After removing her heavy makeup, Valerie picked up another brush to reapply a light makeup on her face.
"If I remember correctly, I have already told you about Leon's true identity. Can you continue pretending that you don't know about it?" He has no choice but to hide who he really is."
Hearing the justification as to why Leon had to hide his identity, Michelle started to feel relieved as though a thorn in her throat had finally been plucked.
'I knew Leon wouldn't lie without a good reason.'
She chuckled and kept her head down, trying to hide her joy from Valerie.
Meanwhile, Valerie continued to keep up her pretense. "So don't be angry with him. He treats you as—"
"Oh, no, no. I'm not angry." Michelle looked up at her and waved her hands. Under the luminescent light of the dressing room, her eyes were clean and pure.
Valerie felt slightly annoyed that Michelle interrupted her. But more than that, she was stunned by Michelle's reaction to what she had said.
'Why is she not angry with Leon for lying to her?'
Valerie couldn't help but snort in disgust. 'How can such a hypocritical person exist?'
Behind her fake smile, Valerie gritted her teeth. "It's okay. If you're, just let it out. You don't have to keep it to yourself. When the time comes that Leon chooses to reveal his identity to you, I'll ask him to apologize."
"That's very kind of you, but he doesn't have to apologize. I'm really not angry with him." Michelle continued to explain, trying to convince Valerie that she was telling the truth. "I believe Leon has his own reasons to do so. I won't be mad at him for that. Yes, at first I was angry. But hearing what you told me changed how I felt about it."
When Valerie realized that she had helped them solve their misunderstanding, she looked flabbergasted.
This wasn't her intention at all!
She never expected Michelle to react so maturely about it. Feeling slightly defeated, Valerie pressed her lips and ground her teeth harder.
Michelle squinted her eyes at her and flashed a wide smile. "Thank you for telling me this. You're so kind."
Her words, although they sounded sweet, felt like insults thrown at Valerie. Valerie felt as though Michelle was deliberately making fun of her.
Even her sweet smile made Valerie feel bitter. For a moment, she wanted to stay away from her as far as possible.
"I'm ready. Let's go. Let's not keep them waiting for too long outside." Valerie stood up, took her coat and bag, and left.
"Okay." Michelle followed her from behind. Her legs were almost skipping from joy.
Meanwhile, Valerie's face looked glum. Her high-heeled shoes made a crisp sound every time she took a step, as though she wanted to pierce the floor.
When they arrived at the door, Valerie stopped. She turned around to Michelle and asked, "I'm curious. Why aren't you angry with him? If someone lied to me, I'd be angry."
Michelle paused for a while and reflected. "If someone lied to me, I'd also be angry. But I'd ask first why they did it. If they had a good reason, I wouldn't get mad."
Valerie tilted her head. "So you think Leon is telling you a white lie?"
"Yes." Michelle giggled and nodded.
As she looked at Michelle's silly look, Valerie was too disgusted with her to continue arguing. She turned around and continued walking.
Leon, Bryant, Michelle, and Valerie went to have dinner together. The whole time, Michelle immersed herself with her food. She didn't want to look up since Valerie was sitting next to her. It also didn't help that Leon kept looking in the direction where they were sitting.
If Michelle saw them making lovey-dovey eyes at each other, her heart might not be able to take it.
While looking down at her food, she saw Leon's hand gently passing a tissue towards Valerie out of the corner of her eye.
With only a thin piece of tissue separating their fingers, she felt as though their hands would interlock with each other in the next second.
Her jealousy for Valerie turned into a bottomless appetite as she kept on eating non-stop, even though she felt the food tasted kind of bland.
After a while, she heard Valerie's voice and saw her hand holding a tissue. "Michelle, wipe your mouth and eat slowly."
Her concern made Michelle feel ashamed.
Valerie was such a nice person, yet she continued to harbor her jealousy towards her instead of wishing them their happiness.
Leon was a gentle and handsome man, while Valerie was a kind-hearted and beautiful woman. They were a perfect match for each other.
Once they were done eating, Leon and the others drove Michelle back to the club.
As soon as she got back to her room, she fell asleep almost immediately.
When she woke up, she felt rejuvenated. She put all of her energy into training, which made the whole team panic.
Michelle was working hard while they were being lazy. This made them feel guilty.
Just like that, she was able to motivate the entire team.
Since Michelle had devoted all of her attention to her career, she had almost lost contact with Leon. But she considered it as a silver lining. That way, she wouldn't hear about what was happening between him and Valerie, and wouldn't feel upset.
For a while, she thought she would live her life peacefully for the foreseeable future.
However, this tranquility didn't last long. Out of nowhere, Valerie contacted her.
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