NovelEnglish
Chapter 522
As Aidan was returning by helicopter, Oscar dropped Leanna off directly at the private hangar.
"You should return to whatever you're doing. I can wait for him here myself," Leanna said.
He gave her a nod in reply; he did have a lot on his plate at the moment. "Call me if you need
anything," he said.
"Sure."
After he left, she silently leaned against the car window and watched the scenery outside.
After all the commotion in the night, dawn had started to show in the sky, and it wouldn't be long before
the sun would rise.
Leanna stared at the sky dazedly and didn't know when she had fallen asleep. Still, she only realized
she had fallen asleep when the vibration of her cell phone woke her up. She groggily rubbed her eyes
before squinting at the screen, only to see that it was Louis calling her.
She cleared her throat and picked up the call. "What's up, Louis?"
"Where are you now?" he asked solemnly.
"I…"
She quickly swallowed the words that were about to tumble out of her mouth as she thought, If Louis is
calling me so early in the day with this tone, it shows that he probably already knew about what
happened last night.
"I'm at the airport waiting for Aidan to return," she answered softly.
"Send me the location. I'm coming over," he said.
"It's okay," she replied. "I'm fine. You should just attend your classes."
Louis frowned. "It's such a big deal. How could you be fine?"
After Leanna left the Pearson Family Estate, she didn't check her phone besides giving Oscar a call.
So, she had no clue that her disappearance had caused a considerable uproar.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtNevertheless, she chuckled and answered, "I'm fine, really. Otherwise, how could I answer your call?
The Pearsons are merely bluffing. They didn't even dare to lay a single finger on me."
Louis pursed his lips without saying a word.
"Alright, just attend your classes. I'll look for you at your school in a few days."
"No," he said. "I'm going to the apartment in the evening."
"Oh, that's okay, too. I'll be back tonight as well."
After they ended the call, she scrolled through her phone and saw that Zoe had called her twice and
sent her a barrage of texts.
Maybe she missed them because she slept too soundly.
When she noticed that her phone battery was running low, she decided not to reply to Zoe's calls but
sent her a text to inform her that she was safe and sound.
Then, she opened her browser using her remaining battery power and quickly scrolled through the
relevant topics.
There were a few headlines regarding her disappearance after she attended the party, but there was
also clarification after that, saying that it was just a careless misunderstanding.
Obviously, the Pearsons had intervened.
Since this matter wasn't exposed with solid proof, nobody took it to heart; only the people close to her
knew that this was not a misunderstanding.
And that was the reason behind Louis and Zoe calling her.
Before she could continue browsing, her phone died due to its flat battery. She sighed at her phone as
she set it aside and closed her eyes again.
A while later, someone knocked on the car window. She was jolted from her thoughts and quickly rolled
the window down.
The person outside passed her a bag. "Miss McKinney, there's food and drinks inside."
"Thanks." She took the bag from him and asked after a second, "What's the time now?"
"9.30 AM."
"When will Aidan be arriving?"
"He's probably landing around 3.00 PM."
She nodded in acknowledgment. "Please get me a power bank."
"Okay. Please wait a moment, Miss McKinney."
She placed the bag aside and got out of the car to stretch her body. When the man returned with a
power bank, she thanked him and hopped into the driver's seat.
I might as well make a trip to the Crossley Group rather than waste my time waiting here, she decided,
connecting her cell phone to the power bank, and drove off after she informed the man of her plans.
At the Crossley Group, she had just entered the office when Raymond came in. "Are you okay, Miss
McKinney?"
She slumped against her chair as she smiled softly. "Yeah, I'm alright. What's the matter?"
"After news of your disappearance was released last night, Richard, me, and a few others went to the
Pearson Family Estate, but Old Mr. Pearson claimed that you were not there. After that, we got wind
that you were already home, so we left."
When she recalled the ruckus last night, she inquired, "Were there a lot of people there last night?"
Raymond nodded in reply. "There were also a few journalists in attendance. Other than that… I don't
know who they were."
"I got it. Thanks, it's been hard on you guys," she said apologetically.
Those are probably the people Daniel hired, she reckoned.
"No, this is nothing. I'm just glad you're okay. I'm getting back to work," he said.
"Okay."
Leanna rubbed her temples after he left. Just as she was about to open her design draft, Freddie
entered her office. "Oh, thank God. You're alive and well! I was almost sent to the crematorium." She
stared at him in disbelief, mouth agape as he made himself comfortable in the seat across from her.
"How did it go? Did you find any clues at the tiger's den last night?"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
Leanna snapped her lips shut before muttering in frustration, "They tricked me by using the fact that
Justin was hurt. Of course, you guys probably already know about that, too, huh?"
He chuckled awkwardly before saying, "Sorry for our negligence. You wouldn't be in danger otherwise."
Nonetheless, Leanna shook her head and dismissed his words. "Actually, I wasn't in danger during my
forced stay there. They merely wanted to use me so they could make Aidan agree to their terms, but if I
weren't there, the one who would be in real danger would be Aidan."
"What do you mean?"
"Justin told me that they had two plans. One was to use me to blackmail Aidan, and the other one, in
case that failed, was… They would do anything to make Aidan stay in Lachstein forever."
A frown appeared on his face. "Whose plan is this?"
"Justin said 'they', which probably means Old Mr. Pearson and Sienna," she mused.
"When did Justin find out all these, then?"
"Not long ago, I reckon. He said that they only informed him about it after they had made the
arrangements," she replied. "The reason he helped them to keep me there was because of Aidan."
A short moment of silence passed before Freddie finally said, "Yeah, if Justin knew their plan
beforehand, he would definitely put a stop to it."
"They should have planned this for a very long time. That's why I was very worried about Aidan the
entire time," she said.
"Aidan went to Lachstein because of an unexpected situation, and we were caught unawares. If they
already made all the preparations beforehand, it will be very troublesome indeed. But don't worry, even
if they've made several contingency plans. It's not easy for them to ensure that Aidan would stay in
Lachstein for good."
"I just want Aidan to be safe." Leanna paused momentarily and continued, "Then… Is there any way to
turn things around after Aidan has agreed to their terms?"
Freddie smirked. "Patience, young padawan. You'll know once he returns."
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