The Weight Of Leaving by Riven Kade novel Chapter 4

The second Lexi heard “Mrs. Hale,” she froze, because when had Landon gotten married, and did that mean

she had no chance at all?

Then she saw he wasn’t standing beside any woman, so she convinced herself she must’ve misheard.

Carter, on the other hand, assumed Landon had pulled off some successful marriage alliance with a rich

heiress.

When Landon saw Lexi pinning me down, he lunged in and shoved her off.

She hit the floor hard, staring up in disbelief with tears gathering in her eyes.

“Landon,” she choked out, sounding wronged, like she couldn’t believe he’d used that much force on her.

She’d always believed I was the one everyone in this circle hated, even if that belief had only ever existed in

her head.

Landon frowned and smoothed my hair back into place.

His eyes dropped to my reddened wrist, and his whole presence turned dark in a way that made people

instinctively back off.

Anyone who knew him could tell it was the warning sign he was about to get angry.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Landon, it was her,” Lexi rushed out. “She stole your signet ring. Carter wouldn’t even deal with her, so she

tried to latch onto you.”

“She even stole your things to trick people into believing she has some kind of status,” Lexi added, voice shaking with righteous indignation.

Landon glanced at the signet ring hanging from the chain around my neck.

Then he looked back at Lexi, expression flat. “And what does that have to do with you? Aren’t you overstepping?” he said coldly.

“Landon, I-” Lexi started, but he didn’t let her finish.

He scooped me up into his arms.

“Let’s get that wrist treated,” he said.

Honestly, he’d never paid much attention to Lexi in the first place.

Chapter 4

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He only knew she existed because Carter kept dragging her along whenever the guys got together.

And he’d grown to hate it, because she was always throwing herself at him on purpose, then turning around

and talking trash about me.

He never joined in, but he didn’t approve of her behavior either.

“Landon,” Carter called, stepping forward. “Give her to me.”

“She’s my fiancée,” he insisted. “This is my responsibility.”

For some reason, watching his bro care this much about his fiancée stirred up something strange in Carter’s

chest.

And the way Landon looked at me felt… off, in a way Carter didn’t like.

We barely had any real connection, and Landon had always been the quiet, detached one.

Even when he showed up to hang out, he usually sat in a corner by himself.

No matter who tried to flirt or throw themselves at him, he always shut it down.

So why was he the one rushing to me now?

Landon dodged Carter’s outstretched hand. “No need. I’ll handle it myself,” he said, voice cutting. “You should worry about your so–called girl–bro.”

Then he carried me away.

Carter took a step to chase after us, but Lexi’s sobs snapped his attention back, and he turned around

instead.

“Carter,” she cried, wiping her tears. “Did Landon think I was meddling?”

“I was trying to help him.”

Carter patted her head, soothing her. “It’s fine.”

“He’s not that petty,” Carter said. “He just doesn’t know you well, and I’ll explain it to him later.”

Lexi hesitated, then finally asked the question burning in her stomach.

“But why was he so good to Renee?” she pressed. “They looked… close.”

Carter thought it was strange too, but the more he tried to connect the dots, the less it made sense.

Landon was cold to everyone.

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“Maybe it’s because this is the Hale Group’s event,” Carter said at last. “Nothing can go wrong here.”

“If something ugly got out, it would look bad for them,” he added, forcing the explanation to fit.

Besides that, he truly couldn’t think of any reason Landon would ever look at me differently.

Lexi finally exhaled in relief.

As long as Landon and I had nothing to do with each other, she still had a chance.