Chapter 34 Divorce? No Way!

“Dad, I’m sorry but my mind is made up…”

“Thump.” Senior Leeson hit his fist on the table.

“I don’t want to hear any of that. You’re already considering divorce before figuring out the entire truth. Not a chance! Get back to New Zealand as soon as the celebration for Chinese New Year is over…”

Charles remained silent for a long while after listening to Senior Leeson’s words.

Jon turned around, just about intending to leave when he heard Senior Leeson shouting from the other side of the door. “Why are you eavesdropping over there? Get in here!”

……

It was not shocking that there was a fourteen years’ age gap between Charles and Jon Leeson.

The Leeson family was supposed to have three children altogether. However, their youngest daughter had committed suicide for an unfaithful man when she was only nineteen years old. She took her own life by burning charcoal in the apartment.

Unquestionably, this deadly blow affected the entire Leeson family gravely.

Even so, both Charles and Jon did not spare Senior Leeson from worry either.

Charles, who had been married for several years, still did not provide the family with an heir although he was already reaching his fifties.

Jon, on the other hand, had taken his sweet time to progress the wedding on the agenda as well.

This second heir of the Leeson family was getting older day by day. Senior Leeson was reminded of his old neighbors and old comrade-in-arms who were having great-grandsons. Once again, he shifted his attention back to his two sons who appeared unperturbed by his outburst.

Inside the study room, Senior Leeson lashed out the remaining rage and frustration he had for his elder son toward Jon.

……

Jon was smoking on the balcony alone after dinner.

Back in the living room, Penny was tactfully declining Madam Leeson’s invitation to stay the night.

Madam Leeson called out to Jon who was over at the balcony. It appeared that the man could not hear her. He was standing on the other side of the French doors with his back against the living room. Something seemed to be troubling him.

Penny stepped in when Madam Leeson was about to approach her younger son.

The young woman said with a smile, “It’s alright, Aunt. Jon’s been really occupied with work lately that he’s not getting enough rest. I can go back on my own. He rarely has time for himself so I’d rather him to get a good sleep.”

Madam Leeson was pleased and satisfied with her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. The former nodded as she tucked the frayed hair to the back of Penny’s ears. “Alright, I’ll arrange for Old Zac, the driver, to send you home,” she said.

Penny smiled and nodded.

She did not forget to say goodbye to Jon at the balcony before taking her leave.

The man pinched out his cigarette before walking her to the door.

Over by the main door, Charles was speaking into the phone in the courtyard by himself. His lowered face was written over with a solemn expression.

“We’ll talk about this again when I return… Yes, I understand that…” His tone was not laced with much emotion yet the brows on his forehead were deeply furrowed together.

Both Jon and Penny were walking past him.

“Big Brother…” Penny said her goodbye in a near whisper.

Charles lifted his head and his brows relaxed immediately. He acknowledged the woman with a smile and a nod. He lowered his head to continue speaking over the phone again after those two receding figures walked further into the distance.

……

Jon returned to the courtyard alone after Penny got into the car.

Charles had already hung up the call. He was standing underneath a massive tree with one hand in his pocket. The man flicked the cigarette butt onto the ground and stepped down on it with the tip of his shoes.

When he raised his head again, he discovered Jon walking toward the mansion and gestured to the latter to come forward.

Jon picked up his pace to approach the person. “Big Brother.”

Charles acknowledged with a quick nod as he retrieved two more cigarettes from the box. He delivered one to Jon and saved the other one for himself.

Jon received the cigarette and placed it between his lips. He lowered his head to ignite it.

He raised his eyes to meet his Big Brother’s gaze. He was aware that Charles had some queries for him…

Wednesday. Morgan dropped by to rebandage Sarah’s wrist and ankle for the last time.

Both of them remained silent throughout the entire process. It appeared that they did not like each other too much.

Morgan headed downstairs while carrying the first-aid kit. Sarah made a funny face and stuck her tongue out at the man’s receding figure. The entire scene had played out right in front of Jon’s eyes.

Back in the living room, Morgan had finished his cup of coffee. Suddenly, he glanced toward the second floor. “This young girl always glares and rolls her eyes at me. I didn’t even offend her.”

Jon regarded his friend and shifted his attention away without uttering a word.

Aunt Wren had returned from a walk with Nunu. She questioned casually when she walked past the living room, “Second Young Master, Miss Grove mentioned she’d like to have braised shrimps. Is that okay?”

“Not if the shrimps are braised in oil. Poached shrimps are fine...” Jon replied flatly.

Morgan, who was sitting on the couch nearby, could not tolerate it any longer. He grabbed his car keys and headed for the door.

He did not forget to look over his shoulder and reminded the man sitting in the living room. “I don’t care if you’re messing about because the novelty will soon wear off. But I advise you not to spoil her too much or she’ll take advantage of your kindness. That’ll come to no good end with Penny…”

“…”

——————

Sarah seemed to be in a good mood during dinner.

Jon returned to the villa most of the evenings. Although there was not much exchange that happened between the two, Sarah felt reassured with his presence in the house.

She positioned the entire plate of poached shrimps in front of herself. Her fingers were stained with juicy liquid from deshelling the shrimps.

After being prohibited from eating meat for such a long period, she was extremely satisfied to be able to devour large shrimps.

She selected the largest one of them all from the plate, deshelled it in a practiced manner, and delivered it to Jon’s mouth. “Do you want to give it a try? They’re really fresh…”

Jon stopped eating from his bowl and lowered his head to regard her hand.

Sarah’s hands were beautiful. Her skin was fair and her fingers slender. That pinkish-white shrimp looked rather enticing in contrast to her fingers that were stained with reddish chili oil.

She withdrew her hands embarrassedly, thinking that Jon might forsake it.

The girl was intending to place the shrimp into her mouth when Jon grabbed her wrist out of the blue.

Sarah raised her head in surprise but the shrimp placed between her thumb and forefinger had already disappeared into Jon’s mouth in a matter of seconds.

Her hand became stiff as she blinked her rounded eyes blankly. She forgot to withdraw the hand, leaving it hanging in mid-air.

Several seconds later, Jon threw a glance at the awkward girl and said indifferently, “You’ve had enough today…”

With that, he turned around to instruct Aunt Wren to remove the plate filled with shrimps from Sarah’s reach…

Sarah’s jaw dropped. She was flabbergasted and no words could be sufficient to explain her current emotion.

——————

Monday.

Sarah was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed with Nunu.

Nunu rested its heavy head on Sarah’s laps. It stuck its tongue out and panted loudly.

Sarah lifted Nunu’s ears and regarded the dog intently. “Silly Nu, what do you think? Is Maddy really mad at me this time? He’s been ignoring me for several days consecutively… Should I apologize to the old man?”

Nunu, looking stupefied, lifted its head to meet her eyes.