Chapter 153 You Just Need to Love Me
In Preston's world, the development of Celestial Waters Hotel came above everything else. This was the career he'd spent his entire life fighting for, the empire he'd sacrificed everything to build.
Leopold was supposed to be a controllable chess piece, but ever since Leopold met Caroline, this piece stopped following his commands. He had to restore the original order and control the whole situation his own way.
Stirring up a woman's jealousy only required placing her in opposition to another woman.
Preston said, "I really appreciate Ms. Watson's honesty. Leopold not choosing you was his loss."
Allegra smiled slightly, "Mr. Preston Wipere, while you're complimenting me, I feel more offended. Mr. Leopold Wipere and I are ancient history. He's married now, and I won't have any inappropriate thoughts about a married man. I won't cross that moral line."
Preston's expression remained unchanged, unfazed by Allegra's words. "You're right. You young people can handle your own affairs."
Allegra felt like she'd punched cotton.
Next, Preston talked about overseas hotel partnerships, but still made a condition—she had to send him a copy of the work progress.
Allegra didn't understand why he didn't trust Leopold. If her boss acted like this, she would definitely quit.
After the dinner ended, Allegra sent Leopold a message.
Allegra: [Call me back when you're free.]
At that moment, Leopold was taking a shower. Caroline sat at the vanity applying skincare products. Hearing the phone notification, her eyes glanced at the nightstand through the mirror.
A woman's intuition is sometimes really accurate—even without looking, she could sense it was a message from Allegra.
When Leopold came out and saw the message on his phone, he instinctively looked at Caroline. She caught it from the corner of her eye but pretended not to care.
Leopold held his phone. "Allegra wants me to call her back."
Caroline's hand paused while combing her hair. She held her hair and tilted her head slightly. "It's fine, go ahead and call."
Leopold nodded and walked to sit at the foot of the bed, calling Allegra back in front of her.
The room was quiet, and they weren't far apart. Caroline could clearly hear the music playing through the phone. Leopold then turned on the speaker.
Through the ringing tones, Caroline stood up, walked to his side, and turned off the speaker. "I trust you, and you should have confidence in me too."
She went to the kitchen to heat up some milk. This was the trust she gave him, giving him enough space to handle work matters.
The call connected. Allegra talked about what happened at the dinner, but didn't mention anything about their personal history.
Near the end, Allegra asked, "I'm calling you—she won't be upset, will she?"
Looking at Caroline drinking milk and watching TV in the living room, his eyes softened. "No, my wife trusts me. She knows we're talking about work."
Allegra suddenly remembered Preston's words and sighed silently. "Alright, that's all. Be careful, and don't forget about the flight the day after tomorrow."
"Got it."
After hanging up, Leopold came to the living room. Caroline was holding her cup, eyes bright and dewy. "Done with the call?"
"Yes." Leopold sat down beside her, turning his head to look at her. "Ms. Watson reminded me to be careful at the company, to prevent people from undermining my authority."
Caroline's eyes flickered slightly. From this perspective, Allegra seemed like a decent person.
"But isn't your current position already basically powerless?"
Leopold put his arm around her shoulder. "Plenty of people want to undermine me, but not many have the ability. As long as he's thinking clearly, he won't do anything that harms the company's interests."
With just a few words, he put Caroline's mind at ease. It seemed like there was no problem he couldn't solve.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
Caroline said, "To help you pack some clothes."
Leopold stood up with her. "I'll do it myself."
"Let me help you." Caroline walked to the closet. Leopold hugged her from behind, his husky voice grazing her eardrum, his hand slipping inside her pajamas. "Do you know which country I'm going to? Which city? What's the local climate like? What clothes should I wear?"
Caroline pressed down on the wandering hand inside her clothes, her cheeks growing warm. "Stop it. I'll know once you tell me."
Leopold said playfully, "Not telling you."
He was good at teasing, turning even unreasonable behavior into flirtatious fun. He kissed her while carrying her to the bedroom.
The lights went off, and darkness filling the room.
Lingering kisses fell, slender hands traced along her body's curves. His breath rushed into her ear, wet and ticklish, awakening all her dormant senses. They boiled wildly because of him, their intertwined bodies gradually reaching their peak.
Her arms hooked around his arched back. The pleasure of being conquered had nowhere to go but to leave several scratches on his body. Rising and falling, the moon's shadow climbed the mountaintop, tree shadows swaying and trembling with the gentle breeze.
That night, thunder raged freely, earth's fire blazed fiercely. Before their separation, they sacrificed all their future longing to tonight, using their passionate bodies to fill every moment they'd be apart.
Feeling the empty box in the nightstand drawer, Leopold said hoarsely, "We're out of condoms."
The next day.
Leopold closed the bedroom door and went to pack his luggage. The temperature in that foreign country in July was similar to home. Since it being summer, he didn't need to bring heavy clothes.
He closed the suitcase and was about to make breakfast when he just walked out of the closet, and the bedroom door opened.
"Did I wake you?" Leopold quickly went over to hold her. Caroline looked up sleepily and kissed him before saying, "No, I set an alarm. I wanted to get up early to help you pack."
He smiled. "No need. I told you I'd pack myself."
Caroline's head rested against his chest, listening to his familiar heartbeat. "I'm not comfortable with that. I'm worried you'll forget something."
Leopold's large hand stroked her back. "In the past, when I didn't have you, I packed just fine on my own. I won't forget anything."
"In the past, you didn't have a wife. Now you do. How can it be the same?" Caroline had just woken up, her voice lazy with a hint of sweetness that could melt anyone's heart.
Leopold loved the feeling of being loved. This was what he'd lacked since childhood.
An unhappy childhood takes a lifetime to heal. His cure was Caroline.
Caroline patiently listed all the essentials for a business trip, and Leopold responded with endless patience.
Suddenly, she pushed him away. "If you've done everything, what am I supposed to do?"
Leopold raised his hand to cup her face, lowered his shoulders to kiss her, his affectionate gaze seeming to drown in her eyes, and said:
"You just need to love me."
Caroline bit her lip and turned her face away, embarrassed. "Saying such cheesy things so early in the morning."
"I'm serious," Leopold pinched her chin and turned her back to face him. "Do you know why I woke up this morning?"
Caroline shook her head.
Leopold said, "I had a dream. In it, you were gone, and then I woke up."
He spoke so sincerely that Caroline's heart ached.
In Leopold's upbringing, he'd lacked family warmth, the atmosphere of parental love. He didn't even know how to love someone or maintain a relationship.
She hugged Leopold. "Haven't you heard that dreams are always the opposite of reality?"