30 Days Till I Divorce My Husband novel Chapter 469

After a steamy kiss, Leonora came home, arms full of stuff, only to be greeted by her mom's voice echoing from the bedroom, "Arielle, you're turning into such a wild child, always out and about for hours."

"I just ate too much," Leonora muttered under her breath, quickly stashing the bird's nest and cordyceps into the kitchen before anyone noticed.

As she emerged from the kitchen, her mom, Shania, eyed her suspiciously, "Stuffed yourself and still sneaking into the kitchen? Don't tell me you're hungry again, Arielle."

Leonora shook her head. "Nope, just heading for a shower."

Watching her daughter retreat, Shania sighed, "26 years old and still so immature. All you think about is food, not a care in the world for anything else."

"Hope you listened to what Peyton and the others said today. You're not getting any younger."

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Leonora called back, clutching her clothes as she headed to the bathroom.

Seeing this, Leonora's dad, lounging on the bed, tried to pacify his wife, "Shania, let the girl manage her own affairs. Ease up a bit."

"And you think you can look after her forever, live to be two hundred?" Shania snapped back.

"I'll try my best," he replied with a chuckle.

Inside the bathroom, Leonora listened to her parents bicker, her gaze falling on the marks on her skin, feeling like she was living a double life.

The moments with Taylor felt surreal, as did the lavish gifts he showered on her.

That night, Leonora tossed and turned, her mind racing with thoughts of Taylor, and yes, Grant. It wasn't until 3 AM that she finally drifted off to sleep.

The next two days went by in a tranquil blur with Taylor away on business, restoring some peace to Leonora's life.

One evening, returning from work, Leonora found her parents frowning at the bird's nest and cordyceps on the dining table, utterly baffled.

"When did we start buying stuff like this?" they wondered, clearly out of their usual price range.

Seeing her, Shania beckoned, "Arielle, come here. Do you know where these came from? Your dad found them in the kitchen."

Facing the gifts from Taylor, Leonora's heart skipped a beat. She had to stay calm, "Oh! They're from Joselyn. She said her family couldn't finish them."

Joselyn's dad was a big shot; it wasn't strange for them to have such luxuries.

If her parents asked Joselyn, she'd cover for her.

Shania's mood soured, "Do you realize how expensive these are? What did you give in return? You shouldn't accept such costly gifts."

Leonora put down her bag, "Joselyn said it'd be a waste to let them expire, so I took them."

Her parents sighed, not knowing what to say, "You're too carefree!" After a brief scolding, her dad retrieved two bottles of treasured bourbon from their room, offering them to Leonora, "Take these to Joselyn's dad. It's the least we can do."

Those bottles were the Hamilton's pride, a rare and valuable token from Devon's collection.

Leonora protested, fearing it might strain her friendship with Joselyn.

"You need to understand social graces. Just take them," her mom insisted.

So, come Saturday, Leonora found herself delivering the bourbon to Joselyn.

At the café, Joselyn couldn't help but laugh upon seeing the bourbon, "Landing me in the spotlight of your love life, how lucky am I to have a friend like you!"

Leonora sipped her coffee, lamenting, "I'm hardly in a position to call it love. I feel more like a call girl without the luxury of choice."

Joselyn joked about their situation, but Leonora wasn't in the mood, worried about what would happen if Grant returned and found out about her and Taylor.

Trying to quit her job to avoid Taylor had been futile.

Joselyn advised her to forget Grant and focus on Taylor, hoping to bask in the glory of being Mrs. Ferguson's best friend someday.

Leonora quickly shut that down, knowing all too well the complexities of her relationship with Taylor and how outlandish Joselyn's dreams truly were.

"Plus, it's not like we're in a relationship. He's just using me to get back at Grant, so please, never bring it up again. It just makes me feel all kinds of awkward and guilty."

Mrs. Ferguson?

She wasn't harboring such grand ambitions, nor did she have the means for them.

But Joselyn wouldn't have it, raising her voice a bit, "How can you say you're not in a relationship? Both of you are single, not seeing anyone else, and have been sleeping together for two years. If that's not a relationship, what is?"

After finishing their desserts at the café, Joselyn dragged Leonora around for aimless shopping, ending up buying only food.

Around four, Leonora's phone rang.

Holding a bag of chocolate treats in one hand, she answered, "Hello?"

"Just hanging out with a friend."

"Can't it wait until later? It's not even dark yet."

"Fine, fine, do what you want."

Saying this, Leonora hung up, visibly annoyed.

"Mr. Taylor?" Joselyn inquired.

Leonora turned to her with a helpless look, "Yeah! Looks like I'm working late again."

Joselyn laughed at Leonora's dismay. "Come on, tell me, is it good? Are you enjoying it?"

To Joselyn, Leonora seriously said, "Good, very enjoyable."

Only around Joselyn could Leonora be so unguarded.

Joselyn teased, "Leonora, you're living the life, aren't you? And here I thought Dr. Lee's 'work' was good enough. Aren't you enjoying it?"

"Hey, it's not bad! He's even driving me around now."

Leonora laughed, "Looks like shopping's over. Off to work."

"See? You're not losing out on this deal."

With that, they headed towards the department store exit.

Just as they reached the street, Taylor's brand-new Bentley pulled up in front of Leonora, the window rolled down, and his voice softly reached out, "Leonora."