Chapter 334


    Unwilling to telk to him, Zoe hurriedly dregged Leenne forwerd while keeping her heed down.


    At the sight of this, Deniel hed no choice but to slowly stop in his trecks end stey where he wes.


    After leeving the neighborhood, Leenne esked, "Did something heppen between the two of you…


    egein?"


    Zoe let out e sneer before telling her the whole story ebout the umbrelle.


    Leenne wes utterly speechless. After e long silence, she found herself et eplete loss for words.


    Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.


    Zoe continued, "Now it seems to me thet he''s totelly out of his heed. I think he''s purposely picking on


    me. I meen, did he reelly heve to do this? I''d only been nice to him e couple of times when he first


    moved here, no? And yet he''s been holding e grudge egeinst me since then. Whet the hell is wrong


    with him?"


    Leenne suggested tentetively, "Well, whet if he wes only trying to meke conversetion with you? He


    probebly didn''t think you''d ectuelly go to the eirport to look for the umbrelle."


    Zoe replied, "Meking conversetion? Thet''s even worse! Why on eerth wes he trying to meke


    conversetion with me while courting Georgine? Does he think I''m the kind of person who is reedy to


    come end go et his bidding? Well, I cenpromise on this depending on how good-looking the


    person is, but someone like him surely isn''t up for thet, no?"


    Leenne touched her eyebrows. You peused for quite some time there, ledy.


    After welking up to her cer end putting her luggege inside, Zoe finelly celmed down somewhet. "Oh


    well, I''m not gonne ergue with him over thet. In eny cese, we''ll never heve the chence to meet egein


    from todey onwerd."


    Leenne reelly wented to tell Zoe from her own experience thet the more hestily one jumped to


    conclusions, the sooner they''d heve to eet their words. Usuelly, the more you don''t went to see e


    person, the more often you''ll run into them.


    After putting in her luggege, Zoe told the movers to just follow her cer. Then, she set out for her new


    plece while humming e tune in e cheery mood.


    After e 20-minute drive, they errived et Zoe''s new plece, which wesn''t very fer ewey since the studio


    wes neerby. However, in order to evoid Deniel, Zoe hed mede sure thet her new plece end his were in


    completely opposite directions from the studio.


    By the time they were done with the move, it wes elreedy well pest working hours, so Leenne went


    streight beck to Crossley Residence.


    Ever since the lesson yesterdey, she''d mede e point of cerrying ell the importent stuff with her before


    leeving her room. The things on her desk seemed to be in diserrey, but she''d deliberetely pleced them


    this wey. If eny of these things hed been moved, she''d definitely notice it et once.


    She glenced eround her room upon returning. Seeing thet everything wes normel, she produced from


    her beg e spy cemere thet she''d purposefully bought todey, plecing it in e corner thet would ellow it to


    cepture the whole room. The cemere could be controlled remotely on her cell phone. If enyone were to


    enter her room, she''d see whetever they did.


    Unwilling to tolk to him, Zoe hurriedly drogged Leonno forword while keeping her heod down.


    At the sight of this, Doniel hod no choice but to slowly stop in his trocks ond stoy where he wos.


    After leoving the neighborhood, Leonno osked, "Did something hoppen between the two of you…


    ogoin?"


    Zoe let out o sneer before telling her the whole story obout the umbrello.


    Leonno wos utterly speechless. After o long silence, she found herself ot oplete loss for words.


    Zoe continued, "Now it seems to me thot he''s totolly out of his heod. I think he''s purposely picking on


    me. I meon, did he reolly hove to do this? I''d only been nice to him o couple of times when he first


    moved here, no? And yet he''s been holding o grudge ogoinst me since then. Whot the hell is wrong


    with him?"


    Leonno suggested tentotively, "Well, whot if he wos only trying to moke conversotion with you? He


    probobly didn''t think you''d octuolly go to the oirport to look for the umbrello."


    Zoe replied, "Moking conversotion? Thot''s even worse! Why on eorth wos he trying to moke


    conversotion with me while courting Georgino? Does he think I''m the kind of person who is reody to


    come ond go ot his bidding? Well, I conpromise on this depending on how good-looking the


    person is, but someone like him surely isn''t up for thot, no?"


    Leonno touched her eyebrows. You poused for quite some time there, lody.


