The Pretend Wife (on hold)

Chapter 32

"I will wait for you outside." Leon forced those words from his mouth and turned around, bolting out outside.

Mia felt like collapsing to the floor right now. It was so embarrassing to have Leon catching her when she was picking up some underwear. Supporting herself on the wall beside her, Mia rubbed her chest and continuously sighed. She was having difficulty calming down.

However, it was good that he didn't catch her while she was holding onto some of them. If he did, she would probably be unable to face him.

***

Unbeknownst to the two of them, Emeria who had come back and watched from the side was giggling to herself. She muttered inwardly. "What a pair of tsundere."

She shook her head and walked away, passing a familiar person in the process. Covering herself with a fan, Emeria said in a mocking tone to none in particular, playing with the fur on her coat casually.

"Someone had a problem with his love life, but he was so eager to drag others to the same pit. How pitiful."

The man paused slightly in his steps, yet as if he didn't hear Emeria's words, he continued to walk ahead.

"Stupid Wellington." Emeria had a look of contempt written all over her face.

***

Meanwhile, Mia finally got the reins of her emotions after what seemed to be a long time. She couldn't help but mumble to herself. Today was so hard to handle, sigh.

"Are you done?" Emeria asked as Mia entered the spacious room, peeking at her.

Mia's lips involuntarily twitched as she narrowed her eyes in deep thought.

"What happens?" Emeria tilted her head to the side, as though she was curious why Mia had such an expression on her face.

Mia knitted her brows together. Perhaps, she had thought too much, but now that Emeria was acting as if she was close to her out of the blue, a suspicion couldn't but emerge in her heart.

"What's on your little head?" Emeria turned slightly serious. "Don't worry, I am a kind and friendly woman."

She paused briefly, then just nodded.

"Miss Jefferson?" A light voice rang, and the woman named Saphira from earlier pattered to them.

"Hmm?" Emeria raised her eyebrow, putting on a puzzled expression.

"I am Saphira, Miss. You probably haven't heard of me. We are going to have some portrait sessions together next week. You probably haven't been informed of this." Saphira still didn't lose her kind smile. Then, she turned to Mia and greeted her politely. "We meet again, Miss Ford."

"Oh, that's great then." Emeria nodded. She turned to look back and forth between Mia and Saphira afterward.

Mia, wearing a stiff smile, also nodded back to Saphira. She wasn't wrong to assume that Emeria was a model after all.

"You are working as a model," Mia muttered to Emeria.

Hearing that, Emeria's eyes lit up. She laughed happily. "You have been guessing it from my beauty, hm?"

Emeria liked to joke, however, she preferred jokes that praised herself more.

"Did you see Mr. Wellington, Miss?" Saphira turned to ask Mia.

Mia was about to shake her head when Emeria suddenly said in a nonchalant tone. "I met him earlier near the girl's section. Don't know what he was doing there."

With displeasure written all over her face, Emeria began to scorn. "He is probably..."

She let the words hang in the air, leaving the next implications to the imagination of the audience.

Saphira was at a loss when she heard this. She opened her mouth to say something in this awkward atmosphere, however, no words came out. She could only press her lips together.

"... looking for you." Emeria gazed at Saphira, and with shrug, she continued. "If he arrived here with you, that playboy must be looking for you."

"Mia, let's go." Emeria turned to Mia and muttered lazily. She stood up and stretched her body. Upon which afterward, she dragged Mia away.

"We will be going first, Miss." Mia politely excused herself to Saphira. Since she was polite, she'd naturally return the gesture.

The two of them walked to the room which held the front door. When Mia walked in, she instantly sensed someone's eyes on her. Just as she thought that she had attracted unsolicited attention yet again, she looked up to find that it was Leon instead. Unwittingly, her cheeks felt hot as if they were on fire, her coldness felt like they melted slightly.

She moved her gaze away, pretending to be engrossed in some random ornament on the wall.

"Mia?" However, Emeria dragged Mia along this time, leading her closer to Leon.

Unnoticeably, her mouth twitched. No wonder that this woman tortured the whole afternoon just to pick a suitable dress.

"Almost done packing?" Emeria asked the shopkeepers, who nodded vigorously. They were clearly brimming with joy despite a load of works.

Mia cast a glance at the pile of bags on the side. "It's yours?"

Models should have a lot of choices of fancy clothes after all, right?

Emeria raised her eyebrow, then smiled mischievously, shaking her head. "No, it's yours."

Mia blanked for a moment, before realizing that those dresses were somewhat familiar. The shopkeepers haven't done packaging them all. hose were the dresses she had been trying this afternoon.

Then, Emeria pointed at Leon, who was sitting on the sofa like a boss. "He will pay. Don't need to be so restrained when he's here. Squeeze his money dry."

"Who are you?" Mia couldn't help but blurt out this question. She only knew her name, but not her relationship with Leon.

"Ah, calm down. You don't need to be jealous." Emeria was momentarily taken aback by Mia's question before she answered gleefully. "I am just one of his childhood friends. There's no way the relationship between ours could have gone past that. I can't like such a block--"

A soft pillow hit Emeria's head, effectively shutting her up. It fell with a small thud on the floor. Annoyed that her speech was being cut, she turned around and shot a disapproving glare at the nonchalant Leon.

Mia snorted at her first sentence. She mumbled faintly under her breath, denying Emeria's claim.

Leon shifted his attention to the shopkeepers. "Send those to the address I have given you earlier." Leon turned to gaze straight at Mia. "Alright. Let's go back."

Mia almost jumped at the sudden words. She just nodded a moment later. However, before she could follow Leon out, Emeria snatched the bundle in her arms.

Mia was embarrassed further because of this. How could she forget about those particular things...

Leon walked to her. He embraced her, keeping her slightly limp body close to his sturdy one. By hugging her closer, he helped her conceal her embarrassment as they strolled out of the place together. Mia was feeling rather strange because of this.