Love's Change of Heart

As soon as he approached, one of them got up. "Take my seat, President Pearson. I'm about to head

off anyway."

Once Aidan took the seat, Oscar said, "That seat of his has rotten luck. He's been losing all night. You

better be careful, President Pearson."

"Can it be any worse than yours?"

Oscar wanted to roll his eyes.

Did he ingest a stick of dynamite or something?

Why is he exploding as soon as he speaks?

Right then, everyone around the poker table came to a mutual understanding.

Aidan was in a foul mood right now. They had better not cross him.

True to Oscar's words, after a few rounds, Aidan suffered heavy losses.

He flicked the cards and turned to Leanna. "Come here."

She walked over to the table, and after hesitating for a moment, she said, "I don't know how to play."

"I don't have any money either," she added solemnly after a slight pause.

She was not going to lose her hard-earned money to these evil capitalists.

Even Aidan couldn't say anything to that.

Oscar chuckled and assured her, "It's fine. President Pearson likes doing charity. Just recently, he

started tree-planting projects all over the city under the guise of protecting the environ—"

He faltered right before getting to the last syllable when he felt an icy pair of eyes sweeping across him.

Leanna sat down in Aidan's old spot. "I really don't know how to play."

"Aren't you supposed to be great at everything? I'm surprised there's something you don't know," Aidan

remarked coolly.

Oscar cleared his throat to warn him to stop before going too far.

When Aidan gets out of control, he goes around baring his teeth at everyone in sight.

And once he finally snaps out of it, it'd be too late for regrets.

In the past, Leanna would've shot back at him right away, but this time, she kept reminding herself that

she was here to resolve an issue, and not to get into a fight with the b*stard.

Before she could respond, however, the b*stard finally said something decent. "I'll teach you."

"Fine," she said in response.

Perhaps it was thanks to being around a gambling addict like Jethro that Leanna had never shown any

interest in poker games. She didn't know what was fun about it.

Throughout the whole game, she was like a mindless robot that carried out Aidan's instructions to the

letter, doing whatever he told her to.

However, ever since she sat down in the chair, the tides seemed to turn in her favor.

She won several rounds in a row, and the atmosphere around the table became even more exciting,

but she was getting drowsy.

"Use that card."

It was unclear whether it was Aidan who failed to point at the right card, or if it was Leanna who

misunderstood him, but when she took out the card that she thought Aidan meant and attempted to

place it down on the table, someone caught her hand midway.

His palm was warm and dry. The moment it wrapped around her hand, she felt as if she had been

burnt. Her drowsiness vanished, and she immediately wanted to pull away from him.

Before she could, however, Aidan had already released her. "Not that one. The one beside it."

Leanna withdrew her hand and switched cards.

When the round ended, she got up. "I want to use the washroom. You should play instead, President

Pearson."

She left swiftly without even waiting for his assent.

Once she was gone, the others around the table quickly came up with excuses to leave.

It was not a good day for poker. One false move and they would get themselves killed for stepping on a

landmine, which was Aidan.

After watching the others scamper off, Oscar tutted and pushed his cards aside. "Are you here to play

cards, or are you here to ruin the game?"

Aidan sat down on the couch and poured himself a glass. "I'm not the one who chased them off."

"You might not have said those words, but your actions spoke louder." Oscar sat down beside him.

"Who ruffled your feathers today? Didn't I tell you that you should watch that mouth of yours? The less

you say, the better."

Aidan picked up his glass and swirled it about. His expression was neutral as he said, "She's heartless,

not deaf."

Oscar was exasperated. "What's with you? Just not too long ago, you were still doggedly determined.

Why are you acting like this now? Have you recognized the error in your ways?"

Aidan downed the glass without responding to him.

Oscar continued, "Aidan, you need to have patience when you're trying to win a woman over. Look at

where you stand with her right now. Not to mention the fact that you did misunderstand her a fair bit last

time. Being hasty doesn't get you anywhere."

"If I don't hurry up, you might be attending her wedding in two months."

Oscar couldn't say anything.

He did hear from Jonathan that Leanna was hanging out with Constellation Tech's Elijah Parker lately.

He didn't think things would escalate so quickly.

Oscar was confused. "Why are you still behaving like this, then?"

"Did anything I do in the past work?"

Oscar paused for a bit before he said, "I guess not."

If they did, he wouldn't be sitting here drowning himself in alcohol.

Aidan's dark eyes were fixed on the glass in his hand. He smirked and said, "This time, I'll go with a

long-term plan."