Leanna left Crossley Group around the afternoon and headed straight to the airport after she saw that it was almost time.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she got downstairs, she saw a man leaning on a Rolls-Royce not far away with a casual posture. His calm eyes were looking in her direction.
She was momentarily stupefied at the sight of him right before him. She didn't even know what she was doing. By the time she had come to, she had instinctively run to him, thrown herself into his arms, and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.
Even though everyone had been reassuring her that Aidan was safe since last night, the feeling of uneasiness and fear within her lingered like a fog around the cemetery.
She finally felt a connection to the real world as she held him in a tight embrace, feeling his warmth seeping through her skin.
Aidan also wrapped his arms around her. "You missed me, huh?" he asked with a mirthful yet low voice.
Leanna's grip only got tighter upon hearing his lighthearted remark. "I almost lost you." Her voice was somewhat choked up as she couldn't control her emotions.
He soothed her as he gently patted her back, "I will always show up as long as you want to see me."
"I… I was going to pick you up…" Even though her voice was muffled as she pressed her face against his chest, he could still hear its nasal quality.
"I arrived early. I knew you would be eager to see me, so I came looking for you the first thing after I left the airport."
Leanna didn't argue with him, for she indeed yearned to see him. It got to the point that she wanted to see him as soon as he got off the plane.
Aidan ran his fingers through her hair and requested gently, "Seeing as how I'm only back after such a long time, can you do me a favor and get off work early this evening to spend some time with me?"
She immediately nodded. "Okay."
I have Freddie watching over the situation at Crossley Group for me, and I'm not in the mood to do anything right now, either. So, if I stay, I will only be wasting everyone's time, including my own.
He opened the car's side door and tilted his head for her to hop in. "Get in."
On their journey back, Leanna leaned on Aidan's shoulder, completely leaning against him as she gradually felt her frayed nerves receiving respite after such a harrowing time. It didn't take long for her to fall soundly asleep against him.
Aidan slightly tightened his hold around her and inaudibly breathed a sigh of relief. I would have gone insane if something had happened to her when I wasn't around.
Leanna slept very deeply. By the time she was blinking the rest of her sleep away from her eyes, she had discovered that she was already in the apartment's bedroom, and the sky outside was completely dark. Oh, there goes my sleeping schedule again, I suppose.
Meanwhile, he was lying next to her, and she could hear his steady breathing in the silent bedroom.
She carefully turned over and drank the sight of him quietly for a while before slowly closing the distance and kissing him. After that, she gently lifted the blanket and maneuvered her way out of the bed.
Once she made sure to close the bedroom door with a silent click, she decided to make a meal. Alas, to her dismay, when she entered the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, she saw that there was no food.
Just then, she couldn't help but recall that Aidan hadn't been around these few days. So, she never bothered going to the supermarket to purchase any groceries. Instead, she would always make herself some simple meals that could be done within ten minutes tops.
Leanna checked the time and suddenly remembered that Louis had told her this morning that he would come over in the evening. It's almost time, so Louis should be here soon.
Since she didn't want to go out, she simply sat on the couch and ordered a takeaway.
The doorbell rang about ten minutes later.
Louis was here.
Leanna opened the door and saw that Louis' clothes were soaked. Therefore, she gasped in worry, "Is it raining outside? Why are you drenched?"
"It's just a drizzle," replied Louis.
"Come in. Quickly now."
As she spoke, she turned around and went into the bathroom. Then, she grabbed a clean towel and handed it to him.
Louis took it and started wiping off the rainwater from his person while looking around the house. "Aidan isn't back yet?"
"He's sleeping," Leanna answered softly.
Louis went silent for a while before he switched topics, "What happened last night?"
"I-It was nothing."
She knew that Louis would be out of his mind with worry if she didn't explain things. So, she tried her best to remember every detail as she recounted the tale to him.
Once he understood what was going on, he furrowed his brows tightly.
