Chapter 679


    Having forgotten their surroundings, Leon and Heather were in their own world and were not quick to


    notice Dave’s approach.


    Thus, from their perspective, Dave’s appearance was rather sudden. Warily, Leon eyed his grandfather


    and tightened his grip around Heather. His cautious stance made his care for her obvious to outsiders.


    Holding onto a wine ss, Dave observed the pair with a neutral expression. Leon rarely cared about


    anything these days, and his actions only made the former more curious about Heather.


    From where she was standing, Heather couldn’t see Dave. Nheless, she could feel Leon suddenly


    stiffening and burying her face against his chest.


    The strange action made her suspicious and she tried to struggle out of his grip. However, he soon


    exined his actions. “Stop moving! My grandpa is here,” he said, wanting both to hold her and


    prevent hering face to face with his grandfather.


    “Let go of me, then,” she whispered to him.


    “Trust me,” he answered instead, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.


    Now that he was closer to them, Dave sensed something wrong. From afar, he had already sensed that


    something was off and the nearer he got, the stronger that feeling grew.


    The more he looked at them, the less he felt like they were a pair. Leon’s love for Heather seemed


    genuine—Dave could see his care and adoration for her in his eyes. As for how she felt about Leon,


    Dave had no way of knowing for now.


    Knowing Leon’s temper, Dave spoke up first. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to the beautifuldy


    you’re hugging?”


    Even from where she was pressed up against Leon’s chest, Heather could clearly hear how fluent and


    well-enunciated Dave’s English was. It seemed there was a reason for Leon’s good English after all,


    and that the patriarch of the family was responsible for ensuring that his children and grandchildren all


    spoke English to varying degrees.


    “She’s not used to such asions, Grandpa,” Leon told Dave now. All of a sudden, he no longer felt


    like having Heather put on an act with him.


    “You sure know how to tell a joke, Leon. I heard she is a charming, elegant, belle of the ball. She


    should be used to such asions.” Frankly, having collected whatever information he could find on her,


    Dave already had an understanding of her.


    “Not here, though,” Leon answered, unrelentingly. By now, he wasn’t even willing to introduce them to


    the others.


    “I fear you’ve yet to grasp the substance of today’s banquet,” Dave answered, his face growing


    unfriendly. Despite fearing him, his grandson continued to mouth him off. His patience for Leon wasn’t


    limitless, and he dearly hoped that Leon would grow up soon. The grandson he raised wasn’t one he


    hoped to see self-destruct.


    Meanwhile, Heather was about to suffocate from theck of air with her face buried in Leon’s chest.


    Since she desperately wanted to leave his embrace, she squirmed and caused him to loosen his grip


    slightly. Seizing the opportunity, she wiggledpletely out of his grasp.


    Very quickly, she was standing shoulder to shoulder with him. Neither acting proud nor in a self-effacing


    manner, she took Dave in and decided that he looked how she imagined him. He seemed spirited and


    not at all like he was in poor health.


    Following that, she gave him a practiced, polite smile. It was the kind of smile he liked best—distant,


    well-mannered, but self-respecting at the same time. Already, he was forming a good first impression of


    her.


    “Grandpa.” It was her first time calling someone else’s grandfather that and it made her feel immensely


    ufortable. Nheless, remembering her purpose here today, she still said that.


    Even Leon was incredibly surprised. After all, she tended to be a finicky person who did not do such


    things easily. The fact that she was willing to address his grandfather like that meant she was giving the


    performance her all.


    “Youngdy.” In response, Dave gave her a kind and amiable smile, but it wasn’t one she would easily


    be dazzled by.


    As he watched them interact, Leon suddenly felt like he had made a big deal out of nothing. He could


    see how satisfied his grandfather was with her.


    Still acting like his girlfriend, she continued, “Leon’s too childish. Please don’t me him.” She did it so


    smoothly as if she had done it before.


    Happily, Dave smiled. It gave him some odd sense of joy to hear that being said about Leon since it


    was true; Leon was childish, and it was only a pity that such a talented child could have so many ws


    in his personality.


    “I’ve long gotten used to him and don’t find it strange at all. If anything, I’m sorry you have to bear the


    responsibility,” he quipped without hesitation.


    Suddenly, Leon felt like he was a preschool child whose teacher was reporting his bad behavior to his


    parents before they allughed about it together.


    The inexplicable déjà vu left him feeling a little cold. It wasn’t as if he thought his grandfather would


    hate her, but he never expected them to get along so well that they’d draw closer simply by


    Meanwhile, she was offering a modest, tight-lipped smile. Of course she wasn’t solely going to


    “Even if he’s a little childish sometimes. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. In my eyes, at least,


    he’s very cute,” she lied with a straight face. sending him a smirk that made his knees go weak.


