Halfway through the meal, messages from Leon Sterling started coming in.
They came one after another, making it impossible for Hazel Sinclair to ignore them.
She put down her chopsticks, picked up her phone, and glanced at it with a helpless purse of her lips.
“Who is it?” Evelyn Kendrick asked, glancing up from her food at Hazel’s expression.
“Leon Sterling,” Hazel told her.
[Leon Sterling: Are you back home yet?]
[Leon Sterling: Are you having a proper meal?]
[Leon Sterling: It’s hot.
Buy some iced water on your way back.]
[Leon Sterling: When I get paid this month, we’ll move to a different complex, one that definitely has air conditioning and a washing machine.]
Looking at his four messages, Hazel Sinclair thought for a moment before typing a reply.
[Hazel Sinclair: I’m not back at the rental apartment yet.
I ran into Evelyn Kendrick and her fiancé, and Jasper Fletcher called me a pauper.
He even said I have no right to speak to him now.
It’s all your fault.
If you weren’t so incompetent, I wouldn’t have been insulted like this.]
[Hazel Sinclair: You good-for-nothing!]
[Hazel Sinclair: crying_bunny.jpg]
Leon Sterling had just reported The Skylar Lounge for fire code violations.
When he saw her message, his eyes darkened.
His wife had been humiliated again because of him.
It was his fault for being incompetent.
The more Leon Sterling thought about it, the worse he felt.
He drove to the riverbank and stared at the rippling water.
He reached into his pocket, took out a cheap pack of cigarettes, pulled one out, placed it between his lips, and lit it.
He had never smoked a single one from the pack he’d bought.
When making deliveries, he’d sometimes run into security guards who wouldn’t let him in.
In those moments, Leon would offer them a cigarette and a few pleasant words.
Some would take the cigarette and let him pass; others, while they wouldn’t, would at least tell him of an alternative entrance.
Leon Sterling wasn’t addicted to smoking.
Even when he was building his business, he never let himself pick up the habit.
But seeing Hazel’s message made his chest tighten with a miserable ache.
The Hazel of the past had been so bright and charming.
The way she used to sweetly call him “Hubby” truly melted Leon Sterling’s heart.
And he could never forget the image of her, wrapped in his arms with a radiant smile.
Such a gentle, sweet wife—she had never even considered leaving him, not even at his lowest point.
She, who once had the best of everything, was now afraid that even wanting a simple piece of cake would be a burden on him.
How could those people say such horrible things to someone as beautiful as Hazel?
No wonder people say that those in high society are all about sucking up to the powerful and trampling on the weak.
His wife was being bullied by those people.
He only took one drag from the cigarette at the beginning; the rest of it slowly burned away on its own.
Just as Leon Sterling was extinguishing the cigarette and about to get up, a voice came from behind him.
“Hey handsome, if something’s wrong, let’s sit and talk about it.
Don’t do anything rash.”
The voice grew closer, and before he could react, a fair hand grabbed Leon Sterling’s wrist.
The warm touch against his skin sent goosebumps all over his body.
Without a second thought, he flung her hand away and stared at the woman with a guarded gaze, asking, “Who are you?”
Jill Kensington stumbled back two steps, nearly falling.
Jill didn’t seem angry at being flung away.
She just smiled at him and said, “My name is Jill Kensington.
Are you okay?”
“Are you going through a hard time?
You can vent to me,” Jill said, reaching for his wrist again.
“Life’s too precious to throw away over a little setback, don’t you think?”
Leon Sterling just found this woman completely baffling.
‘When did I ever say I wanted to die?’
‘If I died, wouldn’t that just be a gift to all those men sniffing around Hazel?’
‘Especially that Luke Lancaster.
He and Hazel are married, yet that guy has the nerve to try and drive a wedge between us.’
Without a word, Leon Sterling turned and started walking back up the riverbank.
Seeing him head back, Jill Kensington cheerfully followed after him.
“Hey handsome, did you run into some trouble on a delivery?
You can talk to me about it.”
“That’s life, you know?
Nothing ever goes perfectly.
When you face a problem, you have to overcome it, beat it, and move past it to reach a brighter future,” Jill prattled on behind him, terrified he would get it in his head to kill himself again.
Listening to her, Leon Sterling found her chattering grating.
‘As if I don’t already know all that.’
‘I can climb back to the top.
What I lack is the capital and people who believe in me.’
He got on his electric scooter, placed his phone in its mount, and opened the app to start accepting orders.
Jill was still beside him, talking nonstop, an endless stream of platitudes pouring from her lips.
“You’re noisy,” Leon Sterling said flatly, pausing to look at her.
“I know what I want.”
With that, Leon Sterling twisted the throttle and sped off, leaving Jill Kensington standing alone.
Watching his departing figure, the radiant smile on Jill Kensington’s face immediately vanished.
‘So cold and aloof.
Just like in my last life.’
‘In this life, I will definitely make Leon Sterling fall for me.’
‘A materialistic, shallow woman like Hazel Sinclair is completely unworthy of a man as exceptional as Leon Sterling.’
Jill Kensington had been reborn.
She had returned to the year she turned twenty-five—the same year that Veridia’s rising star, Leon Sterling, went bankrupt and was reduced to working as a delivery driver.
‘At this point in time, Leon Sterling is delivering food every day.
For a man who was once so high and mighty to fall so far, so fast…
he must be in agony.’
‘If I just comfort him and act as his savior during his lowest moment, then when Leon returns to the pinnacle, there will surely be a place for me by his side.’
‘As for that gold-digging, shallow woman Hazel Sinclair, she’ll eventually be kicked to the curb and end up as nothing more than a plaything for other men.’
Leon Sterling arrived at the restaurant to pick up a delivery, and another message popped up on his phone.
He tapped on it, and more messages followed.
[Hazel Sinclair: Leon Sterling, you good-for-nothing!
The dress I wanted is sold out!
I can’t buy it anymore!]
[Hazel Sinclair: [Image]]
[Hazel Sinclair: Aaaah, it’s sold out!
How am I supposed to take pretty pictures now?!]
The dress in the picture was a red-and-black Lolita-style dress.
It was short, ending at the knees, with a skirt made of overlapping layers of red and black tulle.
A single red bow was pinned to the bodice.
It was gorgeous, stunningly beautiful.
Leon hardly dared to imagine how incredible Hazel would look in it.
But the dress was already sold out, and he didn’t have the means to have a private tailor custom-make one for Hazel.
Leon Sterling pursed his lips, his hands clenching into fists.
He was furious at his own powerlessness.
[Leon Sterling: I’m sorry…]
[Hazel Sinclair: Hmph!
All you ever do is say sorry.
Aren’t you even going to try and find another one for me?
You don’t care about me at all.]
[Hazel Sinclair: I don’t care.
You have one week to get me a similar one.]
[Hazel Sinclair: If you can’t do it, I’m not speaking to you anymore.]
Seeing this last message from Hazel, Leon Sterling’s heart tightened, and he quickly placed a voice call.
He had his headset on as he twisted the throttle and sped toward his destination.
When Hazel picked up, he said quickly, “I’ll buy you a dress that’s almost the same.
You can’t stop talking to me.”