It was impossible to say that Aidan was completely unaffected by this incident. It was just that he had managed to minimize the impact in the span of one night, even going so far as to reverse the situation entirely. Moreover, Gordon could no longer suppress him by using The Designer Competition as leverage.
Nevertheless, the stigma would persist forever if the truth did not come to light.
After Leanna departed from the law firm, she went straight to the Pearson Group.
She arrived just as Aidan came out from a meeting. The atmosphere in the entire building was heavy and lifeless. The employees didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.
As she was unable to locate Jonathan, she walked over to the president's office and reached out to knock gently on the door.
Aidan was sitting in front of his desk and reading some documents inside his office. There was no saying whether he had heard the knock on the door earlier.
She softened the sound of her footsteps and walked over. She cleared her throat lightly to announce her presence before she continued solemnly, "President Pearson, should I brew you a cup of coffee?"
Aidan answered coldly without even lifting his head. "Do you even need to ask?"
"Then, should I prepare dinner for you?"
When he heard that, he paused for a moment and slowly looked up. When he caught a glimpse of her, the chill in his black eyes gradually melted away, replaced by warmth. "When did you arrive?"
"I just arrived." Leanna sat down across from him and probed, "So, do you only plan to drink coffee and not eat?"
Aidan lowered his head, swiftly signed his name on the document, and grunted in reply, "Eating alone is boring."
She looked at him and couldn't resist asking another question, "Why didn't you recognize my voice when I asked you whether you wanted coffee but realized my identity when I asked about dinner?"
He casually replied, "Assistants with such high salaries generally do not practice the foolish behavior of asking so many questions in quick succession."
She was rendered speechless by his words. Eat sh*t, you b*stard!
He added, "Give me a few minutes."
"Okay."
After that, the only sound that she could hear in the room was the flipping of pages and the scratching of his pen against the paper.
Leanna felt bored sitting next to Aidan, so she reached out to fiddle with the decorations on the table.
Just as she was having fun, she caught sight of a photo frame placed on the desk out of the corner of her eye.
It was something that left her utterly stunned. It was a photo of them at the love lock bridge.
I can't believe that b*stard gave me such an ugly photo frame when he himself changed to such a beautiful one instead! Hah… Truly, the comedian of the century.
After ten minutes had passed, he finally placed the document in his hand and raised his head to look at her. "Let's go."
She was somewhat startled out of her thoughts by his voice, so she failed to respond immediately to his words. "Where are we going?"
"Didn't you want to eat dinner?"
Leanna pouted. "I didn't come here to have dinner with you."
Aidan looked at her. "What?"
She opened her bag and took out the document from within. "This is what Lloyd gave to me. I've asked Freddie to look through the document and confirm that there are no issues with the documents. But I'm currently living at the Crossley Residence. So it's not convenient to keep this document with me."
The corners of his lips curled into a smile. "So, you want to leave this document with me for safekeeping?"
She answered seriously, "No. I plan to open a safety deposit box at a bank."
"Is the safety deposit box at a bank safer than leaving the document with me?"
She couldn't be bothered to squabble over something so stupid, so she placed the document on the table and pushed it toward him. "Please help me keep this. I have not figured out what to do with this document for the time being. Also, you can also go ahead and use this if it's beneficial for you."
His gaze landed on the document, and then he looked back at her. His black eyes darkened considerably. "Are you sure?"
His gaze was so straightforward and scorching that she didn't dare to look him in the eye. She looked away, gazing at the decorations, and coughed awkwardly before she said, "In… In any case, you're also dealing with the Crossley Family. This has always been my wish, so you can consider it as doing my part."
Aidan chuckled softly when he heard her reasons. "Alright. Since you said so, then I'll happily accept it."
Then, he placed the document in the deepest part of his drawer, locked the drawer, and raised his eyebrows at her. "Can we go for dinner now?"
Leanna pondered silently and abruptly declared, "I want to visit Ms. Fletcher."
He was not surprised by her answer in the slightest. So, he simply picked up his jacket and stood up. "Let's go."
At first, she thought that he simply meant that they were going for dinner when he told her, "Let's go." After all, she had only said that she wanted to visit Naomi. The visit could have been arranged to be included in their schedule sometime in the future. There was no need to make the visit immediately.
It wasn't until the helicopter appeared in front of them that she froze in astonishment. This…
He met her astonished gaze. "Didn't you say you wanted to go and visit her?"
"But I meant that we can go after you settle everything here, not…"
"It's not important. Since we're already here, just get on."
He pulled her onto the helicopter without further ado while she was still reeling in confusion.
A short while later, a thunderous roar came from above their heads as the helicopter took off slowly.
Aidan looked down at his watch and pulled her into his embrace. "It'll take us a few hours to arrive. Sleep."
Leanna opened her mouth to object but ultimately decided against saying anything.
Lloyd and Georgina were upset with her at the moment. So it might be better that she didn't return. Not only would she enjoy some peace and quiet, this visit would also spare her from having to deal with their attitudes.
…
At the same time, Queenie received a phone call from Elliot while she was home.
He said, "The same rules apply. Don't make me wait for you."
She gripped her phone tightly. "Are you done?"
"Just look at the way you're talking. What do you mean whether I'm done? Don't we have a cooperative relationship? Or do you want to bring this video to the police yourself? I've already copied the video on a disc. There are several of them. If you want one, I can even give you one."
She immediately hung up on him. Then, she inhaled deeply, changed her clothes, and left the house.
Along the way, she repeatedly called Ron's number. Unfortunately, her calls couldn't be connected after all this time.
At this moment, she keenly felt as though somebody was stalking her.
Queenie turned back sharply but saw nothing.
So, she retracted her gaze and continued walking forward. The sound of footsteps gradually began to increase. That could only mean that more than one person was following her.
Her heart immediately jumped to her throat. The instant she saw a convenience store ahead, she immediately rushed inside and stood at the doorway gasping for breath.
The store clerk and the other customers inside the shop stared at her with bewildered expressions.
As soon as she saw other people around her, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. She bought a bottle of water and sat down at a table inside the convenience store. Then, she called Elliot. "Somebody is stalking me. I can't come—"
"That's fine with me. If you refuse to come, I'll upload this video on the Internet."
She gritted her teeth in frustration. Before she could say anything else, he hung up on her.
In the end, she sat inside the convenience store for a few minutes before she pulled up an app to call for a cab.
A car soon stopped in front of the entrance of the convenience store.
Queenie walked out of the convenience store with an irritable expression on her face. Right after she entered the car, someone quickly pulled the car door open once more. A man swiftly slid into the car and sat beside her.
The driver in the front seat reflexively asked, "Do you know each other?"
Even though the man beside her was wearing a baseball cap pulled down low over his face, she immediately recognized him. Her heart leaped with joy, and she quickly answered the driver, "Yes, we know each other."
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