Filed to story: Seventeen Heartbreaks: When Love Has No Voice
Leila hastened to set aside the box and clarified her outing was for resigning.
“And who drove you back home? Who were you with for lunch?” Landon probed further, his tone laced with suspicion.
Leila’s fingers hovered in the air, frozen. It was odd for Landon to be home at this hour. What was happening today?
Leila explained with sign language that it was Linsey who had sent her back after dining together, her expression wavering slightly. It was the first time she had ever lied to Landon, and the deception sent her heart racing, her palms slick with sweat.
Then, biting her lip, Leila posed the question of whether he had visited Sarah. His unusual presence at home at this hour struck her as odd.
To her astonishment, the question seemed to infuriate Landon. He closed the distance between them and seized her wrist. “You brought home leftovers? Why bother?”
Leila shook her head vehemently, unable to form a reply to explain. She simply didn’t feel like cooking today, and since there was food untouched during lunch, which Leila found quite delicious, she thought it wise to bring it home for dinner. She hadn’t anticipated seeing Landon at this hour.
“Why did Linsey call me?” Landon pushed on, his voice rising with each word.
Panic gripped Leila. She hadn’t expected this question and was unprepared with an excuse. All she could manage was to look up at Landon, her eyes brimming with tears and a faint accusation.
Leila’s lips, still tender from the previous night’s kisses, were pressed tightly together, her face a portrait of beauty tinged with caution.
Aroused, Landon’s gaze darkened, and in a swift motion, he scooped Leila up and carried her upstairs.
Landon had come back for lunch.
Reflecting on the past, he remembered how Leila used to lovingly prepare meals for him, though he rarely came home to enjoy them. Today, unexpectedly returning and not finding her in the kitchen, his plans changed upon seeing her. Suddenly, he desired something entirely different.
Landon tossed Leila onto the expansive bed in their bedroom. Leila placed her hands against his chest, attempting to push him away, though her actions were weak and appeared more like a hesitant acceptance than genuine resistance.
“Be a good girl,” Landon murmured, his voice low and enticing as he leaned closer, his breath warm against Leila’s ear.
Leila relaxed slightly, but as Landon moved to kiss her, she turned her head aside, rejecting his advance. A single tear escaped, trailing down her cheek. Leila’s face was pale, her lips quivered as if she were undergoing a hardship rather than sharing a tender moment.
Disinterested, Landon stood, towering over her. “You don’t want me to touch you?” he questioned, his voice a mix of confusion and frustration.
Leila clarified that she was simply feeling unwell, her gaze fixed on the floor, avoiding his eyes.
“Feeling unwell because of quitting your job? Feeling unwell yet still went to dinner with Linsey?” Landon pressed her, his tone growing harsh as he sought answers.
Leila felt at a loss for words. Ever since she had brought up the idea of a divorce, Landon had become unusually attentive, though not in the way she desired.
Receiving no response, Landon abruptly left the room.
Leila assumed he had gone for good and curled up under the blanket, seeking comfort. Yet, the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs jolted her.
To her surprise, Landon returned, her handbag in his grasp.
Leila abruptly sat up, barely minding the darkness that edged into her vision as she reached for her handbag.
“Do you want this?” Landon asked, tossing the handbag aside and holding up Leila’s hospital records.
“You were at the hospital this morning? Why didn’t you tell me?” he demanded, reading the records.
Leila retreated two steps and then raised her hand to gesture her wish not to bother him.
“You’re my wife. You got sick, and you think telling me would bother me?” Landon moved closer, backing Leila against the wall.
Recalling Linsey’s phone call, Landon’s face darkened even more as he connected the dots, realizing Linsey might have called to tell him about Leila’s sickness.
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Her eyes welling with tears, Leila hurried to explain she was indeed sent to the hospital, only to recover not long after. Her decision against telling Landon was because she deemed it a minor incident.
Landon’s gaze softened as he looked at her. “From now on, let me know if anything’s wrong, okay?”
