Chapter 29: Leonard and Emily III

Emily pursed her lips as she stared at Leonard who wore his pants then went out of the door. Impeccable timing as always. When their relationship was still sailing smoothly and she would stay over in his private apartment, she noticed that whenever the telephone starts ringing, Leonard would stand up immediately to answer it like it was the most important thing in the world. It's one thing that she didn't like about him.

So, who could it be this time? Geoffrey or Serena? Because as far as she knew, only the three of them knew this apartment's telephone number. In any case, whether it was Geoffrey or Serena, she suspected that the matter would most likely be about Serena.

Talking about Serena, sometimes she couldn't help but think that fate was playing games on her because ever since they met, she has never been able to move out of her shadow whether it be in her career or love life.

In the career aspect, though she has more presence in the music industry now, Serena continued to write songs. Admittedly, it also benefitted her because Serena would pass some projects in her direction, but still, there's a part of her that was unsatisfied because in that way, it felt like she was some charity case.

Nevertheless, they developed some form of a frenemy relationship from that point on. She didn't dislike Serena, but she didn't completely like her either. She didn't feel bad about it though, she's sure that the feeling's mutual.

Now, in terms of love, there's the case with Geoffrey, and though she knew that she was the other party, she couldn't help but feel cheated. Geoffrey was her first love, and she knew he loved her in his own way too. They exchanged letters for a year and were even seeing each other in school. Though that did not last long because Geoffrey changed his mind and decided to pursue his betrothed. Anyhow, never mind that. At least Geoffrey became her supporter and though it was also charity, it was something she deserved, at least she thought she did.

Then came Leonard. The reason Leonard approached her in the first place was because of Serena. He discovered that Geoffrey was her sponsor and confronted her about it. Everything started blooming from that point on.

Now, during her relationship with Leonard, she could not help but think that he has a sister complex. He was always in his sister's beck and call. As soon as Serena needed anything from him, he would come running. She did ask about it once, and though he said that it was because he was indebted to her parents and it's his form of paying his gratitude, she still has some irrational jealousy over it.

In any case, that's that. Now, what could the call be about? Curious, she tiptoed out of the room to listen to the conversation. She knew that it's just Leonard who she would hear speaking, but that would at least clue her in.

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"I'm sorry your highness, his lordship is currently not in." the servant from the ducal house of Maxwell in the capital answered.

"I see. Then, can you tell him to return my call when he gets back tonight? Say that it's important." Geoffrey requested.

"Ah… regarding that… his lordship hasn't been coming home regularly in the ducal house as of late. So, I am not sure if he'll be returning tonight."

"Is that so? Alright then. Thank you."

"Glad to be of service, your highness."

Geoffrey had his eyebrows furrowed as he hanged up the phone. If Leonard was not home, then most likely, he was in his private apartment. Was he seeing someone he did not know of?

Alright, let's get it straight. Though Leonard was the picture of a perfect nobleman, he was still a normal man with his own needs. So, Geoffrey understood the purpose of his private apartment.

Geoffrey shook his head. Hopefully, what Leonard has now was just a paramour and not something serious. Last year, he became privy to Leonard's love affair with Emily.

How did that happen? Sometime in June last year, Leonard discovered that he was one of Emily's sponsors. It was not a good time given that Serena just had a miscarriage about two months ago and that it came to Leonard's knowledge what his mother has been telling Serena. Anyhow, he received a shiner because Leonard thought that he was keeping Emily as his mistress behind his sister's back. It was an ugly event which tested their friendship.

Of course, he denied it and even got Serena to testify on his behalf. However, Leonard was not convinced by the testimony and even suspected that he was only taking advantage of his sister because she was gullible. Serena? Gullible? Gods. Got to say, the man didn't know his sister well.

Since that was the case, Leonard confronted Emily. She too denied the allegation and though Leonard's suspicion eased, he has not completely accepted the fact that there really was no funny business going on. Thus, when the Season came, Leonard was still on guard and began watching his and Emily's actions like a hawk. Truth be told, it was not a pleasant experience. Though he had nothing to hide, it did not feel good to have himself watched like he was some sort of criminal.

Then after two months, Leonard approached him again and requested he stop the sponsorship. He had no issue about it and did so immediately because it was high time he did.

And so, life went on and come one time, he called Leonard's private apartment and to his utter surprise, Emily answered the call. He would have double checked if he dialed correctly, but he didn't even know Emily's contact number.

That's when he realized that Leonard has been seeing Emily and it has been quite serious because later, he discovered that at the time when Leonard asked him to pull out his sponsorship, he took over.

He talked to Leonard about it, and Leonard admitted that he was serious. However, he did not make it public nor inform his own family because he didn't want to pressure Emily nor himself.

Geoffrey respected Leonard's choice so he did not tell Serena about it. It was all good though, because if he did, things might have turned ugly. Leonard did not exactly tell him what happened, but he got wind of rumors about Emily seeing Christopher Cross. He had his own assumptions about what could have happened, but whatever it was, he was in no position to judge.

Now, that's also one of the reasons why he feels awkward about Leonard and Annalys. Then again, on the bright side, Leonard and Christopher don't seem to have any bad blood between them.

Anyhow, Geoffrey picked up the earpiece and started dialing Leonard's private apartment's telephone number.

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TBC