Chapter 457


    Meanwhile, Leanna went to Constetion Tech after leaving the factory. She was driving Zoe’s car


    today because Aidan said her car had been sent for repairs after the rear-end ident. Before setting


    out, she had wanted to call the man and tell him about it to prevent him from getting jealous again for


    no apparent reason. However, fearing that he was in a meeting, she called Jonathan instead.


    Just as she had expected, Aidan was indeed in a meeting. As a result, she sent him a text message


    saying that she was going to meet Elijah to discuss something important and would leave immediately


    after she was done. After that, she ced her cell phone aside and set out for her destination.


    On the other hand, thanks to the uncovering of Leroy’s wrongdoings, there were tons of things that had


    to be dealt with at Constetion Tech. These things had been carried out in secret before, but now they


    could finally be brought into the open. Because of this, Elijah was so busy that he hadn’t had time to


    return home over thest few days. Luckily, Daniel was kind enough to stay here with him all this time


    despite his zero knowledge about doing business.


    When Elijah was atst able to rx a little, he returned to his office, plonked himself down on the


    couch, and looked at the man across from him who was listening to music. “What on earth are you here


    for?”


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    Daniel’s expression waszy. “I’m ying some soothing music for you, no? You’re so hard at work,


    after all,” he said before looking around. “Your office’s quite spacious. I’ll bring the piano here tomorrow


    and y it for you myself.”


    Elijah was utterly speechless. He replied, “It’s not necessary.”


    Daniel raised his eyebrows. Turning off the music, he got down to business, asking, “How are things


    going on your side?”


    Elijah shook his head. “It’s a real mess. There are lots of problems within thepany besides those


    we’ve found out about. Now that Leroy has run away, nobody’s taking over the Crossley Group, so it’s


    already in a state of chaos. Many things can neither be looked into nor be straightened out.”


    “What about William?”


    “I think he probably doesn’t want to care about the Crossley Group. He wants to leave it to fend for


    itself.”


    Daniel said, “The Crossley Group already belongs to Leroy now. He’s callous, so he wouldn’t care


    about it, of course. And besides, whoever takes over this mess will have to take over the entire


    Crossley Group and risk implicating themselves by the slightest mistake. Wasn’t that the reason Leroy


    publicly handed the Crossley Group over to Leanna back then?”


    Elijah let out a sigh. “That being said, in any case, the Crossley Group is the fruit of the work of several


    generations. It’s be like this because of Leroy, but at least its foundations are still there.”


    Daniel leaned back on the couch. “Perhaps we’ll understand how William feels after we go through


    those things that he’s experienced.”


    “You’re right.”


    At this moment, the assistant knocked on the door from the outside. “President Parker, there is a Miss


    McKinney downstairs who’d like to see you.”


    Elijah was stunned for a moment. Then, he quickly said, “Send her in.”


    “Yes, President Parker,” the assistant replied before leaving to pick Leanna up.


    Compared to Elijah, Daniel was rather surprised. He asked, “Why would shee to you? You’re a


    thorn in Aidan’s flesh, no?”


    Elijah gave an embarrassedugh. “Who am I to deserve to be called that?” he replied. After pausing


    for a moment, he continued, “Perhaps it’s for the Crossley Group’s sake.”


    Daniel’s expression turned rather serious at the mention of this. “She knows we’re working together,


    but she’s always been suspecting that there’s someone else behind us. Perhaps that’s her purpose in


    coming here.”


    “William… Is he still not gonna talk about it?”


    “He’s dealing with both Jethro and the coborative project with the Crossley Group at the moment, so


    he probably can’t make time for it. Let’s hide it from her for the time being.”


    Leanna had arrived as they were speaking. When she saw Daniel, she paused for few seconds and


    then heaved a sigh of relief. “It’s perfect that you’re here.”


    Daniel was puzzled; he didn’t understand what she meant.


    As it turned out, Leanna’s purpose in meeting Elijah was totally not what the two men had guessed.


    She was here for Zoe’s sake. She had wanted to speak to Daniel through Elijah, but she didn’t expect


    Daniel to be here as well. Well, this saves me a lot of trouble. She sat down and exined, “Zoe has


    told me about what happened between you and her earlier on. But don’t you think it’s somewhat


    unjustifiable to use acting as an excuse in rtionships?”


    Clueless, Elijah asked with a frown, “Acting? What do you mean?”


    Daniel gave a dryugh. “It’s nothing. The fault is mine forcking consideration. I shouldn’t have done


    that.”


    Leanna pursed her lips for a moment. “No matter what, I should thank you for what happened earlier,


    so I believe you’re not the kind of jerk who toys with people’s feelings. Also, I hope you can face up to


    your feelings. If you like Zoe, you should make it clear to her, but if you have no feelings for her, you


    shouldn’t have gone that far earlier on.”


    Daniel fell silent; he had to admit that his earlier behavior had gone beyond the scope of ‘acting’ that


    had been agreed upon at first. Neither did he know how he hade up with the idea of using acting


    as an excuse.


    Not knowing about this at all, Elijah looked at Daniel, asking, “What the hell’s going on with you?”


    After being silent for a while, Daniel finally replied, “I do have feelings for her, but…” The problem was,


    he wasn’t a responsible lover, to begin with. His past rtionships were all consensual; once the


    novelty wore off, he simply broke up with thosedies without ever finding himself reluctant to part with


    them. However, he could tell that Zoe was a decent woman who was serious about rtionships and


    whom someone like him was unworthy of. Therefore, he couldn’t promise her anything for fear of


    hurting her.


    Elijah knew about his past rtionships, so he understood what thetter meant when he saw how the


    latter paused halfway through his speech.


    Leanna hadn’t dated a lot, but she understood what Daniel meant, too. A gorgeously handsome mixed-


    blood guy like Daniel must’ve had lots of girlfriends. Why would he mend his ways for one of them?


    She said, “Well, if that’s the case, you should properly say goodbye to Zoe. After all, you’ll be leaving


    Highside soon, so you two will never meet again.”


    Before she left, Daniel suddenly said, “I saw her ex-boyfriend at the mall the other day.”


    “Mm-hmm,” Leanna mumbled impassively. “Zoe broke up with him after he cheated on her. After the


    three of you met in the mall that day, he found our studio’s address and has been sending flowers to


    her every day since then.”


    Upon hearing this, Daniel couldn’t help but frown. “Sending flowers? Why?”


    Elijah chimed innguidly, “Why else can it be? He wants to start over with her, that’s why.”


    “Didn’t he cheat on her? How can he have the cheek to try to get back together with her?” Daniel said.


    Then, he asked Leanna, “Don’t tell me Zoe has agreed to it?”


    Leanna replied, “How would I know that? But I do have a bit of experience in this kind of thing. If a man


    pesters her all the time, she may agree to it.”


    Daniel was lost for words.


    Leanna said, “Well, I gotta go. Have a nice trip.”


    Elijah stood up. “Let me see you out, Leanna.”