Chapter 56: No Reason to Ruin Her
Luellen’s hand trembled. However, she took a deep breath. She put the mug down and smiled at the old man. "Does he listen to you? Can you tell him not to come around me? He has already crossed a line before. I don’t want it to happen again."
The knife the Hearts System kept for her showed up in her pocket. She took it out and placed it on the table. "He already threatened my uncle with a knife. He’s lucky I’m not getting a restraining order against him, not that he would adhere to that, I suppose. Still, please do something about him.
"He should be the reason why you want to see me, in fear of him leaving a scar." Luellen kept her head down, only spying how Mr Kenwood paled in his seat. "I’m okay, Director."
"If it isn’t Annalisa speaking..." Sean chuckled as he stared at the knife. It wasn’t even wrapped as Luellen carried it without a sheath.
Leander frowned a little. He would have touched it, but he had no reason to stab anyone by then. He turned to Luellen, eyes flashing in slight worry. "You didn’t tell me he threatened you."
Luellen shook her head at Leander. "He didn’t. He threatened my uncle, but I didn’t want anything like that happening around me."
As if on cue, Mr Kenwood took out his handkerchief and collected the knife. He quickly hid it on his person, looking for ways to dispose of the weapon without triggering Security. Then again, he could simply surrender the weapon to them.
"Ms Piper..." Sean watched Mr Kenwood panic for a second before facing the maiden again. "Luellen, has anyone from your distant family contacted you today?"
"Uhm, yes, they already have." Luellen flinched at the other topic. She glanced at Leander first before scooting closer to him.
Sean nodded again. "They have been pestering my wife as well. She’s also horrified by the turn of events. Luellen, even in Leander’s presence, I would like you to reconsider the marriage. You’re still young and have a lot to meet. If you anchor yourself with Leander now, all prospects will tremble at his name."
Luellen brought her eyes to the old man’s face. She scooted closer to Leander again, his arm even circling her waist as if a spell of protection. She said, "I won’t reconsider it without a good reason."
The old man looked up at Leander, who leaned on his seat. Since Luellen was so close to him, he didn’t pull her with his action. He glared at the old man, but as he promised, he wouldn’t join their conversation. It only made Sean more resigned to Luellen’s chosen fate. He looked at her again.
"Your father wouldn’t have approved of this."
"This is unfair..." Luellen balled her fists. Her nails dug into her palms, but she did her best not to raise her voice. "Please don’t drag my parents into this. They won’t be here to see me get married already. Why do you have to make ghosts out of them? Does it benefit you if I don’t marry Leander now?"
Luellen clenched her teeth, her eyes teary from holding back. "Even if I didn’t lose my father’s company, I would still have to be traded for a business advantage, right? How is it any different from marrying a rich man I like?"
Sean hummed. "Do you really like him, Luellen? Or is he just making you like him?"
A slight pang reverberated inside Luellen. She stared at Sean’s worried eyes before lowering her gaze to the floor. Did she really like Leander? Or was the System only pushing her to like him? Well... he was her first Love Interest, and she was rewarded every time she did good things in his books.
Then again, it wasn’t one-sided. She received favor and affection from him just the same. She might not be madly in love, but she felt something.
[Hearts clash! Pick a task route to take!]
[Red Heart task: Loudly announce your affection for the Love Interest (Leander Wentworth)!]
[Black Heart task: Employ venomous silence against (Sean Lawford)!]
Luellen flinched at the sudden intervention of her System. She glanced at her chest as if looking at her heart would be the same as looking at it. The Hearts Clash didn’t tell her to break the wedding... but to deal with Sean and her relatives’ complaints.
This was the only time she stared at Leander’s face. One second, his brows were knitted so tightly at Sean’s audacity. The next, he looked down at her and smiled, stroking her head.
Leander said, "I promised not to intervene. Would you like me to speak to them instead?"
A soft voice came as Luellen’s response. "Did you tell my father you’d marry me to mock him at one point?"
[Clash aberration! The Diarist chose a third task route!]
[Blue Hearts won the clash!]
The whole room fell into silence... until Leander pulled a corner of his lips.
"Did your uncle mention it? Is that why he ran to your house in the middle of the night? That he heard about our engagement and grew agitated?" Leander stroked Luellen’s head again. He then pulled her a bit closer and kissed her crown, eyes glaring at the old man, who grew unhappy.
"What does that mean?" Luellen slightly pulled away from him, just enough to look at his face. She then turned to Sean, who leaned against his seat. The old man’s expression had gone scary, which Luellen had never seen before.
Leander pulled her back gently, her body swaying. He didn’t catch her gaze. "Your father cannot amass millions in one week, Luellen. He has to sell a few things to afford it."
Sean exhaled. "Leander, you didn’t collect as you said, so Weyland was relieved. He cleared his debt and kept his daughter. It doesn’t matter if you volunteered to pay for her heart surgery. Let her go. Were you just waiting for Weyland to pass on? Did you even cause it?"
An angry sneer came from Leander. "Weyland Piper was not big enough to be treated as a bug. He didn’t even bite. I only found out that he passed away when you said you attended his funeral. Luellen got into this conglomerate through other means. I merely met her and promoted her to my office."
"Then you have no reason to ruin her life. Let her go." Sean patted his armrest. "She has a lot of problems to deal with. She doesn’t need you to cause more."
"She does have a lot of problems. What are you doing to help her?" Leander huffed. "You can’t even get her inheritance from that shark."
Sean shook his head. "That company is poison. Better leave it to her uncle and that despicable shark. As for your other question, who do you think asked Human Resources to approve her application without the rigorous rounds of interviews?"
