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Chapter 354 Leo’s Acting Strangely
At 6.00AM, Amelie left home with a basket on her arm. Her father, Steven, had been suffering from a
cold and coughing, so she was worried that it would get worse if he left the house. As such, she
deliberately got up earlier to help with the groceries.
Shopping online was more convenient now, plus her company had a section dedicated to electronic
shopping. It had held live shopping events for agricultural products, and she could always ask her own
company to send some over. However, Steven wasn't sold on the idea and felt that it would be better if
he picked them out himself. She couldn't argue with him and was willing to give in, so their family
maintained the habit of going to the market.
Waking up at 6.00AM wasn't easy for Amelie. When she pushed open the lobby gate, a figure suddenly
appeared. She assumed it was another resident who had risen early, but upon taking a closer look, she
froze.
"Leo?"
What is he doing here so early in the morning?
Leo turned to her with a confused look, seemingly surprised to see her there as well.
"Were you drinking?" She rarely saw him this confused and couldn't help asking the question warily.
"No." He threw away the cigarette between his fingers.
Right then, Amelie noticed the multiple cigarette butts littered on the ashtray above the rubbish bin and
tilted her head in surprise. She recalled that he was obsessed with cleanliness and never touched a
cigarette, so what was this about?
"I was taking a walk and didn't realize I had wandered here." He stepped toward her, his arm nearly
touching hers. The coldness emanating from it made her shiver briefly. How long had he stood in the
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtcold air?
"Did you walk from Clouson City to Halport, then?" She had seen him acting cheesy with her too many
times and did not take him seriously, teasing him instead.
Leo didn't answer, only forcing out a rueful smile.
"Elie," he murmured, looking sideways at Amelie, who was at chin height. He then lifted his arm.
She did not miss that movement, instinctively taking a step back when she saw that he was about to
touch her. However, he did not lift his hand.
Instead, he muttered, "You don't have to be so guarded against me, nor do you need to deliberately
avoid me. I will never disturb you again."
With that, he nodded his head at her and turned away before leaving.
Is he leaving just like that?
Amelie stared at his back, her lips slightly open. He left just as abruptly as he had come, and his words
even more so. She was confused and could not react for some time, staring at where his figure had
been while even wondering if it had merely been a hallucination.
After breakfast, Bria insisted on going ice skating. She had fallen in love with the sport and always
practiced at home. Amelie was willing to indulge her as well; her lessons were twice a week, but she
had applied for an additional annual pass so that they could go every day.
When they arrived at the practice rink, there were already many people skating about on the freezing
ice. Since the surface had to remain frozen, the temperature within was colder than outside the rink.
Bria changed her clothes and dragged Amelie onto the ice excitedly, stumbling slightly before starting
to skate. She looked around for someone with wide eyes as she did so, and Amelie knew whom she
was looking for. Leo had practiced skating with them without fail all this while, so Bria was looking for
him. Amelie was usually irritated by him, but she couldn't help looking around as well when she
remembered his appearance that morning.
Leo wasn't there.
Bria pursed her lips, the disappointment clear in her eyes, but she did not give up. Dada is busy with a
lot of things and is probably late. He will be here soon.
However, he did not show up even after they had warmed up.
Amelie had always considered him annoying, yet his sudden absence made her anxious. She couldn't
avoid replaying the way he appeared that morning, but she couldn't figure out anything from that.
"Let's start practicing." She didn't think too much about it.
Leo did not appear even when Bria's practice had ended, and she walked out of the rink despondently
with hunched shoulders. There was no sign of him for several days, but Amelie was too occupied with
work to ponder over it.
It was soon Friday, and the lawyer called to report that the documents for the share transfer were
already done and would be effective once both sides signed them. The lawyer could help send the files
to Halport but considering Julia didn't know about it and Amelie would have to personally persuade her
to accept the shares, Amelie drove to Clouson City.
After meeting the lawyer, she brought the documents to Julia's office in Starlight Media.
"Why did you come without saying anything?" Julia looked eye-catching and practical in her white work
outfit. She did not call for her assistant and poured out the coffee beans herself to brew freshly ground
coffee for Amelie.
Amelie made a noise of assent, noticing that Julia's makeup did not hide her dark circles despite being
thicker. "Have you been busy recently?"
"Just like usual." Julia shrugged lightly. "What happened with you and Leo, though? I saw him being
quite close to a woman a few days ago when I was out. Their relationship didn't seem casual. I asked
around, and it's said that she's Toby Walsh's younger sister or something. They were on a date, and it
looked pretty serious since Melissa, Jodie, and even the girl's parents were there."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAmelie froze slightly as she heard the news regarding Leo. "Really?"
Toby didn't have a sister, but he did have an unmarried cousin.
Did Leo and Michelle go on a date?
It wasn't like she didn't consider the fact that he would date the people around him and get married in
the future, but this was far too sudden. She remembered that he hadn't really cared about Michelle
much, even telling Bria that he wasn't close to her, and their outings together had been arranged by
Melissa without his knowledge.
Had that been just to reassure Bria?
Amelie was somewhat familiar with Leo. She knew he was a serious and honest person who disliked
lying. So, did he eventually decide to be with Michelle?
After coming to that conclusion, she couldn't help feeling more puzzled. However, since she didn't plan
on developing anything with him, she did not wish to make too many guesses. "That's good."
Julia did not say much and placed the ground coffee beans into the special filter which contained a
piece of white filter paper. The brown coffee beans were ground finely and smelled aromatic.
She took the jug with a narrow spout and tested the temperature, only pouring the water along the
edge of the filter when she estimated its temperature to be around eighty degrees. Her movements
were smooth and practiced, but it did not seem like her style. She was extremely grandiose and
exuberant and disliked such simple and rustic habits.
Amelie also remembered that with Julia's temper, she would have called Amelie much earlier after
seeing Leo having such a high-profile date to tear him apart. She wouldn't have waited days before
mentioning it. She was behaving far too unusually.
"Did anything happen to you recently?" Amelie couldn't stop herself from asking.
Julia paused her actions abruptly, freezing on the spot.
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