It was almost two in the afternoon when they arrived at the foot of the club's slope. As soon as Michelle got out of the car, she ran up in a hurry and waved goodbye to them.
"I have to go now. Bye, Leon! Bye, Colby!"
"Be careful." Whenever Leon saw Michelle run, he was worried that she would trip and scrape her knees.
She was like a fragile porcelain doll that he wanted to protect from any harm.
When Michelle reached the club, she turned around and waved at them again.
Leon smiled at her. When she entered the club, his smile vanished and he looked serious.
"Do you like Michelle?"
Leon's candid question surprised Colby. When Colby recovered from the shock, he said resolutely, "Yes. I like her very much. I know you treat her as your sister."
"We're not siblings," Leon said.
"I know that."
"I already have a boyfriend for her, and it's not you." Leon glanced at him with a pair of cold eyes.
"Huh?" Colby scratched his head. "You mean...you've already chosen a boyfriend for her? You're not her real brother. What right do you have to choose her boyfriend for her? You can't force her into marrying a man. Besides, it's just a relationship, not a marriage."
"So what you're saying is you are not going to marry her and just want to date her, huh?" Leon caught the loophole in his words.
They stared at each other so sharply that they would butt each other's head if provoked further. Colby was guilty of what Leon had accused him of. It was true, he hadn't thought about marriage yet. They weren't even in a relationship yet. It was too early for him to think about marrying her.
"It's too early to talk about marriage." Colby paused for a while and continued, "How sure are you that she's going to like the one you've chosen for her? If she doesn't like him, are you going to force her? She's free to choose her own partner, you know."
"She will," Leon said with utmost certainty.
Colby clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. "I'll continue to pursue her. Even though I'm not as handsome as you, I have other redeeming qualities."
"You're so full of yourself." Leon smirked. "Tell me, are your legs longer than mine?"
Colby looked downwards and fixed his eyes on Leon's legs. "No."
"You're not as handsome as me, not as tall as me. You've already failed in those aspects." Leon's face grew smugger. "I heard that you and Austin are good friends?"
Colby looked at him, trying to ascertain his motives. "Yes. What about him?"
"You two are very close, right? Has he told you whom he likes?" The sunlight behind Leon cast a foreboding shadow that covered his face, which made it difficult for Colby to see his expression clearly.
A chill ran down his spine. He didn't know what Leon was trying to imply.
Colby didn't say anything. Leon took his silence as his response and replied, "So he didn't tell you. He's loved Michelle at a distance for a very long time. Austin is from a rich family. Why do you think he stays at the branch instead of the headquarters of his family firm? Michelle told me they often had dinner together."
The news hit Colby like a tsunami that swept over his body and shook him to the core. It took a while for the new information to completely sink in his head.
"So that's why he kept on discouraging me from pursuing Michelle. He never did that when I tried pursuing other girls," Colby murmured to himself. "But he came to the branch instead of the headquarters because of his family."
Austin chose to major in computer to show that he was not interested in his family's business.
The reason he chose to work in the branch was also to show his siblings that he was not interested in inheriting the family business.
As the picture began to piece together in Colby's mind, something felt off. 'Isn't Austin going to graduate school? He doesn't want to have anything to do with his family, right? If that's the case, why is he still working for his family firm?'
The more Colby thought about it, the more everything started to make sense. 'It must be because of Michelle.'
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