When I Was A Wallflower

Chapter 318 Willingly Become Her Puppet
"Can you cook?" Amelie quickly followed Leo into the kitchen.
When she was in the Alston Residence, she had never seen him enter the kitchen, so she was very doubtful about his cooking
skills.
Leo had already taken off his coat, and he was lowering his head as he undid the buttons on his sleeves. His slender fingers
leisurely rolled his sleeves upward, exposing his muscular arms.
"I can learn," he declared indifferently as he looked up at her. "You can teach me."
He said it like it was the most natural thing in the world, so Amelie almost laughed out loud.
Leo's gaze was insistent, and there was a sense of bewitchment in it as well. Amelie didn't dare meet his gaze as she sighed in
exasperation. "Just let me do it."
Instead of teaching him, it would be far quicker for her to do the cooking.
With that, she took the apron to put it on. Before she could wear it, however, the man snatched the apron and put it on himself.
"Bria wants to eat the food I made," he said matter-of-factly.
Amelie was speechless.
"I heard you're very nice to Bria, and you won't decline anything she asked with good reason. Therefore, it should be a
reasonable request if she wants to eat what her father made."
Amelie was about to say something when Bria's voice sounded, saying, "Dada, I want to eat the beef stew! Don't forget the
potatoes! Oh, and I want a poke bowl too, the sort with chopped carrots, tomatoes, shrimp, beans, and sausages!"
Bria's words perfectly supported Leo's, and Amelie could only compromise.
Leo nodded in response, then opened the fridge after tying the apron around him. He skillfully retrieved all the ingredients Bria
listed, then placed them on the counter.
"You have to wash the beef and cut it into chunks." Bria continued her remote commands.

She knew that Leo didn't know how to cook, so after searching her memories, she provided him with Steven's easiest recipes.
Leo swiftly unwrapped the beef, then placed it under running water to wash it.
He fetched the chopping board and a kitchen knife, then washed them as well. Then, he placed the beef on the chopping board
and began slicing it.
Seeing how smooth his actions were, Amelie decided she had no reason to stay in the same room as him, so she turned around
to walk outside.
Clack!
With a sudden noise, the knife flew out of control and clattered onto the chopping board.
Startled, Amelie turned to look at Leo.
Leo put on an innocent expression. "The beef was being stubborn. It's too slippery."
With that, he pointed at the beef he had sliced off a little. The portion was irregularly sliced, and it was far from the small chunks
Bria wanted.
If this went on, either beef chunks or human fingers would end up in the pot. Therefore, Amelie had no choice but to walk back
in. Leo had already picked up the knife. "Teach me. At least Bria will feel like I made this."
He didn't seem to mind the embarrassment. With that, he pointed at the back of his hand, as if asking Amelie to take his hand
and guide him.
Amelie was out of options, so she could only extend her hand, circling around his back and gripping his knife-wielding hand with
great effort. Her other hand pressed his large palm on the beef. "Keep close to the meat, angle the knife a little, and cut down
little by little."
Even though Leo was slim, he still had a man's figure, so Amelie's arms couldn't quite wrap around him.
She painstakingly poked her head out to make sure that she could see the beef and her own hands. It was terribly awkward.
If she knew this would happen, she would've bought an automatic cooking machine.

