What about him?
Was he going to disobey the wishes of his mother, who was suffering from heart disease?
She was at a loss; this marriage was difficult, with or without a divorce.
“Leila, leave it to me!” Vincent could see the depression on her face; his face suddenly looked irritated, his voice was low but filled with a serious tone, “You have to remember to believe in me, got it?”
“OK!” She nodded, then pointed at the stars in the sky and said, “Vincent, you see those stars? Aren’t they beautiful?”
“They are!” He nodded.
“Those stars appear clustered together, but they’re actually light years apart. They won’t ever be together since they’re so far apart!” Tears formed in her eyes as she spoke. In her heart, she secretly thought how she and Vincent resembled those stars!
“We’re not stars!” He said after a long pause. These words gave her some confidence.
But, why did she felt so sad?
In the shower, Leila wiped away her tears, but there was some pressure she couldn’t quite put her finger on which kept constantly surfacing within her.
His reply was that they were not stars. Leila felt a sourness inside her; it’s true, they were not stars, but how would they even measure the distance between them? Was it in light years? Was it immeasurable?
In pain, she bit the back of her hand hard, and the tears began to flow again. She withstood the pain and did not cry out. The tears moistened her pale white face, and it wasn’t until she could taste blood did she finally stopped biting her hand. She looked at the teeth marks on the back of her hand.
Breathing heavily, she rinsed her face. Once she calmed back down, she changed into sweats and exited the shower.
Vincent wasn’t in the room; he probably went out, she thought. She headed to the window to enjoy the lonely night and silence. The wine started to make her feel drowsy, even after she had already showered.
“If you’re tired, go sleep!” A deep voice accompanied the sound of the door opening, and Leila turned to see Vincent.
“I’m off to shower!” Vincent shut the door and headed into the shower.
Then came the sound of running water. Leila felt insecure, then shook her head in an attempt to shake off her insecurities and uneasiness. It was no use worrying about it. They had to try hard to get any results. If they didn’t even try, how could they know what the results were going to be?
She felt a bit calmer as she thought about this. She laid on her side in bed, and looked at the star-filled night sky through the window. She wanted to fall asleep to the sight of this night view. How breathtaking it would be!
After a short while, Vincent came barging out the shower, undressed.
She heard his footsteps, then turned to look in his direction, and was surprised, “Ah, why are you not wearing anything?”
“Why should I? I need to take the clothes off sooner or later, anyway!” Vincent stated in a matter-of-fact manner, then dried himself off with a towel.
Leila covered her eyes and persisted, “Put some clothes on!”
“No, it’s too much trouble!” He said as he threw the towel to the side and headed into bed.
“You, you-” Leila’s face became bright red, and she quickly turned to the side as she shouted, “It’s so cold up in the mountains; hurry and put some clothes on, or you might catch a cold!”
“I don’t want to!” Vincent smirked as he slipped under the blankets!
“Ah, don’t touch me!” Leila had her eyes shut, but she could feel his hands grab her waist; she was even more scared to open her eyes.
“No! Turn around.” Vincent flipped her over by her waist.
“No!” She didn’t have the courage to directly look at a naked man’s body.
“Are you gonna turn around by yourself, or do I have to make you?” Vincent let out a threat in a low voice.
“I’ll turn around if you put some clothes on!” Leila shouted.
“What, it’s not like you haven’t seen it before; what’re you embarrassed over?” His evil grin became even wider.
“When have I ever seen it?” She never looked at his package before! Well, actually, she did see it in the shower, but she didn’t mean to, it was an accident!
“Well, if you haven’t seen it before, time to take a good long look.”
“Not looking!”
Vincent’s eyes narrowed, then he flipped her over completely, only to see Leila’s eyes still shut tightly. He began to get irritated, “Leila, is my body too ugly to look at?”
“I’m not looking!” Leila said in a low voice, afraid to draw the attention of Reggie and Oscar. “We’re guests in another person’s house, can’t you behave yourself; don’t act like that!”
“Like what? This is my room, and I like to remain naked. What’s wrong with that?” Vincent looked at her for a while. Since Leila still kept her eyes shut, he suddenly got up and kissed her lips!
She let out a yelp in response, and he quickly suppressed her soft body under his.
His warm tongue twisted vivaciously inside her lips. Vincent continued to intimately push into her mouth, kissing and licking her nonstop, as if to take in all of her sweetness.
“Oh… Don’t… Vincent…” She let out a tiny resistance, which he quickly swelled over.
His forceful kisses quickly turned gentler, and he began suckling on her soft tongue, then softly biting her lips, then licking along the outlines of her lips.
“Stop it, turn off the lights, turn it off!” Leila was feeling so embarrassed; the lights were still brightly lit, but his body warmth and breath were hot on her neck.
