As the capital of France, Paris housed the headquarters of many international companies and drew in countless fashion elites from all over the world. Other than that, it was well known for its prosperity and fantastic scenery. Walking on the streets, Leena paid no attention to the dazzling lights that decorated the Eiffel tower, nor to the astonishing artistic works in the Louvre. Her schedule in France was tight. She could only dream about Kevin when she went to sleep every night.
Due to the time difference between the two countries, she rarely got time to get in touch with Kevin. More importantly, the nature of Kevin's job prevented her from doing so. For instance, she had spare time right now, but it was already 1 o'clock in the morning in S city. Kevin must have already fallen asleep by now, she thought. Leena leisurely strolled along the Seine River. When the lingering light of the setting sun fell on the waves, she was enchanted by the colors it brought to life. If it were possible, she would sail across the Seine River and enjoy a good time.
In France, women usually had blonde hair and blue eyes. Leena stood out in the country. She was blessed with long black hair, fair skin and a slender figure. A playful smile always lingered around the corners of her mouth. Being a full-fledged oriental beauty, she constantly drew the attention of passersby.
She was lucky to have made great progress in a short time as a designer in France. She was the darling of the aristocrats in the fashion circle and had quickly grown to become one of the elite designers here, which Leena herself had not expected.
Preoccupied with the beautiful scenery of the Seine River, she did not notice her phone vibrating in her bag. She thought about how she wanted to go shopping, so that when she returned home and met Kevin, she could surprise him with some lovely presents.
Sitting on a couch in a lavish apartment in S City, Kevin looked solemn and wondered where Leena was. Did she forget to carry her cell phone with her when she went out? Why wasn't she answering his calls? Did something happen to her? Kevin was agitated by the dangerous thought that popped into his head all of a sudden. He stood up and anxiously strolled across his office. Looking outside the window at the twinkling stars in the sky, he longed to hear Leena's sweet voice over the phone, but he couldn't. It was killing him.
Leena walked into a restaurant located on the bank of Seine. She took a seat near the window that overlooked the stunning scenery outside and imagined herself boarding a boat to cruise across the river. At that moment, she suddenly realized that her mobile phone was ringing and vibrating. Pulling it out of her bag, she found it was Kevin calling her. Her heartbeat accelerated. Feeling ecstatic, she recalled how he had never called her before. Not to forget, it was quite early in S city.
"Hello, Kevin," Leena said in a soft voice. Her voice was as comforting and charming as her beauty.
Leena, where are you? Why weren't you answering your damn phone?" a harsh voice could be heard over the phone. Kevin could not refrain himself from shouting at Leena. He didn't intend to scold her, but he had been so worried.
"Oh! Did you call before too? I didn't know that. I'm really sorry. I didn't hear my phone ringing," she replied apologetically. Leena had answered the phone in haste, so she could not check the calls she had missed. She guessed that Kelvin had phoned her several times, otherwise he wouldn't be roaring in such fury.
"I have been calling you since the last one hour, but you didn't answer any of my calls. Do you know how anxious I was?" Kevin fumed. Truthfully, he was relieved to hear Leena's lovely voice on the phone. He just found it difficult to calm down when he recalled the awful scenarios he had been building up in his head with regard to his wife's whereabouts.
"You didn't tell me you would call tonight. Should I be watching my phone like a hawk, waiting for your call 24/7? And for what? For you to feel concerned on a whim? No, I must be terribly wrong. You have never given a damn about my safety. You are more likely to scold me," she said, feeling wronged. Leena sniffled. She avoided the curious glances in her direction and gazed outside at the Seine River.
"Leena, I..." Kevin stammered. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to use such strong words. I didn't want to scold you," he added. He frowned in guilt, thinking about how he should treat Leena better. He had only yelled at her out of concern.
"Never mind. I make mistakes too. I'm quite busy. I'm gonna hang up right now and call you later if I have time," Leena said briefly. She ended the call before Kevin could respond, afraid that he might hear her crying.
"Leena, listen..." Kevin continued hurriedly. However, Leena had already hung up. He dropped his phone in remorse. He had wanted to talk to Leena peacefully for a while, but as usual, messed up the opportunity to do so. 'Leena's nice and kind to everybody, except to me, her legitimate husband,' Kevin thought sullenly.
After the quarrel with Kevin, Leena lost her appetite and was in no mood to order a meal. She stood up and walked out of the restaurant. Observing the passersby, she felt lonely and despondent. Even the stunning scenery failed to brighten up her mood.
Kevin closed his eyes, lost in thought. He wondered why he was always beside himself when he tried to deal with Leena. Was it simply because she was his wife? Or was there another reason?
He was troubled by the question all night. The next morning when he arrived at the army base, the dark circles were obvious around his eyes. "Major General Gu, what's wrong with your eyes?" Daisy asked as soon as the meeting ended.
"Well. It's nothing serious. I just had a difficult sleep last night," Kevin answered sheepishly. To disguise his embarrassment, he awkwardly tried to re-arrange his documents on the table.
"Is something wrong?" Daisy asked in concern. Daisy had established a relatively close friendship with Kevin. Upon hearing that he had a poor sleep last night, she felt concerned for him.
"Don't worry about it. I'm fine. By the way, how are you handling Hero's case?" asked Kevin, trying to change the subject of their conversation. Kevin didn't want to talk about his personal life at the army base. Although he didn't mean to hide his quarrel with Leena from Daisy, he had no clue how to explain it, even to a friend.
"There's no rush. He was discharged from the hospital and transferred to the prison yesterday. It will take a while before he's put on trial." Daisy sighed, as was usual whenever Hero came across her mind. He had chosen his destiny himself. She could do nothing for him.
"Well, I know that. After all, he is not a citizen in our country. It makes his case much more complicated." Kevin stood up, holding the documents. He actually admired Hero to a certain extent.
"You are right. I'm going back to my office to finish the report about the drug dealers we captured a couple of days ago. The training kept me busy over the past few days. These soldiers deserve a day off," Daisy replied. Daisy stood up as well, walking out of the meeting room.
"Let's go! I also have some work to do."
Kevin frowned, mulling over what the chief commander had told him at the meeting. It was said that many new recruits were unaccustomed to the new environment at the base. He felt obliged to visit them in order to find a feasible solution.
"Major General Gu, the CEO of Leng Group called up a moment ago. You should call him back," his assistant, Lee, chimed in as soon as he saw Kevin come back to the office.
"All right. Did he say anything to you?" Kevin asked curiously. Kevin picked up his phone and browsed through the contacts in his directory. His brother-in-law rarely called him. 'Has something happened?' he wondered. '
"No. He hung up after I told him that you were in a meeting," Lee answered. Lee knew very well the relationship between Kevin and Leng Group. He wasn't surprised when Duke called.
Well! May I have the room?" Kevin prompted. Lee walked out in haste and closed the office door. Kevin phoned Duke, speculating that it was likely that Leena had told her brother about their quarrel last night. If so, it was very uncharacteristic of her to do that.
Duke was as busy as ever. He had too many documents to handle and meetings to attend. As he had just come back from his vacation, the tasks had been backlogged and he had to work overtime to finish them. When his phone rang, he answered it before checking the caller ID.
"Hello. This is Duke. Who is that?" he asked. With his sight still fixed on the documents on his desk, he held the cell phone in one hand and a pen in the other.
"Duke, this is Kevin. My assistant said that you called me, " Kevin said, unperturbed. There was a frosty look on his handsome face.