Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Typically, Jonathan was able to come up with various reasons; it was usually either a standard gift from their company that everyone received or he claimed that it was a gift from the company they collaborated with.
Inside the Rolls-Royce, the atmosphere suddenly became eerily silent.
Aidan opened his eyes and they were full of coldness.
It had been more than a month, but he kept forgetting about their divorce. There were some habits that were deeply entrenched in him, so it was pretty much impossible to change within this timeframe.
However, Leanna was the exact opposite as she was able to move on swiftly.
Jonathan spoke, "President Pearson, Lux Jewelry is organizing a show next week. Since we have previously collaborated with them, should we send them gifts to express our congratulations? We don't have to send gifts to the entire company. We can just focus on the editors, the photographers, and… perhaps their designer as well?"
Aidan remained silent for several seconds before suddenly mentioning, "There are some artists from Pearson Group involved in the show, so we should actually send them gifts."
Finally, Jonathan heaved a sigh of relief and started preparing gifts for everyone else.
As such, three days later, the staff from the personal assistant office of Pearson Group arrived at Lux Jewelry and started to distribute gifts.
Harvey was confused to receive the gift and he was momentarily stunned. What's going on here? Why did Aidan suddenly turn into such a friendly guy?
Some of the photographers that received the gifts were shocked as well. This is unexpected!
Leanna, the only contracted designer of Lux Jewelry, was the only person who kept her cool and maintained a composed look upon seeing the present, which had gone through so many hurdles to arrive in her hands.
The pantry was located next to Leanna's desk and there were a few staff furiously gossiping about the matter at the moment.
"Look! I was right indeed! Pearson Group has been giving our company preferential treatment lately. It must be because they're attempting to pave the way for Mia. President Pearson's done so much just to win over a woman and his actions are one of a kind!"
"It's no wonder then… I recently heard that Mr. Mancini had the notion of changing the ambassador for the First Love series. Mia has found Pearson Group to back her and they're a well-established company, so it's no wonder that Mia was able to defeat so many other impressive models and be selected for the show."
"I heard that President Pearson's wife is quite pretty and her looks are comparable to Mia's. He doesn't even need to…"
"Well, you're too naive here. Even if one has a stunning wife at home, one would still prefer the woman outside. Mia may appear to be a clueless bimbo, but she's actually really good at winning men's
affections."
"I've got another gossip to share and it's a juicy one. President Pearson and his wife have gotten a divorce, so Mia might actually succeed in becoming his wife!"
"Oh my gosh. It then makes sense how she's got such great resources. She seems ready to marry into a wealthy family. But then, the Pearson family is such a reputable family, would they be able to accept her?"
"That's no big deal. I recently got word that President Pearson's ex-wife was sold into service at Patheon Club. She was allowed to marry into the family, so surely Mia would be allowed to as well."
Zoe heard the last sentence upon walking into the pantry and instantly raged at them, "Why are you guys gossiping nonsense right now during your working hours? If you guys don't wish to work, then just hand over your resignation letters!"
The others had never seen Zoe lose her temper like this. The gossipers quickly turned awkward and disbanded to their respective seats.
After they left, Zoe walked to stand in front of Leanna and comforted, "Nana, they're just spouting nonsense, so don't take it personally."
Leanna came back to her senses with a smile. "It's fine. Did you receive a gift too?"
Naturally, Zoe, a relatively reputable photographer, received an exquisite gift too.
She continued to hurl insults at the despicable couple furiously for ten minutes before finally calming
down and asked, "The fashion show is starting next week. How's the preparation work going?"
"It's great. Everything is going well."
After Leanna left Lux Jewelry, she headed off to the hospital as it was the day of her pregnancy check- up.
The doctor mentioned that the child she was carrying was developing well and had already grown from the size of a little bean to a pea.
After her checkup, she had just walked out of the room when she heard a male voice ring out from behind, "Leanna?"
She instantly froze and gradually turned her head.
At that moment, Zayn was striding toward her and grabbed her wrist. "It's you indeed… Leanna, I would like to have a proper chat with you. Can you spare me some time, please?"
She extricated her hand from his and came up with a reply after quite some time, "Okay."
They sat across from each other inside the cafe right next to the hospital and neither of them spoke a word for quite some time.
Finally, time went by and he finally pursed his lips to voice out, "Leanna, three years ago—"
"I'm very sorry for what happened three years ago. If you're mainly here for a reason why, then I can reveal it to you right now," she mentioned briefly, "During the day that I won the award, I received news
that my dad had owed one million to the loan sharks. I wanted to trade the opportunity to go to Aeras for cash, but my request was rejected. Subsequently, you must have also heard about everything else that happened from Anna."
Zayn maintained a deep furrowed look on his face and was shocked to hear the reason to be out of his expectation. "Why didn't you tell me the truth directly? I could have helped…"
Leanna interjected, "How could you have helped? By giving me money to pay off the debt? Zayn, we aren't related to each other, so how could I possibly get you to help me pay off the debt?"
"Leanna, you should know how I feel about you. We were so close to getting together with each other. It wasn't a huge sum, so you could have just asked me directly for it."
She smiled and shook her head. "I'm thankful that we didn't end up getting together back then. At least we retained that pure relationship we had. I didn't want you to see the type of environment I grew up in. I didn't want you to know that I had such a horrible father either. You're right; perhaps you wouldn't mind at all giving me money to pay off his debts once or twice, but if this went on over time, are you sure that you wouldn't get frustrated?"
"Am I actually that unreliable in your eyes?"
"This isn't a matter of reliability. Most of the time, I can't even take this myself. I wanted to run off to somewhere where no one knows me, but then there are some things that I'll never ever be able to get away from."
Zayn replied, "What about right now? I know that you're divorced from Aidan. You could at least turn around and take a look. I'm honestly—" Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.
However, Leanna spoke in a soft voice, "You've seen where I just came out from, right?"
At that point, he slowly clenched the hand he placed on the table and formed a fist.
Of course, he saw that. However, he tried to come up with all sorts of excuses in his mind to convince himself. Perhaps she's just there to keep her friend company? Or she could be there just to visit someone? However, with the truth placed in front of him right now, there was no way he could continue to deny it.
Zayn was slightly resigned. "Does Aidan know about this?"
"I don't plan to let him know, so could you keep this a secret for me?"
"Of course."
After Leanna left, Zayn walked out of the cafe and he was seen significantly dejected.
He thought, If only I made a move back then to enter into a relationship with Leanna before the competition and didn't insist on fulfilling the promise in Aeras, then things might have been different right now. She wouldn't have married Aidan and we wouldn't have let so much get past us.
"Zayn, why did you leave to come here?"
Carly Barnett called out his name and reached out her hand to wave in front of him upon noticing his daze. "What's going on in your mind?"
Zayn came back to his senses, "Carly."
Meanwhile, his sister huffed, "Hey! You promised to come with me to the pregnancy checkup, but then you disappeared in a blink of an eye. If Georgina hadn't come along today, it would be so dangerous for me to walk about in such a heavily pregnant state. What if something happened to me?"
Next to Carly was Georgina who helped her around before letting out a smile. "Carly, don't say that. The doctor mentioned that the baby is growing well inside, so nothing will happen to you."
"See, Gina's the best. It would be great if only you'd be willing to marry Zayn. It's too bad that the two of you have never seen eye to eye since you were kids. Gosh. This kid here is getting older by the day, but he has never brought a girlfriend home with him. My parents are worried sick."
Georgina responded, "Carly, I heard that the pretty lady from the Pearson Family seems to be pursuing Zayn lately."