Chapter 158
Cullen didn’t feel there was anything wrong with what he said, despite the chilly gaze from beside.
He had been feeling unwell and went to see a psychologist regrly, using the half- baked theory he
learned to distort and analyze emotional problems for himself.
“Here are your car keys, by the way,” Cullen said.
Remembering what he came to the Rose Garden for in the evening, Cullen took out hist car keys from
his pocket and handed them to Madison. “Hey, thanks for lunch. The car is parked next to the cake
shop at Green Water Bay. I heard you live around there, so you should be able to see it as soon as you
go back tonight.”
Madison caught off guard, epted the keys. “I didn’t say it was urgent. Why rush over here to return
them?”
Cullen’s expression conveyed a sense of defeat.
He let out a heavy sigh, annoyance evident in his voice. “Some people insisted on a lunch that dragged
on, then I ended up borrowing your car. He wasn’t pleased, so I had to make it back for dinner to hand
over the keys.”
Madison offered a tight-lipped smile, her response curt. “Well, since you’re here, you might as well join
for dinner. But don’t expect me to wait around. I’ve got my i
meal to catch.”
She dismissed Cullen with a wave and turned away from Leo, signaling the end of the conversation as
she led her second brother out of the scene.
Joe acknowledged them with a mere nod, not well-acquainted enough to engage further.
Once Madison and her brother departed, only Leo and Cullen remained.
“Aren’t we going to grab something to eat?” Cullen looked back at Leo with a mixture of curiosity and
humor.
Since Cullen appeared, Leo had not said a word again, only cold eyes, even if you looked at him now,
there was no slightest easing.
ncing at Cullen, Leo took a step and headed towards the direction of Rose Garden.
As he walked toward the Rose Garden, Cullen couldn’t help but form his theories about why Leo had
shown up in the first ce, and he couldn’t help but find it funny when he thought of the way he looked
in the car.
‘Leo’s face turned ck when he saw Jessica pounce on her boyfriend, yet he forcibly pretended as if
nothing had happened.
‘What is even more excessive is that he didn’t say anything, but as soon as he left, he came running
over eagerly. I just don’t know what he said to his sweetheart Jessica.” Cullen thought.
Cullen, intrigued, pressed Leo for answers, “What’s the deal with you and that couple? You can’t still be
hung up on Jessica, can you?”
“What are you implying?” Cullen’s statement was met with a warning from Leo to choose his words
carefully.
Leo stopped abruptly, turning a frosty gaze on Cullen.
Cullen, taken aback by the intensity, blurted out his disbelief at Leo’s seeming indifference to the
potential harm to the rtionship, questioning Leo’s humanity in such a blunt manner.
Upon hearing Cullen’s flippant remark, Leo’s already stern expression turned even sterner. They’re not
even engaged.”
“But think of the consequences. What if your words damage their bond?” Cullen admonished, his tone
serious.
The word ‘couple’ seemed to echo in Leo’s mind, stinging him.
Biting back his frustration, Leo snapped, “You saw the way he treated Madison. She was upset. How
could she be with someone like that?”
With no one else around, Leo didn’t even want to utter Joe’s name.
Cullen raised his eyebrows slightly, and in his heart, he also knew what was going on
with Leo.
He carried on, undeterred by Leo’s re. “Is it so unusual for lovers to argue? I’ve had. my share of
spats and makeup. Some were forgotten by the next anniversary…
Cullen stopped counting as Leo fixed him with an icy stare, causing him to fall silent.
it being pri cked with needles at Cullen’s carelessness..
Leo’s heart felt like s
“I wasn’t justifying their actions,” Cullen rified. “But isn’t itmon for couples to have ups
and downs? You’ve had your disputes with Sally, haven’t you?”
“Stop referring to them as a couple,” Leo interjected sharply, unable to hide his
irritation.
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Chapter 1 38
Cullen, ignoring Leo’s displeasure, pressed on. “Ah? And how should I refer to them? I’ve already given
my blessing, haven’t I?”
“Enough,” Leomanded, a stern frown on his face.
The man beside him fell silent, his hand miming the action of zipping his lips.
Leo didn’t even want to nce his way and the headache was too much.
Cullen’s incessant references to Madison and Joe as a couple were grating on him, the me ntal image
of them together fraying his nerves.
Cullen’s chatter felt like an endless pric kling against Leo’s patience and he couldn’t bear another word.
Though Leo ignored Cullen’s words, it didn’t mean he was deaf to them.
His history with Sally was his own never official; never a lovers’ quarrel, especially not since his
marriage.
As for Madison and Joe…
Leo curled his fingers hanging by his side, furrowing his brow as he looked at Cullen,
solemnly and seriously saying. “Joe is not worthy of Madison. Even if it was just a solemnly and
seriously saying. “Joe is normal argument as you said, he shouldn’t have made her cry like that. You
saw for yourself how sad she was at that moment.”
Leo had watched Madison grow up, her happiness always transparent, her sorrows rare and fleeting.
‘When we were young, every time we met, she would be like a snowball,ughing like a flower. Even if
Material ? N?velDrama.Org.
she fell and got hurt, she neverined. At most, her eyes turned red from the pain, but a piece of
candy could easily cheer her up. As she grew older, I never saw her shed a tear again. In the Hale
family, Madison never shed tears over trivial. matters, let alone over a man. Was she still as naively
influenced by a simple bouquet of flowers as when she was a child?’ Leo thought.
Cullen challenged Leo’s disdain for tears. “What’s wrong with crying? It’s normal for girls to cry. When a
woman cries in front of a man, it shows weakness. If a woman cries. because of a man, it means she
cares about him. Don’t you understand this? That girl Sally must have cried in front of you many times,
right? Do you always give in to her every time?”
Cullen earnestly gave a lecture to Leo, “What you see is Jessica is crying because of Mr. Daves. What
if she’s making some demands on Mr. Daves? Didn’t you see how happy Jessica was smiling
afterward?”
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Leo had long ignored the conversation between Madison and Joe Daves, only remembering that she
threw herself into the man’s arms after receiving a bouquet of
roses.
“But what could she possibly request from him? It’s just roses,” Leo thought bitterly.
‘What is there for that man to be cared about, as for her crying?” Leo thought.
Ignoring Cullen’s provocation, Leo’s frustration simmered.
Cullen was not afraid of causing trouble and added fuel to the fire in his heart: “It’s obvious that Mr.
Daves has some skills, he is the person who holds Jessica’s heart, so it’s easy for him to please her. I
think they are quitepatible, so don’t meddle too much and just live a good life with Sally.”
With that, Cullen patted Leo’s shoulder, leaving him to stew in his silent turmoil.
Leo pushed him away with a backhand and looked at Cullen with a cold face, “Are theypatible?
What do you think?”
“Sure, a handsome man and a beautiful woman. He’s got a decent career as the CEO of XR
Entertainment, and shees from the Daves family. They seem well-matched.” Cullen answered.
Cullen agreed earnestly but caught a glimpse of Leo’s stern expression.
“But their rtionship is their business, not ours. You and Jessica are no longer together and it’s best to
stay out of it.” Cullen continued.