm in a hurry.â
She didnât want to become the focus, and she just wanted to escape, the sooner the better.
The next second, he pulled out his purse and casually showed it to her.
Leila saw there were a lot of gold cards and a thick pile of cash in it. Sure enough, he was rich. She wondered if the money in any of the bank cards in his purse could be enough for a poor one to live for a whole lifetime.
Leila didnât know if she should laugh or cry. Even if he was rich, he didnât need to spend money in this way, did he? Did he truly mistake her a whore?
âMr. Lane, you are so humorous. Iâm sorry, Iâve really got to go.â
Leila was on the way to take the taekwondo lesson in the gym.
However, when she was about to leave, Arthur suddenly reached out and wrapped her waist. He said ambiguously, âHoney, hurry up and pick one.
Itâs my fault. Iâll never piss you off again. Select one as you like as my compensation for you.â
âAh--â Leila gaped. She had never expected that he would play such a trick. âYou--â
How could he call her honey? This man was so easy.
âWhat are you doing? Hurry up, honey!â He had already walked her to the counter, hinting at her to look at those gorgeous jewelry and diamond rings.
Leila was afraid that more people would pay attention to them if she struggles, so she could only stiffen her body and said in a low voice, âI know youâre so rich that you want to spend money. You can give the whole store to me as a gift. I wouldnât worry that it would be too much.â
She was so angry. How could there be such a kind of overbearing man?
âNo problem!â Arthur was quite generous. He agreed without a frown.
Leila was startled for a moment. She just wanted to scare him and made it difficult for him so that he would give up. Much to her surprise, Arthur said to a saleslady, âExcuse me, Miss. Please inform your boss that I want to buy out this store. Could you ask him or her to come out please?â
âOne, one moment please, Sir.â The saleslady was shocked, feeling that Arthur was making trouble here.
âArthur Lane!â Leila growled, without caring about her public image at all, âAre you nuts?â
A Moment in Destiny ï¤Chapter 303 Entertainment Headline The convenient Bride ï¤Chapter 414: There Is Nothing Happier Than This (Ending)
Predestined Marriage ï¤Chapter 1718: The End âIâm quite sober. I didnât drink at noon. Recently the policeâs paying attention to driving while intoxicated. Itâs checked quite strictly. I dare not to drink.â
Arthur blinked, looking quite serious. âYou want this store, donât you? Iâll buy it out and give it to you as a fit. I meant it.â