Chapter 485 - 481: Holding Her
Holly Wood nodded. "I’ll remember that."
He nodded and drove her to Prosperity District.
The car stopped, but Holly Wood didn’t get out. Suddenly, she threw her arms around Leon Lynch.
"If it weren’t for you, I would’ve died for sure. Leon, now that we’re together, we have to make it work. I want our love to be as brilliant as your name suggests—like the blazing sun. That’s my greatest wish in life now."
He cupped her face and smiled. "I want to be serious with you now. No more ’just trying things out.’"
Tears instantly streamed down her face. "No matter what hardships we face, I’ll stay with you. I was serious from the very beginning. Even though I said we were just trying, I’d already given you my heart."
Leon Lynch gave her a light kiss on the lips. "Go back and get some rest. Tomorrow is Saturday, so you don’t have work. Let’s go on a date in the morning. Our first real date."
Holly Wood’s lingering anxiety washed away in that moment. "Okay. Good night."
"Good night."
She got out of the car and, just like always, waited until he drove away before heading upstairs. Conscious of her swollen face, she deliberately let her hair down to cover her cheeks.
Once inside her apartment, Holly Wood closed the door and let out a long sigh of relief.
"Holly, what’s wrong?"
She smiled. "Nothing’s wrong. Leon just dropped me off. He said he wants to take me on a date tomorrow morning."
"Alright. I’ll get up early to make breakfast tomorrow."
"Okay, Mom. I’m going to bed." She hurried back to her bedroom.
Inside, she locked the door behind her and lay down on the bed. Her whole body ached, especially her face, which throbbed with a fiery pain.
Her phone rang. She pulled it out and saw it was June Walsh.
Too lazy to hold it to her ear, she put it on speaker.
"Holly Wood, we waited for you for so long, and you never showed up. What’s the deal?"
"I... had something come up tonight. I couldn’t make it."
"Is that so? You really say one thing and do another. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP..."
Holly Wood turned off her phone and fell asleep right where she was. In the middle of the night, a nightmare jolted her awake.
She couldn’t fall back asleep and lay awake until dawn.
As the sky began to lighten, she ran to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. The swelling had already gone down quite a bit from the night before.
She went out and stood at the gate of Prosperity District, waiting for Leon Lynch.
Mrs. Wood noticed she was gone early in the morning and gave her a call. Holly explained that she was eating out and was already with Leon Lynch.
Mrs. Wood didn’t press the issue. In truth, Holly was afraid of her mom seeing her still-swollen face.
She didn’t have to wait long before Leon Lynch arrived, dressed in casual clothes.
After she got in the car, he asked, "Have you had breakfast yet?"
Holly Wood shook her head and answered honestly, "No."
"Good, I haven’t either. Let’s go together."
Holly Wood said to him, "There’s a breakfast stall up ahead. Let’s go there. It’s cheap and really good."
"Alright."
A few minutes later, the car pulled over to the side of the road.
The two of them got out and went inside, only to find June Walsh and another girl also eating breakfast there.
Upon seeing them, June Walsh waved at Holly Wood and Leon Lynch. "Come sit with us," she said.
Leon Lynch ordered four vegetable buns and two glasses of milk and sat down at a different table.
Holly Wood awkwardly sat down across from him. But to her surprise, June Walsh and the other girl, having apparently finished their meal, came over to their table.
June Walsh sat right next to Leon Lynch.
"Holly Wood, do you have any idea how long we waited for you at the karaoke bar last night? It’s not like we were asking you to pay, but you still didn’t come. You must be so busy, huh?"
Leon Lynch spoke up. "Holly Wood was with me after work."
June Walsh put on an ’I knew it’ expression, her tone sour. "Got a boyfriend and already forgotten all about your good friends. Heh heh."
That dismissive "heh heh" made Leon Lynch’s expression turn cold instantly.
He ate half a bun, drank half his milk, and then asked, "Are you done? If not, I’ll take you somewhere else to eat."
Holly Wood nodded and stood up.
Leon Lynch paid for their meal, then took Holly Wood by the hand and left.
Once in the car, he fastened his seatbelt, started the engine, and said, "I really don’t like that ’good friend’ of yours."
Holly Wood didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing at all.
Leon Lynch turned the steering wheel. "From now on, come straight home after work. Don’t go anywhere else, understand?"
"I know."
"Maeve Sutton is a difficult woman. I’ll find a chance to deal with her later."
Holly Wood rested her head on his shoulder. "After what happened last night, I realized that being together isn’t as simple as it seems on the surface. We might face even more difficulties in the future, but I’m not afraid."
He looked down at her, his voice soft. "I’m here with you. Let’s not rush. We’ll grow closer one step at a time."
"Okay."
"What?! They just disappeared? Go get me the surveillance footage from the karaoke bar!" Maeve Sutton thundered.
"Miss Sutton, the karaoke bar’s surveillance system was broken that night. We already asked."
Maeve Sutton sneered. "Two living people don’t just vanish for no reason. It would be bizarre if there wasn’t something fishy going on. Could Leon have gone? That’s impossible. I clearly saw him go home when I left. So who saved her?"
"I don’t know..."
Maeve Sutton shot him a furious glare. "Useless fools! Why does my Sutton Family even keep you wastes of space? You can’t even handle one helpless woman."