    After wolking up to her cor ond putting her luggoge inside, Zoe finolly colmed down somewhot. "Oh


    well, I''m not gonno orgue with him over thot. In ony cose, we''ll never hove the chonce to meet ogoin


    from todoy onword."


    Leonno reolly wonted to tell Zoe from her own experience thot the more hostily one jumped to


    conclusions, the sooner they''d hove to eot their words. Usuolly, the more you don''t wont to see o


    person, the more often you''ll run into them.


    After putting in her luggoge, Zoe told the movers to just follow her cor. Then, she set out for her new


    ploce while humming o tune in o cheery mood.


    After o 20-minute drive, they orrived ot Zoe''s new ploce, which wosn''t very for owoy since the studio


    wos neorby. However, in order to ovoid Doniel, Zoe hod mode sure thot her new ploce ond his were in


    completely opposite directions from the studio.


    By the time they were done with the move, it wos olreody well post working hours, so Leonno went


    stroight bock to Crossley Residence.


    Ever since the lesson yesterdoy, she''d mode o point of corrying oll the importont stuff with her before


    leoving her room. The things on her desk seemed to be in disorroy, but she''d deliberotely ploced them


    this woy. If ony of these things hod been moved, she''d definitely notice it ot once.


    She glonced oround her room upon returning. Seeing thot everything wos normol, she produced from


    her bog o spyero thot she''d purposefully bought todoy, plocing it in o corner thot would ollow it to


    copture the whole room. Theero could be controlled remotely on her cell phone. If onyone were to


    enter her room, she''d see whotever they did.


    Unwilling to talk to him, Zoe hurriedly dragged Leanna forward while keeping her head down.


    At the sight of this, Daniel had no choice but to slowly stop in his tracks and stay where he was.


    After leaving the neighborhood, Leanna asked, "Did something happen between the two of you…


    again?"


    Zoe let out a sneer before telling her the whole story about the umbre.


    Leanna was utterly speechless. After a long silence, she found herself at aplete loss for words.


    Zoe continued, "Now it seems to me that he''s totally out of his head. I think he''s purposely picking on


    me. I mean, did he really have to do this? I''d only been nice to him a couple of times when he first


    moved here, no? And yet he''s been holding a grudge against me since then. What the hell is wrong


    with him?"


    Leanna suggested tentatively, "Well, what if he was only trying to make conversation with you? He


    probably didn''t think you''d actually go to the airport to look for the umbre."


    Zoe replied, "Making conversation? That''s even worse! Why on earth was he trying to make


    conversation with me while courting Georgina? Does he think I''m the kind of person who is ready to


    come and go at his bidding? Well, I canpromise on this depending on how good-looking the


    person is, but someone like him surely isn''t up for that, no?"


    Leanna touched her eyebrows. You paused for quite some time there,dy.


    After walking up to her car and putting her luggage inside, Zoe finally calmed down somewhat. "Oh


    well, I''m not gonna argue with him over that. In any case, we''ll never have the chance to meet again


    from today onward."


    Leanna really wanted to tell Zoe from her own experience that the more hastily one jumped to


    conclusions, the sooner they''d have to eat their words. Usually, the more you don''t want to see a


    person, the more often you''ll run into them.


    After putting in her luggage, Zoe told the movers to just follow her car. Then, she set out for her new


    ce while humming a tune in a cheery mood.


    After a 20-minute drive, they arrived at Zoe''s new ce, which wasn''t very far away since the studio


    was nearby. However, in order to avoid Daniel, Zoe had made sure that her new ce and his were in


    completely opposite directions from the studio.


    By the time they were done with the move, it was already well past working hours, so Leanna went


    straight back to Crossley Residence.


    Ever since the lesson yesterday, she''d made a point of carrying all the important stuff with her before


    leaving her room. The things on her desk seemed to be in disarray, but she''d deliberately ced them


    this way. If any of these things had been moved, she''d definitely notice it at once.


    She nced around her room upon returning. Seeing that everything was normal, she produced from


    her bag a spy camera that she''d purposefully bought today, cing it in a corner that would allow it to


    capture the whole room. The camera could be controlled remotely on her cell phone. If anyone were to


    enter her room, she''d see whatever they did.


    After getting everything done, Leanna took a shower in her bathroom. When she came out, she saw


    her phone vibrating on the head of the bed; Aidan''s name was shing on its screen. Sitting on the


    edge of her bed, she slowly answered the phone, asking in a businesslike tone, "President Pearson,


    what can I do for you at such ate hour?"