    Perhaps she was too into the role. At this moment, even he was faintly buying the lie that she was his


    girlfriend and feeling a bit of joy in his heart.


    Even if she was his girlfriend for only one night, it was enough to mess with his head, and he told


    himself that the goddess of a woman he yearned for was now by his side.


    Meanwhile, Dave smiled cordially at her. “You young people only see the good side of each other when


    you’re dating.”


    Hearing that, Leon couldn’t help but stand up for himself. “I am good.” In front of Dave, he couldn’t help


    asionally disying the petnce that the child of a family would have.


    Heather could see where he wasing from and could tell that he was just the kind of person to insist


    on talking back when he didn’t actually hate his grandfather.


    Virtually everyone was aware of his pride. If anything, he even somewhat humbled himself in front of


    her.


    When the others at the party became aware of the happily chatting trio, they couldn’t help watching out


    of the corners of their eyes. After all, they dared not believe the scene, for Leon only ever made his


    grandfather angry on a normal day.


    Yet, Dave was smiling at this moment and they all assumed it was the work of the woman that Leon


    Material ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    brought back with him. Many of them had heard of her, but few had met her.


    The three of them upied the buffet area with Dave and Heather talking around Leon and, for the


    most part,ining about Leon. Meanwhile, the subject of their discussion stood to one side and


    asionally stepped in to protest that he hadn’t done anything too objectionable.


    Yet, even while they enjoyed their discussion, the others quickly became unhappy with the fact that the


    focus of the banquet was quickly shifting to Leon.


    What they wished the least to happen was for Leon to be treated with fondness, since he had managed


    to offend everyone in the family. They only hoped they would live to see him disowned.


    The person who hated Leon most was his cousin who was only a few years older than him. To


    everyone else, that cousin was second in line to inherit the family wealth.


    Yet, the cousin was well-aware of howrge a threat Leon posed. While, as an illegitimate child, Leon


    did not have the legitimacy he had, Dave was especially tolerant of Leon’s antics. Thus, the fear that


    Leon would take his ce was not unfounded.


    At this moment, the trio moved out of the buffet area and closer to the dinner table. Dave was insisting


    that Heather sit by his side, and the honor made everyone else seethe with jealousy.


    As Heather took in her surroundings, she could feel the animosity the others had toward Leon. Of


    course, it meant that animosity was now directed toward her. It seemed Dave and Leon were talking


    about very different things, and the only reason Leon could remain in his household was due to the


    protection of his grandfather.


    Furthermore, it was clear that, in truth, Dave was very fond of Leon. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have


    noticed Leon’s vices. Nheless, because of how simrly stubborn they were, they were very bad at


    expressing how they felt about each other.


    As she realized that, she wondered to herself whether there was something she could do to ease their


    rtionship. She had Dave’s attention and right now, he was even overlooking the others in favor of


    talking to her.


    Aware of the hostile and jealous nces that the others were shooting toward him, Leon stared back at


    them proudly. He was proud of himself for having the woman he loved by his side.


    Never did Heather ever let him down. In fact, she always did things that surpassed his expectations,


    such as gaining the favor of his grandfather and allowing him to properly show off in front of his family


    for once.


    “I heard you have high blood pressure, Grandpa. Perhaps you should have less of this kind of food.”


    Since she had heard Leon mention his grandfather’s health before, she chose an appropriate moment


    to express concern.


    Such a seemingly natural expression of care gratified Dave, so he waved a hand at the unhealthy


    foods in front of him and told the attendant next to him, “Take these things away.”


    At the same time, Leon winked at her. She was ying her part so much better than he advised her to


    that he felt like hugging her and giving her the biggest smooch.


    In truth, she wasn’t rightly aware of how to please Dave and was merely treating him the same way she


    usually treated Robert. If she looked at him like he was her own grandfather, her actions would


    naturally seem truthful and sincere.


    It wasn’t hard to socialize with the elderly. All they needed was a measure of sincerity, since they were


    much sharper than people gave them credit for and would always be able to tell who was being real


    and who was putting on a fa?ade.


    Since she never yed any games in front of them and only ever said what was on her mind, she put


    them at ease and naturally earned their fondness.


    A short whileter, everyone took their seats, and Dave addressed the crowd. “Today, we have the


    fortune of receiving a visit from the beautiful Heather Langston, seated next to me. I’m confident that


    she will be a member of our family very soon.”


    At his introduction, her face grew hot. It pained her to hear the words ‘be a member of our family,’


    for in truth, she would never be a member of their family.