Chapter 9 I Have Loved You For Six Years (Part One)

All Caspar's beautiful memories suddenly came flooding back to him. These memories were beautiful as much as they were painful.

Six years ago

At the A University

Leona was on stage, jumping and flitting about like the beautiful and elegant woman that she was. Caspar was instantly drawn to her—there was just something about her that enchanted him.

All it took was a glance for Caspar to be enthralled by Leona.

It could be said this was how Caspar felt about Leona.

Since then, Caspar never took his eyes off Leona.

Her life was very simple. When in school, she never went anywhere besides the classroom, the dance room, and the library. When it was time to go home, the driver would pick her up out front. She was elusive in a way that made her seem like a fairy—pure and noble. There was something about her that made her hard to approach almost as if she was so fragile that just a touch would frighten her and cause her to run off.

For three years, Caspar had silently admired Leona from afar.

On this particular day, three years ago, Caspar remembered the sun to be surprisingly bright that day.

The Qiao family had been invited by the Ling family to attend Johnson's birthday party.

Caspar wasn't really interested in attending such social festivities. So when he pushed back several meetings just to be able to attend the party, his father and assistant were quite shocked.

As he drove to the Ling villa, his heart was beating rapidly. Just as Caspar was longing for the happiness of meeting Leona, a white Cayenne suddenly pulled over from the side road.

Caspar quickly swerved in order to avoid any accidents. However, to his surprise, the Cayenne still grazed the roadside guardrail.

Caspar hurriedly got out of his car to check. When he saw who was driving the Cayenne, he felt his throat tighten.

It was Leona—she was the one driving the Cayenne.

Collecting herself, Leona unfastened her seat belt, opened the door, and got out of the car.

"I'm so sorry!" Leona said to Caspar with an apologetic smile on her face. "If you hadn't swerved in time, I would have been dead by now."

'Dead?' Caspar frowned as the air around him suddenly turned cold.

He instinctively reached out and gently covered Leona's mouth.

'Our story hasn't even begun yet. How could you say something like that? I won't allow it! Even if you're just joking!'

The sudden coolness sent an electric shock throughout Caspar's body that he hastily withdrew his hand. He said, "I'm sorry. I was being rude."

When Caspar noticed that Leona was flushing, he quickly added, "I was going to attend a birthday party so I don't want to hear unlucky words like that. Yeah, anyway, I'm sorry I was being rude just now."

"Birthday party?"

Leona was a little surprised.

"Yes." Caspar nodded, hiding the slyness in his eyes. "It's Mr. Johnson Ling's birthday party."

Leona covered her mouth and chuckled.

"What's wrong?"

Caspar asked even though he knew the answer. He smiled meaningfully as he did.

Leona pointed to her car that had half of its rear-view mirror scratched. "Sir, could you please give me a ride?"

"Are you also going to attend Mr. Johnson Ling's birthday party too?"

he prompted as the smile in his eyes deepened.

"Yes." Leona frowned and thought for a while. "I will dance for Mr. Johnson Ling as a gift."

'Ha-ha!'

Caspar was amused inwardly.

'This little girl! Looks like you've just been hiding your true self.'

"Miss, do you prefer to call me sir instead of knowing my name?"

Caspar rubbed the back of his head in uneasiness when he noticed that the polite smile on Leona's face had frozen.

Caspar cursed himself inwardly, 'I deserve this!' Still, he kept grinning on the outside.

"I..." After hesitating for a long time, Leona finally spoke. "Um, actually, I'm Mr. Johnson Ling's granddaughter. My name is Leona Ling."

Caspar thought to himself, 'Future Mrs. Qiao!' He smiled politely as he said, "Nice to meet you, Miss Ling." Then he reached out his hand and introduced himself, "I'm Caspar Qiao."

In the car

Glancing at Leona from the corner of his eye, Caspar couldn't help but notice her bare neck. He said, "In addition to driving you to Mr. Ling's birthday party, I can also do you a big favor."

As he spoke, the smile on his face was warm as if the sun was shining brightly on a lazy Sunday afternoon. 'Since the day I met you, I had this necklace customized for you. Now I can finally give it to you.'

"What?"

Leona was confused.

With a smile, Caspar took out a delicate box from his pocket and handed it to Leona casually.

Perplexed, Leona opened the small box—inside it was a silver butterfly necklace that was shaped into a heart.

Leona's heart skipped a beat. She quickly closed the box and gave it back to Caspar. "This gift is too expensive. I can't accept it." 'I need a necklace but how could I accept such an expensive gift from a man I just met? Something as precious as this should be reserved for his mother or the woman he loves.'

To her surprise, Caspar said,

"Who said this was for you?"

Leona was stunned upon hearing this.

"I bought it because I thought it was beautiful. I wanted to give it to the woman I loved but she..." Caspar's voice trailed off as he turned to look at Leona. "She refused to accept it so I'm helping you now. You can return it to me after. You're Mr. Ling's granddaughter so you can't escape me!"

What Caspar truly wanted to say was rather different. 'Leona, once you put this on, you'll never take it off. If you do, I won't let you go that easily.'

When Leona still hadn't put on the necklace, Caspar pursed his lips and asked, "What's wrong? Do you need any help?"

Then Leona quickly put the necklace around her neck, thinking that she would take it off and return it to him after the birthday party was over.

After that day, they grew closer to each other.

Caspar continued to treat Leona as his future wife. 'Mrs. Qiao,' he repeated in his mind dreamily.

Naturally, Caspar would have the woman that he had always wanted.

He never really intended to hide his company businesses from her. If anything, his career only came second to Leona.