Love’s Change of Heart novel Chapter 343

At the Crossley Residence, Leanna was about to make her way upstairs when Georgina called her.

Leanna turned around and asked, "What do you want?"

"I just thought I'd remind you that Aidan is breathing down our necks right now. If you're going to insist that you're one of the Crossleys, then I suggest you stay away from him for your own good."

Leanna sputtered at this. "New tactic, Miss Crossley?"

Georgina snorted. "You can take my advice or leave it, but Dad will be very unhappy if you choose the latter."

"I think you've mistaken something, Miss Crossley," Leanna said as she stopped in the middle section of the staircase. She elaborated steadily, "I'm only here at the Crossley Residence to take back what's rightfully mine, and it's nobody's business whom I decide to be with."

"As long as you live here in our house, you'll have to play by our rules. I told you as much when you first came here. Guess you thought I was joking," Georgina bit out.

"Were you the one who made the rules?" Leanna demanded. "Where do you think I stand in the Crossley Family, then?"

A dark look passed over Georgina's face when she heard this. Is she saying that I'm in no position to make up the family rules?

Without missing a beat, Leanna added, "I'd rather we didn't speak if we can't stand each other, Miss Crossley. There is no need for you to feign concern for me. At least that would make putting up with each other a lot easier, don't you think?"

Another snort escaped Georgina as she taunted, "Let's hope you bring that same confidence with you during the competition."

"Naturally," Leanna said, then walked up the stairs without casting the other girl so much as a second glance.

When Leanna had disappeared around the landing, Georgina scoffed and withdrew her gaze. It was then that she noticed Lloyd standing not too far away. "Dad, did you hear everything?" she asked.

Lloyd hummed in response, then said, "Come with me."

Georgina did as she was told and followed Lloyd into the study, then he closed the door behind them and perched on his desk. "I know you hate her, Gina, but you must be patient. She'll leave on her own accord when the time comes."

She had no idea what he meant by this. "Is it because she has Mr. Jackson to back her up?"

"That isn't pertinent," he replied, his eyes narrowing deviously. "You'll know when it happens. Everything will fall into place in due course." When his daughter did not respond, he emphasized, "Anyway, don't meddle with the design competition. I have plans of my own for that."

"I know," Georgina answered through gritted teeth. She was not so foolish as to pull a fast one on Leanna in front of many people.

Besides, Leanna wasn't exactly popular among the other contestants, either. It was only a matter of time before they got sick of her and decided to do something about it.

…

A week went by in the blink of an eye.

Leanna had finished her design and showed up to deliver her work at the time and place set by the organizing committee.

She had only just arrived when she saw a small crowd of designers standing outside, and they did not look happy at all.

"I don't know what's wrong with the person in charge of the competition this time. I mean, it's bad enough that they came up with all these ridiculous requests, and now that we've shown up at the exact time and place they told us to, they're nowhere to be seen! All that's here is a locked-up office. Are they trying to torture us or something?"

"Calm down. They're the organizing committee, after all, so whatever they say goes. We're in no position to complain."

"But don't you think they've crossed the line? It's like they don't care about us at all! We're here as contestants, but they're treating us like monkeys who must dance at the snap of their fingers! This is an outrage!"

As the seconds ticked by, the designers' complaints grew even louder, and they looked even more agitated than they had been when Leanna first saw them.

Just then, Leanna noticed the cubby holes set up outside the locked-up office. She counted them and realized that there were enough for each designer who was present.

After a moment of thought, she spoke softly, "I think we can just leave our designs in here."

When the other designers heard this, they looked at her incredulously, though most of them paid no attention to what she had just said.

A majority of these contestants were older and more renowned than her. They had applied and gone through all the necessary rounds to get this far in the competition, unlike Leanna, who was directly invited by the organizing committee.

The preferential treatment Leanna received did not sit right with any of these designers. Nonetheless, they refrained from picking on her because of her relationship with Aidan.

However, there was always a leader in every pack that started the fight.

Presently, Queenie gave Leanna a skeptical look, then crossed her arms and asked, "How do you know where we shall put our designs?"

Leanna shrugged and said frankly, "I just guessed."

Queenie snorted. "You guessed it? Do you think we're gullible? How could you say something so irresponsible?"

Someone else started chiming in after hearing Queenie confront Leanna. "She's right. How could you make wild guesses about a competition as important as this one? Besides, I believe the organizing committee wouldn't be so stupid as to set up doorless cubby-holes for us to put our designs in. Are you suggesting that we just leave our work in any cubby-hole we want? And there isn't even a single employee in sight! What if someone steals our designs?"

Queenie added, "Good point. The organizing committee has made a ton of changes for the competition this year, and we don't know what they're playing at either. Come clean with us, McK. Did President Pearson tell you that the organizing committee wants us to leave our work inside these cubby-holes? If that's the case, then we'll do as you say."

Everyone else fell quiet when they heard this, but their eyes were filled with contempt and disgust when they fixed their icy gaze on Leanna.

However, Leanna was unfazed as she said placidly, "Paranoia can be such a crippling illness. You should see the doctor. The key to recovery is early treatment." Having said that, she shoved her design into a random cubby hole and turned to give Queenie a mild look. "Basic legal knowledge would tell you that insinuating that someone from Pearson Group has leaked trade secrets is a crime. You wouldn't want the company to come after you and demand reparations, would you? Because if you work hard enough, you might find yourself getting a free stay in prison."

At that moment, Queenie looked so thunderous that it was a miracle that a lightning bolt didn't shoot out of her eyes.

After Leanna left, the rest of the designers exchanged pensive looks. Over ten minutes had passed since the time the organizing committee had set for them to submit their work. Surely the person in charge would not be so tardy.

Regardless of whether Leanna had received any confidential information from Aidan, the designers were convinced that her relationship with him would save her from elimination before the preliminary rounds. Nothing would go wrong if they just did what she had done.

With that in mind, each of them shoved their work into the cubby holes and left the scene.

They weren't worried that their work would be mixed up with the others, seeing as the sketch and final product would ultimately be mailed to the organizing committee.

Once the scene was empty, a few employees walked up to the cubby holes and emptied them. They sequentially placed the designs into boxes and hauled them into the car, then brought them over to the panel of judges.

Just like that, the designs were all arranged at random. No one knew who had designed what except for the organizing committee. The judges would appraise each work from a neutral standpoint, and the winner would be decided solely on the merits of his or her work.