Since he'd said so already, Leanna didn't turn him down. She merely said, "Okay." After a moment's pause, she asked, "At what time tomorrow?"
Lloyd replied, "I have to go to my office tomorrow morning, so I'll pick you up when I'm done. By the way, I've never been to your studio before."
Leanna's brows furrowed unnoticeably when she heard him mention her studio. Is he threatening me by saying that?
Lloyd stood up. "That's decided, then. I'm going back to my room first."
Leanna nodded slightly and waited until he had left before going upstairs. Well, even if that's a threat, I've got no choice but to go along with the situation. Lloyd has never been to my studio before, but it's not like he doesn't know where it is.
She was somewhat unable to sleep that night. Not knowing where Lloyd would take her, she couldn't help having a bad feeling about it.
At 11:00AM the next day, Lloyd showed up at the door to Leanna's studio as he had promised to. As soon as she came out, he asked, "Can I go in to take a look?" He asked the question in a manner that brooked no refusal.
Leanna replied flatly, "Sure. I'm honored to have you grace the studio with your presence, Mr. Crossley."
Lloyd then stepped into the studio. After looking around the place, he stopped in front of Leanna's office. "And this is?"
Leanna answered, "This is where I usually work."
Lloyd nodded slightly, but he didn't insist on entering her office to take a look. He glanced at his watch, saying, "It's about time. Let's go."
Before leaving the studio, Leanna shot a glance at Zoe to signal her to go out, to which the latter responded by giving her an "OK" sign.
After they left, the few young ladies at the studio immediately gathered around Zoe. One of them asked, "Zoe, who was the man just now? He seemed so rich and refined. Could he be Leanna's father?"
Zoe curled her lips. "Perhaps he was just good at pretending."
The lady said, "Wait, I think he's come to our studio before… No, no, no, it wasn't him, I think. It's just that he had the same air about him as that person did. I can't remember who that person was, though."
Hearing the lady's words, Zoe turned to look at her in puzzlement. "The same air?"
The lady replied, "Yeah, I just feel that he and that person had a similar air about them and looked about the same age. But who on earth was that?" She racked her brains, unable to remember who the other man was that had the same air about him as Lloyd and had come to the studio before.
However, Zoe was preoccupied with Leanna's safety at the moment, so she didn't take the lady's words seriously. Instead, she was merely pondering what to do.
Just when she fished out her phone and was about to text Aidan, a familiar figure appeared at the studio. At the sight of him, the lady who'd been scratching her head just now instantly goggled her eyes and whispered to Zoe in a muffled scream, "What a handsome guy!"
"Huh? A handsome guy? Where is he?" Zoe immediately followed the lady's gaze, only for her joy to disappear from her face at once. She was utterly speechless. Why wouldn't he go away?
Daniel walked up to her before he raised his hand to his lips and hemmed. "Ahem, can I talk to you for a second?"
Zoe wondered what he was up to. Why don't I simply make things clear to him once and for all? It's annoying for him to keep pestering me like this. She nodded before going outside with him. Then, taking a deep breath, she said, "You don't have to come to me anymore. Well, I admit that I had a crush on you before, but who doesn't like handsome guys, anyway? I just lusted after you for a moment, that's all. There are so many handsome guys in the world, so it's not like I can't do without you. I've totally gotten over you now, so you don't have to come to me again and again and think of me as your rebound. I'm not—"
Daniel interrupted her in a slow voice, asking, "Could you have misunderstood something?"
Zoe stopped while looking at him expressionlessly.
Daniel paused for a moment before explaining, "I'm here to ask you about Miss McKinney."
Zoe stayed calm. "Oh." Sh*t, I've slipped up big-time!
Daniel then asked, "Is she taking part in The Designer Competition for certain?"
Zoe replied, "Isn't that a matter of course?"
Daniel fell silent for a moment. Then, he said, "I got it. Well, then, I gotta go."
Zoe was baffled. Is there something wrong with this guy? Why would he come here purposely just to ask such a meaningless and skill-less question?
After walking a few steps, Daniel asked, "By the way, where is Miss McKinney? I didn't see her just now."
Zoe's eyelids twitched. "She's gone out."
"With who? President Pearson?"
"Your girlfriend-to-be's father said he wanted to take her somewhere."
Daniel's face grew grave at her words. The next instant, he nodded and left quickly.
Zoe couldn't help but let out a snort. Reacting that much on hearing about Georgina, eh? Seems like he wasn't lying; he really came to look for Leanna. Jeez, I got delusional about him having feelings for me again.
…
It was a long drive before the car eventually pulled up in front of a cemetery. After Lloyd stepped out of the car, the chauffeur immediately handed him a bouquet of flowers from the back seat, which he took before going straight inside without saying a word.
Leanna roughly figured out where they were going as she followed him from behind.
Finally, the man stopped before a tombstone. He bent down and laid the flowers in front of it, saying, "Since you say that Sandra is your mother, you should come here and pay your respects."
Leanna laughed at his words, though. "Mr. Crossley, it's wrong of you to say that."
Lloyd turned to look at her without so much as a change in his expression. "Oh?"
Leanna replied, "As I said, my mom passed away after giving birth to my brother, which means that the person lying here isn't my mother, nor does she have anything to do with me."
Lloyd asked, "In that case, where was your mother buried? Judging from what you said, I should go visit her, too."
Leanna pressed her lips together in silence. Mr. Jackson had asked her the same question before, but he had done so out of genuine concern, unlike Lloyd, who was merely trying to sound her out.
She didn't know where her mother was buried. Aside from the fact that she had no memory of the latter, Jethro had never taken her and Louis to visit her grave since they were little. In other words, Jethro might be the only person on earth who knew where her mother's grave was.
Lloyd seemed to have expected her to be lost for an answer. He merely said, "If you don't know where she was buried, here's at least a tombstone erected for her. It's only reasonable that you should pay your respects to it."
Leanna didn't want to do so, though. She didn't even know who was lying here in the name of her mother. Furthermore, according to what was known to the public, Leroy had caused the death of her family after purposely setting Lloyd up back then, though they guessed that Leroy had actually survived by posing as Lloyd, causing her mother to run away with her. Therefore, if her guess was correct, the person lying beneath the tombstone might be the wife of the actual Leroy. I'd never pay my respects to an enemy, she thought to herself.
Lloyd asked impassively, "What's the matter? Didn't you say that Sandra is your mother? Why are you unwilling to pay your respects to her now?"
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