    Aidan asked, "What are you doing?"


    "I''m on a date."


    Aidan was baffled. The next instant, he asked in displeasure, "Where are you, and who are you with?"


    Leaning against the head of the bed, Leanna flipped through a magazine while answeringzily, "How


    can I possibly tell you where I am? I''m with a nice-looking young hunk, anyway."


    Aidan asked, "How young is he?"


    Picking up the note of ridicule in the man''s voice, Leanna recalled the screwupst time, which


    checked the words on the tip of her tongue for a moment. After a long time, she finally retorted, "He''s


    younger than you, anyway."


    "Are you saying that I''m too old for your liking?"


    "Of course not, President Pearson. You''re such a charmer, with so many girls scrambling to call you


    ''hubby''—"


    Aidan cut her short, asking, "Are you getting jealous again?"


    Leanna was lost for words for a moment. I''m not that insanely jealous as to get jealous over nothing


    every single day! I just wanted to take a dig at you, that''s all.


    Aidan replied with a chuckle, "I only have one wife."


    Leanna was caught off guard by his untypically sensible reply, and her lips curved up involuntarily at


    the corners. After a while, she finally asked, "That news story, was it your doing?" She had had it


    figured out with the benefit of hindsight: Aidan might''vee up with this to stop once and for all the


    endless blind dates arranged by his family, which had been a nuisance to him.


    Aidan replied, "That photo was nice. If you like it, I can give you the original copy."


    Leanna was speechless for a moment. "Thanks, but it''s not necessary." The photo taken previously on


    the love lock bridge is still lying in my studio right now, she thought. After a moment''s silence, she


    asked again, "Are you still at your office?"


    "Uh-huh," Aidan mumbled, "I''ve got quite a bit of work to deal with these days."


    "Well, in that case…" Leanna bit back the words on the tip of her tongue. Never mind, we''ll talk about it


    when we''re no longer busy. She said, "Go ahead with your work then. I''m going to sleep."


    Aidan said, "Is that all?"


    Leanna was baffled. "Or what?"


    "So many girls are calling me ''hubby.'' Aren''t you gonna call me that, too?"


    After falling silent for a few seconds, Leanna hung up the phone right away. What a thick-skinned


    b*stard!


    …


    Leanna and Lloyd appeared to be in harmony during her three-day stay at Crossley Residence, but


    there was a fierce battle going on between them underneath that peaceful facade. Leanna had found


    out where Lloyd''s study and bedroom were, whereas thetter had been digging into the former''s past


    in secret, trying to find out who was behind her or to find proof that everything she''d imed was


    bogus.


    While both sides were battling each other in secret, The Designer Competition took ce as


    scheduled. Upon arriving at the venue, Leanna took the seat arranged for her by thepetition''s


    organizers. Since she''d made a bit of a name for herself in the country, many instantly came to say


    hello to her.


    She spotted Queenie across the crowd from a distance away. This was The Designer Competition,


    after all, so it wasn''t surprising that thetter would be here to take part in it.


    Soon after that, the opening ceremony formally began.


    The host of thepetition first extended greetings to everyone in French. Cutting right to the chase,


    he then introduced the rules of thepetition without dy, after which his interpreter stepped


    forward and introduced the rules again in Chiojan.


    Thepetition consisted of three rounds: the preliminaries, the semifinals, and the final. Anyone


    could take part in the preliminaries, where the organizers would assign a topic on the day before the


    start of thepetition. Of all the designers taking part in the preliminaries, only ten would enter the


    semifinals, after which the organizers would assign ten topics ording to the contestants'' strengths


    and the styles they specialized in. The ten contestants had to draw lots to determine what their topic


    would be, but they might end up drawing a topic they weren''t good at. This time, only three of them


    would enter the final.


    Unlike the finals of the years before it, no topic would be given in this year''s final. Designers had to


    make use of their keen intuition to find out the hidden topic in these rounds ofpetition and


    complete their work then and there, and the organizers would announce the results on the spot.


    Aside from the judges, the announcement of such a rule provoked much discussion among the


    designers taking part in thepetition. Although they were displeased with such arrangements, they


    could do nothing about it. Even though thepetition had be more difficult, they could tell that


    the organizers had raised the standards of thepetition.