Amelie had wanted to do this a long time ago, but Steven said that cooking machines lacked that human touch, so he disagreed
insistently.
Moreover, he wasn't working anymore, so the only joy in his life right now was to prepare good food for them.
Amelie didn't want to rob him of his joy, so that was how things turned out like this.
Leo allowed her control of his hands as they sliced the meat bit by bit.
The woman's soft body was leaning against his back, and her gentle and clear voice was ringing right in his ears. It was simply
too alluring.
Because they were sticking so closely together, he could feel on his back her heart pulsating through her chest. Every heartbeat
from her struck his own heart.
His heart began beating along with this rhythm, and he was so captivated by her that he could barely regain his sense of self.
Still, he pretended to be serious as he allowed her full control, just like a puppet in her hands. However, his body was getting
warmer as time ticked by.
Of course, Amelie couldn't help but feel his rising temperature and hear his steady heartbeats ringing in her ears.
Even though she was just sticking to his back, she could hear it clearly. Every beat of his heart was strong and domineering as if
threatening to traverse across their bodies into her insides.
She suddenly realized that the man wasn't even looking at the meat. Throughout the entire process, he had his head tilted so
that he could see her face.
Amelie was speechless. She immediately let go and said, "Try it yourself!"
Leo noticed her panicked behavior and curved his lips, then lowered his head and began cutting.
His actions weren't too slow, and he cut the meat into more even chunks than when she had held his hands. As Amelie watched
the pieces of beef falling down, she suddenly felt like she had fallen into a trap.
He probably knew his way around kitchen knives.

"Having a smart teacher makes all the difference. Look, the student is mastering the skill with just a few words from the teacher.
Of course, the student takes some credit as well." Leo feigned nonchalance as he spoke, easily covering up the fact that he
knew how to cut and slice ingredients.
After that, Amelie never got close to him again. Leo didn't find any excuses for her to help him, either.
She was so resentful of him that he dared not force her too much in case she ran away.
Even though Leo's cooking wasn't as good as Steven's, Bria still finished the food on obligation.
After dinner, the three walked out to watch the light show.
The light show was held at a park within a mile of the community they lived in.
The three strolled to the park, and by the time they arrived, the sky had turned dark. Lights were glimmering in the park, and they
could see the brilliant glow even from a distance away.
Bria held both Leo's and Amelie's hands as she excitedly ran through the colorful light tunnel. Then, she went to look at the
shimmering mascots, thoroughly enjoying herself.
There was quite a crowd at the park, and most of them were families.
Many people were taking photos with the lit sculptures as well.
"Dada, take a photo of us too," Bria said.
With that, she pulled Amelie along as she ran to a lawn.
Lights had formed all sorts of flowers there, including chrysanthemums, roses, peonies, and the like. It had every flower they
could think of, and the flowers were also life-like and pretty.
There were even bunnies, lambs, and other animals made of lights hiding among the flowers. Bria asked Amelie to pout like she
did and struck a cute pose with the flowers. Then, she asked Amelie to carry her so that she could touch the giraffe's mouth.
Leo took out his phone and watched the two bathed in light through the lens.

The little kid was lively and adorable, and she was a cute bundle of joy, whereas the woman was sweet and pretty, and her smile
was alluring.
He couldn't help but zoom in. The closer he zoomed in, the more he was entranced by her smile, and he was in a daze for some
time.
Her curved lips remained pink in the poor lighting of the night, and they looked like delicious jelly. The taste must be lovely and
fragrant as well.
Leo wasn't a lustful man, and he had a mild personality. Save for the night he shared with Amelie before the marriage, he had
never gotten intimate with other women before. Even when he was dating Elyse in the past, they only held hands at most.
Elyse had dropped hints, but apparently, he wasn't born interested in that area. But when he was taking pictures, he suddenly
had the urge to pull the woman reflected in the lens into his embrace.
"Wow, what a happy family!" A married couple passed by, and the woman spoke up in admiration. She even nudged her
husband as she commented, "Look how professional and patient the husband is! Unlike you, every time I ask you to take photos,
you react like I'm asking for your life!"
"Why don't you see how pretty his wife and daughter are? They're so photogenic that it's a pleasure to take photos of them." The
man retorted without care.
The wife was so mad that she began fuming and retaliating. "His wife and children are pretty because he's worthy of them! A
terror like you can only settle for me!"
Leo could care less about the conversation, but the word 'family' was deeply ingrained in his mind. He gazed lovingly at the
people reflected in the lens, then strode toward them.