Only you in my love

When Debra called Wynn that afternoon, Leon was just beside him. By then, they had arrived at the Hot Spring Resort.

And although Debra tried asking in a roundabout way, Leon was cunning enough to catch on to what she was trying to say. Something might have happened to Michelle.

Leon guessed Lydia and Debra didn't know what exactly had happened, so they called Wynn to ask about the situation.

Leon had tried calling Michelle several times, but she never answered. He was getting frustrated as more time passed. Wynn had also mentioned that Leon had gone to K City without telling Michelle, so now he deserved this. Upon hearing this, Valerie smiled. She had another piece of useful information.

All of a sudden, she found herself liking Wynn.

She ignored the way he was glaring at her when she suggested that she should go to Spring City with Leon to look for Michelle.

Bryant still had to work even though he was at the Hot Spring Resort for a vacation. As a result, Wynn had to stay and act as a temporary assistant.

In the end, Leon and Valerie took the long flight to Spring City.

There was a reason why Valerie was so enthusiastic even though she knew that all these efforts were just a waste of time.

From the start, she just wanted to keep Leon in the Hot Spring Resort to ruin Michelle's plan of celebrating his birthday with him.

But then, she found out that the Hot Spring Resort wasn't too far from Lexingport City. It would only take them two to three hours to arrive there. That meant they could go back any time they wanted.

But it was different with Spring City. It would take them a long time to find Michelle, and the flights going back weren't always available.

Unexpectedly, Leon had contacted Michelle's club. He found out that she wasn't in Spring City at all.

Valerie was afraid that her plan would fail.

And knowing that Michelle was in a bad mood, Leon would never give up until he finally figured out what was going on.

It was then that Michelle finally called. As long as Valerie made a sound over the phone, Michelle would hide herself from Leon.

Just as Valerie had expected, there was a storm brewing on Leon's face. "Who did you go out with?" he asked Michelle.

"I bumped into some high school classmates, so we went out together." The first half of her response was true, but the second half wasn't. During the competition, she did meet her high school classmates who also came to watch the competition. Michelle knew that her lie wouldn't be exposed by differentiating the lie from the truth.

It seemed like Leon believed her. "Male classmates or female?"

"There are boys and girls." Michelle could no longer hide her guilt. As a result, her voice was low and soft as she answered him. "Leon, you should celebrate your birthday with your friends first. I'll just celebrate it with you the day after."

"Okay." For Leon, his birthday wasn't a big deal. It was more important for him to make sure that she was okay. So he wasn't angry or disappointed. And anyway, he already planned to celebrate his birthday with her on the day after. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but be worried about her, so he asked, "How are you getting along with your classmates?"

"It's pretty good actually." Michelle then glanced at Debra and started complaining, "Someone scolded me because I was being disobedient."

Debra simply rolled her eyes.

Lydia smiled. 'It's a good thing that she can still joke around. Sure enough, only Leon can make her happy.'

"Leon, will you scold me, too, if I don't listen to you?" Michelle asked nervously.

Leon could sense her nervousness so he smiled gently. The voice that came out from the other end of the phone was so warm that it spread all throughout her heart.

It was enough to dispel her nervousness. She pressed on, "So will you?"

"It depends." Leon remained calm and gentle as usual. "If you do something wrong to me, I might have to scold you."

Michelle pursed her lips, gathering all her courage to say, "Can I give you a different apology gift then?"

She didn't want to give him the necktie.

After all, someone else had already given him one.

Leon's face darkened, but he continued to ask patiently, "Wouldn't a tie be a good gift? Why do you suddenly want to change it?"

As if on cue, Valerie raised her eyes at him and smiled.

"Let's just change it, Leon," Michelle said stubbornly. "Choose a different gift. Anything will do."

"Anything will do?" Leon could see the appeal in this new condition. "You better remember your words, Michelle. Anything will be fine, huh?"

Noticing the change of tone in his voice, Valerie drew nearer to Leon so that what she said next would be heard by Michelle. She asked, "Since Michelle's not here, shall we go back to the Hot Spring Resort or stay in Spring City for the night instead?" She was so close to Leon that he could smell her perfume wafting through his nostrils. Leon frowned and moved away subconsciously.

Valerie found herself embarrassed by how Leon reacted to her closeness. Upon meeting his scrutinizing eyes, she felt flustered for a moment. She tried to calm down and forced a smile. "I'm sorry."

Looking away, Leon turned his attention back to Michelle. "Be careful when you hang out with your classmates. I'll wait for you to come back."

Then he hung up the phone.

Leon and Valerie bought tickets to fly back.

Valerie's face was pale the whole time they were on the plane. She was anxious about the conversation between Michelle and Leon. Judging from their tones on the phone, it seemed like the two were still as good as before. 'Does Michelle not care that Leon's ex-girlfriend has finally returned?

I even said Leon and I were living together.

Michelle should have heard that over the phone.

Why isn't she giving up?

She is quite stubborn.'

"What's wrong? You're not looking so good." Sitting right beside her, Leon could sense that there was something wrong with her.

Valerie's entire body was stiff. Her eyes were closed as if she was very tired. She said, "I'm just exhausted."

"Well, thank you for accompanying me today," Leon said gently and politely. "You should've stayed at the Hot Spring Resort. Wynn could've come with me."

"But I wanted to come with you." Valerie leaned back in her seat, resting with her eyes still closed.

In reality, she wasn't as tired as she claimed to be. Nonetheless, she didn't dare open her eyes.

No matter how well-trained a person was, their eyes couldn't hide all their secrets. A person like Leon who was sharp and smart would immediately know what she was hiding through her eyes.

This was why she refused to look him in the eye.

Valerie then smiled. "I'm actually quite curious about what you like about Michelle."

"And why are you curious about that?" Leon leaned back as well, closing his eyes to rest.

"I won't answer that. I'm afraid that it might come between our hard-earned friendship," Valerie said half-jokingly.

"But now that we are friends, you can say whatever you want to say to me." Leon's voice was so gentle that it was too difficult to refuse him.

"Was Bryant ever worried that you might not fall in love again because of how much I've hurt you in the past?" Valerie chose her words carefully. She didn't want to ask her question directly, so she used Bryant to deliver it subtly.

Indeed, she wasn't lying when she said that Bryant had been worried about Leon. There was no reason for her to be afraid of being discovered.

Leon chuckled. "Both he and Wynn have been worried about me. But speaking of the past, it was my fault for locking you in my castle."

"Let bygones be bygones." Valerie smiled. She instantly knew that she had just achieved her goal.

Leon would think that the reason why she wanted to meet Michelle was that she was worried about him just like her cousin did.

Now that he believed in her, she continued her plans.

"You like Michelle, right? But did it ever occur to you that she might only see you as her brother?" Since Valerie knew that she couldn't stop Michelle, she just had to stop Leon. "I think I just heard something during your phone call with her. Michelle doesn't want to give you a tie, right? Have you ever wondered why?"

Leon curled his fingers, pondering on Valerie's questions for a while. "I don't know. Maybe I should ask her next time."

"I don't think you should ask her directly," Valerie said calmly. "If I'm not wrong, she might not even know before what it means to give a tie as a gift, but after finding out its true meaning, she no longer wants to give you one. If you ask her now, you might end up scaring her away. And if that happens, she may hide from you and you won't be able to see her again."

Upon hearing this, Leon felt the cold hands of fear grabbing him.

He had been asking himself the same thing for a long time now.

In fact, Valerie was a living example of this. Didn't she disappear all these years because she didn't like him back?¶¶¶¶☐☐☐☐☐☐☐