"What if, Miss Sutton, we set another trap to lure her out?"
"Are you a pig-brain? After what just happened, do you think that little bitch would dare come out at night? Go and do a thorough investigation on Holly Wood. Get me all the details. I’ll decide what to do after I’ve seen it."
"Yes, I’ll get on it right away."
Maeve Sutton sat there, lost in her own gloomy thoughts.
An hour later, the Sutton Family’s bodyguard returned.
He held a piece of paper, handing it to her. "This is her complete background file. Her family isn’t well-off. She has a younger brother in junior high, and her parents don’t earn much. Also, she frequently hangs out with a girl named June Walsh. That’s all."
Maeve Sutton glanced at it and stood up. "Go arrange a meeting with this June Walsh girl. I want to see her."
"Alright."
Maeve Sutton went upstairs, changed her clothes, and then drove to a teahouse.
Pushing the door open, she saw that June Walsh had already arrived. June looked a bit surprised to see her. "I was wondering, Miss Sutton, why did you ask to see me?"
Maeve Sutton sat down and smiled. "Please, have some tea, Miss Walsh. I didn’t come here for anything special. I just heard that you and Holly Wood are very close?"
June Walsh looked uncomfortable. "You know Holly Wood?"
"More than just know her. We’ve had our dealings. She has a nice temper and even landed a rich second-generation boyfriend. She left quite an impression."
June Walsh huffed. "Yeah, she found a rich boyfriend and now she doesn’t give me the time of day. I even saw her at the bun shop with him this morning, eating breakfast."
Maeve Sutton’s expression suddenly soured. She said with a smirk, "Is that so? Well, it looks like she has a good life ahead of her. She’ll be one of the elites, looking down on poor people like you."
June Walsh sighed. "Yes, now that she’s rich and latched onto a tycoon, she doesn’t fit in with us anymore."
Maeve Sutton took a thick stack of cash from her purse and placed it in front of her. "Do you recognize this?"
June Walsh’s eyes widened. "Why are you giving me so much money...?"
Maeve Sutton smiled. "It’s not that much. I was just hoping you could do me a small favor."
June Walsh asked cautiously, "What... kind of favor?"
"Don’t be scared. I just want to treat Holly Wood to a meal. All you have to do is bring her to a hotel for me. I’ll be waiting for you there."
Hearing this, June Walsh suddenly felt like she had hit the jackpot. ’So money really does fall from the sky,’ she thought.
"She works at the Lynch Group. Why don’t you just..."
"We had a little disagreement, and now she’s ignoring me. So... I wanted to treat her to a meal to reconcile..."
June Walsh reached out and took the money from the table. "Oh, so that’s all it is. Don’t worry. Just give me the address. When she gets off work this afternoon, I’ll personally bring her to you."
Maeve Sutton smiled. "Good. But whatever you do, don’t tell her I’m the one who invited her. I’m afraid she won’t come."
"I get it, I get it." June Walsh stood up. "I’ll definitely bring her. I’ll drag her there if I have to."
"That’s great. Thanks for your trouble."
"No problem, it’s my pleasure. If there’s nothing else, Miss Sutton, I’ll be going now."
Maeve Sutton nodded. "Alright."
June Walsh quickly left the teahouse.
She ran home with the money, and only after closing the door did she start to count it.
After counting, she was absolutely ecstatic. A full 20,000 yuan! And all she had to do was get Holly Wood to a hotel for dinner. Earning 20,000 had never been so easy!
Her monthly salary was just over 1,000 yuan. This was more than a year’s worth of her wages.
With this money, she could buy a more expensive handbag and a designer phone. The more she thought about it, the better it seemed.
Nora Ainsworth arrived in Grestin and had already sent people to find out which entertainment venue Toby Dalton frequented at night. Now, she was waiting.
’If I wait here, I’ll eventually see him,’ she thought.
Unexpectedly, her mission got off to a flying start.
At just past six o’clock, she saw Toby Dalton appear.
She quickly went into the restroom to make sure her makeup was perfect and checked her appearance from head to toe.
The face in the mirror wasn’t hers at all.
Long, curly, chestnut-brown hair, large eyes, alluring red lips, and a veil over her face.
She walked backstage and waited. When it was her turn to sing, she went on stage with the microphone.
She could feel Toby Dalton sit up straighter the moment she stepped on stage.
His eyes searched her face.
Nora Ainsworth sang a soft song, pouring her heart into it.
As the song ended, she deliberately glanced at Toby Dalton and, as if by accident, pulled off the half-veil covering her face. In that instant, she successfully saw him jump to his feet in a panic and rush toward the stage.
Nora Ainsworth turned and hurried back to the backstage area.
She walked quickly, frequently pausing to glance back over her shoulder, not stopping until she reached her dressing room.
Only then did she calm her breathing. Composed, she unlocked her locker and put the veil, microphone, and song list inside.
Just as she locked it, she heard footsteps at the door.
She turned and her eyes met Toby Dalton’s.
"Saphira," he called out, his voice hoarse.
Nora Ainsworth’s expression was placid as she asked, "And you are?"
He strode forward and threw his arms around her. "Saphira Sutton, it’s me, Toby Dalton."