Chapter 12 Her Fault
“Then what’s with your recent abnormal behavior?”
Mason teased, “Leila, you slept with me for no reason and then avoided me like the plague. If you were in my shoes, what would you think?”
Leila suddenly understood.
So that’s it.
As proud as Mason was, ruling over Neo City with an iron fist, it must have been hard for him to swallow being slept with by a nobody like her and then acting like it never happened.
Having figured things out, Leila felt relieved. “Sorry.”
With just a “sorry” from Leila, Mason burst into laughter.
After a few seconds, Mason’s voice lowered as he asked, “What time tonight?”
Leila’s face flushed at his question. “Eleven?”
Mason replied, “Okay.”
The call ended, and Leila closed her phone, sitting on the sofa and absentmindedly running her fingers through her hair. She realized that the situation was her fault in the first place. While it might be awkward to resolve it in this manner, it was better to find a solution than to let it linger.
If she wanted to establish herself in Neo City, she couldn’t afford to offend the powerful.
Leila wasn’t indifferent to giving her first time to someone she didn’t like, but what was done was done. There was no use dwelling on it. Instead of grieving over her lost innocence, it was better to be strong and move on.
Leila got up to drink a glass of water and checked the time: five o’clock in the afternoon. Six long hours until eleven.
Even though Leila tried to reassure herself that it didn’t matter, she couldn’t help feeling nervous.
To relieve her stress, Leila left the hotel to wander nearby.
Walking into a quaint Chinatown, Leila entered a small shop and picked out a few small gifts.
After wandering around for a while, it was 8:40 PM.
Carrying the purchased gifts back to the hotel, Leila had just crossed the lobby when she saw Mason and Daniel waiting for the elevator.
Thinking about what would happen tonight, Leila instinctively hesitated.
As she debated whether to approach them, Daniel spotted her first and politely greeted her, “Miss Patel.”
Now she had no choice but to go over. She pretended to be calm. “Hello.”
Mason, hands in pockets, looked down at her. “What did Miss Patel buy?”
Leila lifted the items in her hand. “Just some small things.”
Mason asked, “For someone?”
Leila nodded. “Yes.”
Mason then inquired, “Your boyfriend?”
Leila’s smile stiffened, but she didn’t respond.
The elevator doors opened.
Mason strode into the elevator, followed closely by Leila and Daniel.
Daniel stood by the elevator buttons, pressed the appropriate floor. Leila stood behind him, holding the small gifts.
One floor, two floors, three floors…
Leila was silently counting the floors displayed on the elevator screen when suddenly her hand, holding the gifts, was lightly scratched.
Her hand trembled. Before she could turn around, Mason leaned in, his lips close to her ear as he whispered, “I’ll take the gifts.”
The elevator space wasn’t small, but Leila felt suffocated.
Mason’s sudden proximity was unexpected, and his departure was silent.
As Leila stepped off the elevator, she couldn’t help but tighten her grip on the gifts in her hand. Inside the gift bag were bracelets, one sky blue and the other burgundy. The sky blue one was Shirley’s lucky color, while the burgundy was her favorite. Mason said he wanted them, so she couldn’t refuse.
At eleven o’clock that night, Leila knocked on Mason’s door. He answered wearing a deep blue bathrobe. One hand leaned on the door frame while the other towel-dried his wet hair.
“Come in?” he said in his low, magnetic voice.
Leila nodded slightly, stepping inside quickly to avoid being seen by anyone else.
Mason’s room was much larger than Leila’s, a presidential suite on the same floor. As Leila entered, she took a few steps toward the sofa and placed the gift box on the coffee table.
Mason approached, coming up behind her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and reached for the gift box, his movements so smooth and natural that Leila began to doubt herself, wondering if they were really just a couple in love.
“What did you buy?” he asked.
“Bracelets,” she replied.
Mason had taken a cold shower, and the chill emanating from his body made Leila shiver when he got close.
Mason handed her the gift box. “Open it, let me see.”
Leila took it, opening the box to reveal the two bracelets lying inside.
“Handmade?” he scoffed.
“I chose the cords, and the shop owner helped with the weaving,” Leila explained.
Mason picked up the blue bracelet, his lips curling into a smirk. “Quite playful,” he remarked before leaning in to kiss her neck. His voice was low and seductive as he asked, “Help me put it on?”