As for Messenger, it hardly ever buzzed. But lately, whenever she was around, it seemed to go off constantly.
Leonora asked about it, and Taylor, wrapping his arms around her from behind, nuzzled his face against hers. “Just some persistent developer trying to get a project.”
Leonora turned to face Taylor, “Don’t you usually leave that to Blake?”
Before she could finish, their colorful parrot squawked, “Cheating, there’s an affair, cheating, there’s an affair.”
Leonora was momentarily stunned before bursting into laughter. The parrot was hilarious, repeating such phrases and even eavesdropping on their conversation.
After her laughter subsided, Leonora looked at Taylor, “Taylor, it says you’re cheating, is that true?”
She was only joking, not taking the bird seriously. But Taylor’s expression had already grown complicated. The accusation, even from a bird, seemed to hit a nerve.
Holding Leonora tighter, he said, “How could that be? It’s probably just this parrot’s owner who’s been up to something.”
Leonora pinched Taylor’s chin, “Is that so?”
Since getting to know Taylor better, she had grown increasingly comfortable around him.
Seeing her reaction, Taylor casually pulled out his phone and offered it to her, pressing his face against hers. “Honey, if you don’t trust me, go ahead and check. I swear my loyalty to you is unwavering.”
As Taylor assured her, he felt an inexplicable guilt. He hadn’t really done anything with Kitty, so it shouldn’t count as cheating, right?
Seeing Taylor hand over his phone, Leonora chuckled. She didn’t check it, returning it instead. “If you really had someone else, you wouldn’t dare show me your phone so openly. Since you’re so confident, there’s probably nothing worth seeing.”
“I won’t look.”
Only a fool would check their partner’s phone. Unless she wanted to break up, she wouldn’t go through his phone.
What Leonora didn’t know was that if she had decided to check Taylor’s phone at that moment, she might have actually found something.
Returning the phone to him, Taylor breathed a sigh of relief and laughed. “You sly thing, always thinking ahead.”
With that, he pinched Leonora’s chin and kissed her lips.
“Excuse me.” In the midst of their passionate kiss, a waiter suddenly entered the room, immediately apologizing and retreating upon seeing the scene.
Leonora blushed and quickly stepped back from Taylor’s embrace. Taylor, however, remained unfazed. He gently wiped Leonora’s lips before turning towards the door and saying, “Come in.”
The next moment, the door opened again and two waiters entered with flushed faces.
Despite being ignored by Taylor for hours, Kitty still spoke with a cheerful tone, showing no sign of discontent. Having navigated the business world to her current position and effortlessly moving among men, she had long become savvy and street-smart. Besides, growing up in her family’s social circles, her life was much more complicated than Leonora’s.
Over the phone, Taylor, steering with one hand, asked with a laugh, “What’s up? You need something?”
“Brother-in-law, you really forget quickly. Don’t you remember what you promised me at the office today? I’ve already taken a bath, changed a few outfits, hurry over, brother-in-law.”
Hearing Kitty’s flirtatious voice, Taylor calmly replied, “With my wife, can’t make it.”
On the other end of the phone, Kitty giggled. “Brother-in-law, you’re not very good at lying. If you were really with my sister, you wouldn’t dare answer my call. Right now, I’m completely undressed, just waiting for you to come in.”
As soon as Kitty finished speaking, Taylor didn’t respond but abruptly hung up the phone. He then casually tossed his smartphone onto the side shelf and took a deep breath.
Just as he caught his breath, his phone pinged with a new message on Messenger. It was Kitty again. She had sent a very provocative selfie. Taylor was speechless. After all these years, she hadn’t toned down at all; in fact, she was even bolder than she had been a decade ago.
Then, she sent a short voice message, “Waiting for you, brother-in-law.”
Taylor unbuttoned one of his shirt buttons, his mind, however, was filled with thoughts of Leonora. If he succumbed to Kitty’s temptation, he would never be able to face Leonora again. But even so, nothing real would ever happen between him and Kitty. There would be no future. And there should be no complications.
Looking up at Leonora’s room, Taylor felt his heart stir slightly. If Leonora hadn’t gone upstairs, if she had agreed to go back to Southbay with him, how wonderful that would be.

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