Chapter 2 Eavsedropping

Tom tried his best to shuffle his laughter. Daisy laughed at him as well.

Except, for Diana, she looked at him with earnest eyes.

Ella adverted her eyes, not wanting to see anything.

Leonardo raised his head and gave a satisfactory smile to Jeremy.

"I did bring something for grandma." He added, taking out something from the pockets of his coat. "Though, it doesn't cost that much. And it may seem useless and may seem not worthy to you."

Caroline narrowed her eyes, "What's that? Did you bring a stone you picked up from somewhere or something?".

"Or maybe some tissues," Jeremy remarked with a laugh.

Cassandra could hardly contain her rage.

"This is why I had told him not to show up in here till the party was over. Why didn't he listen to me?" Jade retorted.

The atmosphere around them became tense.

Leonardo handed out a box to Caroline.

Caroline glanced down and took it.

When she opened the box she saw a pair of pink gloves.

"What's in there, Mom?" Jeremy asked.

Caroline showed the gloves to Jeremy.

"How did you buy gloves? You don't have any money on you, don't you?" Lucas added, placing his hands in his pockets.

Leonardo nodded. "Yes, I didn't have any."

"I had gone out in the night to take a walk. It was then I saw an old man lying unconscious at the side of the road. But no one was helping him out."

"Cars were running past him and they could hit him any second now."

"I helped him get up and when he became conscious, he thanked me. And gave me those gloves which he had brought for him in return for my help."

"No wonder," Tom added.

"When I saw the pink color, I recalled that you love pink the most Grandma. That's why I brought it for you." Leonardo smiled a little, waiting to see Caroline's reaction.

His smile was quite radiant.

Caroline looked at them with great detail, then a smile came across her face.

Ella looked towards Leonardo's direction, her eyes filled with worry.

Seeing Caroline smile Leonardo was starting to feel happy.

All the spectators waited for her reaction.

But then, Caroline threw the gloves onto the floor, along with the box in it in front of so many people.

A nasty look forms on her face.

Everyone including Leonardo watched the scene in shock.

"Even the maids and servants in our house use better gloves than this. And you expect me to wear them? This is too much of a joke to take you know?".

"How did you think in a million times, that I would accept this cheap gift from you, Leo?".

Ella's heart broke into a million pieces. Ella tapped on her mom's hand. Cassandra looked down at her.

She could tell that she wanted to leave, so she carried the wheelchair towards her room, leaving the party hall.

Jeremy came forward and moved to Leonardo's side. He patted on his shoulder and smirked.

"You can't seem to understand the class difference between a rich and a commoner. That's why you always make the mistake of not meeting up to our expectations."

Leonardo clenched his fists tightly, without raising his eyes.

"You did try to make her happy by bringing a gift for her, but it just doesn't suit up to our preferences. So, she can't accept it, sorry."

"Here, take $10. Maybe it'll make up for the gloves, won't it?".

Everyone started laughing at him. He looked at everyone's faces watching, laughing, and mocking him.

"You are such an embarrassment to our family, that even your wife wasn't able to stand it and left," Caroline retorted.

"Stop making a fool of yourself in front of others, will you?".

Leonardo raised his head searching for Ella, but she was nowhere to be seen. Only Jade was the one who stood there, but he wasn't even looking in his direction.

His face had gone pale for a second.

"Ella.....she left?".

Before anyone could say anything further, he ran out of there without looking back. Everyone watched him go.

He ran past the big gate of the mansion and ran without looking in any direction.

All of a sudden, he stopped in front of the big Christmas tree, standing at the side of the City road. He leaned onto the railings, underneath where the river was. He watched the tree while panting and breathing heavily from all the running he did.

His eyes filled with despair. After a while, snow started falling. He watched how they piled up on top of one another on the tree.

"It's a white Christmas."

"One of the worst Christmas ever."

Leonardo and Ella had been married for over one month before Christmas. William Heartfillia is Ella's grandpa. On his deathbed, he requested Ella to marry Leonardo. Which is the reason why they got married in the first place.

Her grandpa lived to witness their marriage. But a few days after that, he passed away. It was after his death, that his will had been revealed.

Where it was written, That after his death, "80% percent of his property and assets will be given to Ella." Lucas added, taking a sip of his wine.

Leonardo went back home and heard Lucas and Tom talking while he walked past their room. He stopped by after hearing about the will.

"And the rest of the 20% will be divided among the rest of the grandchildren," Tom remarks, looking at the wine glass that he held in his hand with hatred.

"The heck with the 20%!" Lucas cursed, throwing the glass from his hands onto the floor. The door wasn't locked, so Leonardo could see their faces very clearly from the small opening of the door.

He was drunk, from what his half-closed brown eyes were telling. His face was a bit flustered as well, from anger.

"We have to divide the 20% in small portions among ourselves, while she gets to have the 80%! That's like giving her everything while giving us nothing but to fight among ourselves." He yelled, loud enough for anyone passing by the room to hear clearly.

"Brother, lower your voice," Tom pleaded.

"Someone might hear you."

"Let them hear!" Lucas snorted, getting up on his feet.

"Ella had always had everything since the beginning. Even though, she's the youngest."

Leo adverted his eyes, feeling a bit guilty.

"Grandpa's affection, love, admiration from others, and even became one of the board of directors in the company in such a short time."

"Even though we had been working in the company for more years than her."

"Have you looked at our shares? It's nothing compared to hers."

"All the employees in our company think of her as someone like a goddess."

Leo turned his back on the door, about to leave not wanting to hear anything any longer.

"That's why we had planned the accident in the first place," Tom interrupted, putting down the drink on the table.

Leo's eyes widened for a second. "What did he say?".

"What accident?".

He leaned on the door, trying to listen to them.