During his stony silence, she went to pour him a glass of water. "Okay. Everything is over now, and I'm fine. So, don't worry."
"How about Aidan, then?" Louis asked.
Leanna paused for a moment before answering sheepishly, "I don't know. I haven't had time to ask him yet."
As soon as she said that, Aidan came out of the bedroom. There was a somewhat displeased look in his still sleepy-looking eyes when he laid his gaze at Louis.
Aidan sat on the couch and drawled, "And what are you doing here?"
"Nothing," Louis replied curtly.
Then, he dismissed Aidan entirely and turned his attention back to Leanna. "I'm glad that you're fine. Well then, I shall take my leave first."
"Louis, why don't you join us for dinner? Isn't it still raining outside?" Leanna suggested, feeling somewhat surprised at Louis' oddly eager-to-leave attitude.
"Nah, thanks for the offer. I'll just take a cab back."
Leanna chased after him and passed him an umbrella she grabbed from the entrance. "Here, take this. You will catch a cold later if you get wet in the rain again."
After he left, she closed the door, walked up to Aidan, and complained to him under her breath, "What are you doing? It's not like Louis is here every day."
Aidan leaned on the couch with his fingers resting on his temples. When he heard her complaint, he merely raised his eyebrows slightly and stretched out his hand to pull her into his arms. "Won't he be third wheeling if he stays right now? Not bad. Louis is pretty good at taking hints."
Leanna was rendered speechless by his brazen and shameless attitude.
As she made herself comfortable on Aidan's lap, she couldn't help but notice that his body temperature was rather high. Therefore, she reached out and touched his forehead before she went on to touch hers. "Did you catch a cold?"
"Kind of," Aidan hummed in a low voice.
"Have you taken any fever medication?"
"No."
Leanna wanted to get the flu medicine for him right then. Still, when she took into consideration that Aidan hadn't eaten anything yet, she figured it would better for him to take his medicine after their dinner.
"Did they make things difficult for you last night?" Aidan asked.
She immediately shook her head and answered, "No. Justin… He only did so for the sake of protecting you…"
"I know. Freddie told me about it on the phone."
So, Leanna asked, "Is there currently any way for us to fix this?"
"They will hold the Pearson Group's board of directors' meeting in two days," Aidan said flatly.
"What are they trying to exploit from the board meeting this time?"
"Since they have obtained the share of Pearson Group from me, they will undoubtedly let everyone know about this. Therefore, holding a board meeting at this time is the best time for them. I speculate that Old Master Pearson is probably intending to give Justin those shares and officially bring him into Pearson Group by using those shares as a reason behind his appointment. This way, there won't be objections from others as long as I don't oppose the decision."
Regardless of which aspect, Old Master Pearson proposing Justin take over my position now is undoubtedly the smartest move he has ever made over the years. I couldn't care less about the tactics Gordon and others used to obtain my shares.
However, if Justin truly were forced to take on that position, I would have shown my greatest respect for him and definitely wouldn't treat him ruthlessly as I did Gordon. It was also precisely because of this that Gordon and others had an opportunity that they could exploit to their advantage.
"Will you… oppose, then?" Leanna asked, probing for Aidan's opinion.
Aidan curled the corners of his lips into a smirk and said, "It's truly a stroke of genius. They know that I won't do anything to Justin, so they placed their entire bet on him.."
"But Justin is only their puppet. He's not interested in running Pearson Group. So, if he joins the company, that will just be Old Master Pearson wanting to do what he and others want under the guise of Justin's name."
Aidan wrapped his arms around her waist, rested his chin on her shoulder as he slowly parted his lips, and said, "They won't win."
Leanna was confused and didn't hesitate to voice her query. "What do you mean?"
"They would have to deliver that contract to Old Master Pearson by any means necessary. That is the only way they can use the contract to its full potential. But, then again, Lachstein is so far away. So, how is it possible for them to guarantee that they can deliver the document unscathed?"
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