“Alright, if I shut the lights off, will you open your eyes?” He flicked off the light switches by the bedside, then continued to breathe along her silky soft skin.
The second the lights were off, Leila opened her eyes, but Vincent suddenly flicked the lights back on.
“Ah- You’re so mean!” Leila immediately shut her eyes again.
“Hahaha…” Vincent began to laugh aloud. “Leila, you’re too adorable when you look embarrassed!”
“Vincent…” She became even shier when she realized his intentions.
“Don’t worry, I’ll shut the lights, so open your eyes…” He kissed her forehead gently and spoke in a low, gentle tone, as though to comfort her embarrassment. He kissed her whole body all over with the tenderness she had never before felt. His overpowering aura enshrouded her tightly.
Leila slowly opened her eyes and swallowed hard, then said in a small voice, “Vincent, don’t do this…”
Maybe it was because of the alcohol, but her body felt incredibly turned on tonight.
“Don’t do what?” Vincent asked in a provocative way as he nibbled on her neck. “Don’t do this?”
Her heart began to race, and her body temperature was rising rapidly. She began to feel her body giving in to his advances, and she gently stroked his hair, “Vincent…”
“Wanna do it?” Vincent’s manly, hot breath brushed by her face. His eyes were like those of a beast.
Just as Leila was about to say no, the phone rang.
Vincent’s call spoilt the whole moment; he wrinkled his forehead, “Screw it, let’s continue!”
“No! Pick it up, hurry and answer it!” Leila said softly.
Vincent unwillingly took the phone; he looked at the caller, then his face looked ill.
Leila didn’t know who it was, but she heard him pick up the call and rest against the bedframe. In the pitch dark, the light from the cellphone made his face stand out even more.
“What is it, Pip?”
Pip?
Was it Pippa?! Leila thought to herself.
Vincent continued, “You’re in japan? Oh, how is it there? What? You’re back? Oh! What? Alright, I’ll be there right away. Yes, I’ll be back by tonight. Stop crying! Do you hear me? Don’t cry! And don’t think too much, I’ll be there right away. You’re not alone, you’ve got me! And you’ve got Owen. Don’t overthink, you hear me?”
Leila was stunned and speechless. As soon as he hung up the phone, Vincent turned on the lights.
“What’s wrong?”
Vincent looked gloomy, then said, “We’re heading back to F City right now!”
So much for the vacation; what an abrupt end!
They abruptly said goodbye to Reggie and Oscar. Vincent drove like a speed demon along the highway, and they were back in F City. All along the way, he pursed his lips, and the speedometer remained at 180 mph. Leila felt as though her heart was about to jump out. He didn’t speak one word. Whenever she’d ask, he’d always tell her to shut up, so she never bothered to ask him again!
During the drive, Vincent’s expression looked grim as she remained silent. Though he said nothing, Leila could tell something big happened.
At the HJ Hotel.
Vincent took Leila and they headed straight for the 27th floor.
They knocked at the door of a presidential suite. The second the door opened, Leila saw Pippa jump into Vincent’s embrace, with her eyes red, crying as she spoke, “Vince, I feel so miserable!”
“Come now, don’t cry!” Vincent hugged her back and seemed a bit more relaxed. He comforted her quietly, “What happened? Speak slowly!”
He held her and escorted her into the room. Perhaps he was too much in a hurry, or maybe he just never bothered to consider Leila, but he shut the door and locked her out the room!
Leila stood still in shock as she stared at the closed door.
She told herself; it must be because he was in too much of a hurry; something big must have happened to Pippa, or else why would someone as graceful as she was crying so hard?
She let out a quiet sigh; thirty minutes had gone by, and she just stood still before the door, which remained close. No one seemed to have noticed she was still there!
She stood still before the door for thirty minutes; her legs were getting sore!
And yet, the door was still closed shut.
She let out another sigh; filled with despair, Leila had on a bitter smile.
Going downstairs.
It was late in the night; the hallways and elevators were very quiet. No one was around, just her!
She headed downstairs and consoled herself as she went. Don’t worry, it’ll all be OK.
She didn’t have the keys to the Pearl Community, since her bag was still in Vincent’s car. The only thing she had was her phone, nothing else. She took her cell out to look at the time. It was already one o’clock midnight. Where could she go? There was no way she could head home! She didn’t want to go to the villa either, since it didn’t have a homely feel to her. To her, maybe the Pearl Community was her only home, where she and her mother stayed.
She walked out the hotel by herself. She didn’t take a taxi and just strolled down the streets, without any purpose or direction. The night made her feel even more alone.
A red Ferrari drove by from a pub; as it turned around the corner, Arthur seemed to have caught a glance of a woman who looked like Leila. He was a bit confused; didn’t she and Vincent go on vacation? What was Leila doing out on the streets in the middle of the night?