Chapter 212

Chapter 212 The Farmer and the Snake Aidan used his businesslike tone and said, “There’s a poker

game happening tonight. Come with me.” Leanna was startled for a moment, but she nodded. “Alright.”

“So, we can get dinner now, right?” Leanna laughed dryly and passed the folder back to him. “Do

whatever you want, President Pearson.” He leaned back into the seat and closed his eyes. Less than

two minutes later, Leanna’s phone started ringing. It was a call from Elijah. She cast a glance at the

man beside her.

She didn’t know if he was actually asleep or just faking it, but after a moment of hesitation, she decided

to answer the call. “Leanna, I heard about everything from Zoe. Do you need my help?” Elijah asked.

Her instinctive response was to say no. The word was on the tip of her tongue when she suddenly

changed her mind. “Yes, please. Thank you.” Beside her, Aidan slowly opened his eyes. After hanging

up, she turned around and looked straight into his deep, brooding eyes. He looked away and stated

plainly, “We’re here. Get off.” Leanna wanted to stick to her resolve and skip dinner, but it was torture

for someone who had skipped lunch to sit and watch someone else eat. She took a deep breath before

heading out of the restaurant to buy something for herself. Aidan stared at her as she walked off.

There was no expression on his face as he asked, “What goes on in that head of hers?” Jonathan, who

was standing beside him, didn’t know what to say. Her intentions were obvious. She was keeping a

distance between them. No matter what Aidan did to create opportunities between them, chances were

they weren’t going to amount to much. Leanna’s thoughts were rather simple. Since she couldn’t avoid

seeing that b*stard, she decided to just deal with the situation head-on. Aidan stood up and followed

her out the door. She had just sat down at a table in front of the convenience store to dig into her to-go

meal when the box was snatched out of her hands. Her cutlery disappeared as well. She was

perplexed and a little disgruntled. “Weren’t you having dinner, President Pearson?” “The food was

lousy.” “How can the food at such an expensive restaurant be lousy?” “Why didn’t you eat it then?” he

retorted coolly. She wanted to roll her eyes, but she held back the urge and stayed silent. He, too,

didn’t say anything further. Then, he took the cutlery and began eating the food he had stolen from her.

Leanna was so mad that she felt as if she was just one step away from dying of a heart attack. She

pursed her lips and went back into the convenience store to get more food. When she came back out,

she chose to sit down at a different table

. Aidan set the cutlery down. He pressed his tongue against his inner cheek, thinking. After finishing the

food, Leanna’s throat felt a little dry. She was about to head back inside the convenience store to buy a

bottle of water when a cup of warm water set down in front of her. She looked up at the man standing

beside her. Before she could come up with a reason to decline, Aidan said, “Consider it the payment for

the meal. You can toss it if you don’t want to drink it.” He strode off to the Rolls-Royce parked beside

the road right after saying that. She eyed him before looking down at the cup of warm water on the

table. The b*stard had a point. He did owe me for the meal. I needn’t make a fuss since the money is

from my pocket. With that in mind, she took the cup and started drinking. … They arrived at Patheon

Club. Leanna never dreamed that she would be here with Aidan again. It was odd. In the past,

whenever she came here, she would relive the humiliation and despair that had gripped her soul back

then. However, this time, she felt nothing at all.

Perhaps Jethro’s death was the

catalyst for her to let go of her harrowing past. After snapping out of her thoughts, Leanna noticed that

Aidan was staring coolly at a nearby area. She didn’t know what he was thinking about as she couldn’t

read his emotions. Two minutes had passed when she finally couldn’t stop herself from asking, “Aren’t

you heading in, President Pearson?” “I was just thinking about something,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“What —” She regretted ever saying anything as soon as she uttered the first word, but it was too late to

take it back. He explained ever so coolly, “Once upon a time, in that spot over there, someone held my

hand and begged for help.” Of course. She knew this was coming. Sure enough, it was never a good

idea to keep the conversation going with him. He continued, “I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a good

man, but sometimes, I like to do a good deed for the day.” Probably because his conscience would eat

him up otherwise. “However, in the end, that person bit the helping hand.” Again, she wanted to roll her

eyes. “Leanna, have you ever heard of the fable about the farmer and the snake?” Enough is enough.

Leanna gritted her teeth. “President Pearson, can you just… shut up?!” He glanced at her and

commented off-handedly, “I’m talking about Jonathan. Why are you getting so worked up?” Both

Leanna and Jonathan were dumbstruck. However, being an assistant with a downright remarkable

work ethic, Jonathan begrudgingly took a step forward and said, “President Pearson’s right, Miss

McKinney. At the time, I happened to be here, and President Pearson showed up by coincidence…”

Leanna stared at him with a straight face as she waited to see what he came up with this time. He

continued, “As for why I was here, well, it’s a long story. It starts with my mother’s illness…” “Shut up,”

Aidan commanded. “Yes, President Pearson,” Jonathan responded right away. “Don’t bother explaining

all that to her.” Aidan then headed upstairs without turning back. Jonathan cleared his throat. “This way,

Miss McKinney.” “Can I ask you something, Mr. Stoll?” she asked. “W -What is it?” Please don’t let it be

about what we were just talking about earlier! He couldn’t think of a plausible story to tell. “Did

President Pearson make a trip back to Pearson Family Estate several days ago?” “Miss McKinney,

you’re referring to…” “The day he came to look for me.” Jonathan nodded. He didn’t expect her to ask

about this. “Did someone say something to him?” She continued asking. “After the Zielinskis came and

took Miss Anna away, Mr. Justin asked President Pearson to take him back into the house, but I’m not

sure what they talked about.”

Leanna nodded after hearing that. “Alright. I got it. Thanks.” Ever since that day, Aidan’s attitude had

been rather strange. Although talking to him was just as frustrating as ever, and he was constantly

picking on her on purpose, she still felt as if he was keeping his distance from her. It was entirely

different from what she sensed from him in the past. She was beginning to think that he was

developing a split personality disorder. Justin Pearson, huh? Is all this due to something he said to

Aidan? If that were the case, she was going to buy some balloons and throw a party to celebrate.

Jonathan hesitated for a moment, but seeing that Leanna was the one who started the conversation,

he decided to say something. “Miss McKinney, there’s something that President Pearson probably

wouldn’t tell you, but I thought it’d be best if you knew.” “What is it?” “It’s about how you lost your first

child when Miss Anna pushed you down the stairs. President Pearson only found out about it recently. I

encountered a lot of obstacles when I tried to look into it. Mrs. Pearson must’ve gotten involved to keep

it under wraps, so that’s why President Pearson misunderstood…” Leanna nearly laughed out loud.

That explained why Aidan’s actions were so unlike him recently. So, it’s all because of this.