Leila nodded emphatically.
Just as Landon seemed ready to respond, his phone interrupted him.
“Honey, aren’t you at the office? We planned to have lunch together.” Sarah’s voice came from the phone.
Leila was eager to leave, yet Landon’s proximity made that impossible. She bowed her head, feigning ignorance of the phone conversation.
“I have a meeting with some clients outside. I’ll return later,” Landon announced slowly, his gaze lingering on Leila’s quivering lashes before he departed.
Startled, Leila lifted her head just as Landon exited, puzzled by his lie to Sarah. Could it be for her sake?
By the time Leila descended the stairs once more, Landon had already vanished.
“Madam, will you be preparing dinner yourself this evening?” the butler inquired, offering Leila a glass of water as he noticed her descent.
Leila used to make dinner herself, but with Landon’s frequent absences, she had ceased doing so.
However, today was different. Landon’s unexpected return ignited a spark of excitement in Leila’s eyes.
Leila nodded, smiling at the butler.
Leila meticulously selected and handled the ingredients procured by the staff. After washing, chopping, seasoning, and marinating the ingredients, she even orchestrated the cooking times to ensure all dishes would be ready simultaneously, preventing any from cooling.
A gentle smile graced Leila’s lips as she cooked. Before her marriage, she had dreamed of these moments, of lovingly preparing meals for Landon. However, reality had tempered her expectations over time.
Just as dinner was nearly complete, Leila’s phone chimed with a new message from Landon. “I’ll be working late tonight. Bring dinner to my office.”
Landon wanted her to deliver it to the office? Leila had never set foot in the Kensington Group headquarters and, in fact, had always been kept away as if she were somehow unfit to be seen there.
With the food freshly prepared, Leila packed it into a thermal container. She hadn’t even managed to taste it herself before she hailed a cab and rushed to Landon’s office.
Though the day was almost done, the headquarters of the Kensington Group were still ablaze with light, bustling with employees far from ready to call it a day.
As soon as Leila stepped into the building, she was halted. “Hello, do you have an appointment?” the receptionist inquired.
Leila quickly typed out a response on her phone. “I’m here to see Mr. Kensington.”
“What for? Do you have an appointment?” The receptionist’s demeanor shifted as she took in Leila’s appearance. Initially, she had treated Leila like any other visitor, but now her expression twisted as if she were staring at a ridiculous lunatic.
“Mr. Kensington asked me to bring him dinner,” Leila typed once more, hoping to clarify.
The receptionist couldn’t help but laugh.
“Miss, do you realize how many people come here daily concocting all kinds of stories to meet Mr. Kensington? If you’re really here to deliver food, you might as well pose as a delivery worker. Why the charade of being mute? Are you a man? Are you scared you’ll give yourself away the moment you speak?”
Leila bit her pale lip, yearning to retort. But as she reached for her phone to type a response, the receptionist halted her with a stern hand gesture. “Don’t waste our time. If you keep bothering me, I’ll call security!”
The receptionist then shoved Leila back. With no other option, Leila texted Landon instead. “I’m downstairs, but the receptionist won’t let me in.”
However, Landon didn’t respond to her message.
Leila paced back and forth, realizing that the longer she waited, the more likely her meal would lose its appeal. She approached the receptionist once more with a sentence on her phone. “Could you please inform Mr. Kensington that I am here?”
Leila refrained from revealing she was Landon’s wife, fearing it might embarrass him.
The receptionist rolled her eyes dismissively. “If we run off to tell Mr. Kensington every time a lunatic claims to see him, he’ll never get his work done!”
Left without alternatives, Leila took a seat on a sofa in the lobby’s corner, a designated rest area where she decided to wait until Landon was done for the day.
Observing Leila settle down, the receptionist spitefully poured her a glass of water and set it down with a smirk. “If you insist on waiting, then wait. Mr. Kensington uses the private elevator directly to the parking garage after work. He won’t even come this way. Let’s see how long you last!”