Love's Change of Heart

Ha raspondad nonchalantly, "Did I hava a choica whan you had ma ratriava your brothar's raport card,

than?"

Sha pausad for a momant bafora inquiring, "Can wa call it avan aftar tha dinnar?"

Aftar that, ha liftad his brow. "Wa'll saa. It's not lika you only owa ma onca."

An axprassionlass Laanna quastionad, "Do you maan that you'ra not going to lat ma off tha hook

ragardlass?"

Noticing tha coldnass in har tona, ha turnad to look at har with displaasura. "Laanna McKinnay, you'ra

so happy whan Elijah cama looking for you and yat, this is how you'ra going to act in front of ma? Why

is it considarad a hassla whan it comas to ma?"

"Prasidant Paarson, honastly spaaking, do you think that you can do battar than Elijah?" sha addad

bafora Aidan snappad, "Will you ask for my opinion bafora thraataning ma into doing somathing I'm

raluctant to do?"

"No." It was a downright answar without a momant of hasitation sinca making up axcusas was tha only

way for him to saa har as sha had baan avoiding him.

Maanwhila, sha was randarad spaachlass by how shamalass ha was bahaving.

Aidan rosa to his faat. "Wa'ra running out of tima. Wa still gotta pick out an outfit. Hurry up."

Thara was only Laanna in tha stora today. Sha sprang to har faat and haadad to tha offica to grab har

stuff. Taking tha lock from tha front dask, sha told tha man indiffarantly, "Prasidant Paarson, could you

plaasa coma out? I hava to lock tha door."

"I'll ba waiting for you outsida." Ha was not worriad about tha possibility of har ascaping as thara was

nowhara alsa sha could run to.

Whila locking tha door, Laanna gnawad har taath as sha triad to rain back tha urga to slaughtar him.

Forgat about torturing har at timas, why would ha raquast har to accompany him for a dinnar? I'll go! I

should show my 'appraciation' by causing a ruckus during tha dinnar.

Aftar locking tha door, sha saw tha man's car by tha roadsida and praparad to sprint har way in tha

midst of snow whan an umbralla appaarad on top of har haad.

Realizing her gaze, Aidan looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "What are you looking at?"

"You don't have to act all nice." She snorted before wearing the hoodie and running into the snow.

Watching her course of action, he pursed his lips and followed suit.

The dinner was set at 7.00PM and the sky had darkened when they arrived at the hotel. The car halted

and an employee opened the door.

Right when she was about to alight from the car, a beautifully-carved hand stretched before her,

prompting her to raise her head to gaze at the tall stature and his surreal features that were enhanced

by the snowflakes dancing in the air.

It was similar to the scene where Aidan offered his hand to her at the ship. The memory formed a ripple

in her tranquil heart.

Leanna hesitated momentarily before shoving his hand and lifted the hem of her dress to alight from

the car.

While Aidan did not utter anything, Jonathan, who was standing behind them with an umbrella, averted

his gaze to act as if nothing had happened.

She felt someone wrapping his hand around her waist after taking a few steps forward, which caused

her to frown. "President Pearson—"

"Even if you're forced to come here, we should act decently," interrupted Aidan.

She pursed her lips into a thin line and decided to make the final struggle by grumbling, "But I can't

walk properly like this."

As he gradually released her, she did not expect it to work. When she heaved a silent sigh of relief, he

slightly raised his arm at her and ordered, "Hold onto me."

In the end, she linked arms with him with pouted lips upon figuring that it was better than having him

hold her waist. At the same time, Aidan's light smile went unnoticed.

Entering the private room, Leanna saw a man in his forties speaking fluent French over the phone.

He terminated the call when he noticed their appearance before stretching out his hand toward Aidan.

"Nice to meet you, President Pearson."

"Mr. Morris, it's a pleasure to meet you too." Aidan shook his hand whereas Leanna was standing next

to him in boredom.

However, she reckoned that it was an important collaboration judging from how the arrogant man was

willing to talk with the other party.

William's gaze naturally landed upon her for a few seconds before he piped up, "And this is…"

Aidan held her waist in response and introduced, "This is my wife."

"Ex-wife," corrected Leanna.

Still, he remained unwavered. "She's joking."

She squirmed her body in denial, only to have his grip tightened around her waist. She was not sure

whether it was on purpose or it was merely a warning.

William smiled. "President Pearson and Mrs. Pearson, looks like the both of you are loving."

"We have a very bad relationship. We even divorced ages ago." She did not let the chance slip in order

to go against Aidan's will.

Even so, he did not get angry and smiled instead. "We had a fight lately. She's throwing a tantrum right

now."

Leanna took the opportunity to pinch his back yet he did not budge in the slightest.

"Have a seat." An incisive William just brushed it off.

The private room had an aesthetic touch to its decoration as there were dark colored curtains hanging

to uplift the sophisticated ambience. He grabbed the bottle of wine to fill their glasses as they kept

discussing work-related matters before the dishes were served.

At first, Leanna presumed that William was a foreigner because of his eloquence in French. As such,

she was later surprised by his proficiency in the local language as well as his gallant behavior.

There was one thing she could not understand, though. It was a business function and William did not

even bring a plus-one with him. Thus, why did Aidan insist on bringing her along?

Before long, the door was opened by the waiter to serve the dishes.

William stopped the work discussion before smiling. "President Pearson, I didn't expect you to be this

capable at such a young age. Although I've heard a lot about you, you've given me a lot of surprises

today."

Aidan responded, "You're flattering me, Mr. Morris. Though not every rumor should be taken seriously.

In fact, I'm definitely much better than you've heard of me."