Only Close When I’m About to Lose You

An Insignificant Person

The next day.

As the first lady of Los Angeles, Leah had a strict daily routine. She would wake up at 6:30 every morning. Before marriage, at The Evans Family, she needed to take care of her parents. After marriage, at Orchard View Villa, if Frederick was home, she had to be considerate and look after him.

He had a habit of morning runs.

She would wait for him at the gate, offering him a clean towel. While he was washing up, she would personally cook breakfast.

Today was different.

When Frederick finished his exercise, he didn't see her under the pear blossom tree. He entered the villa, changed his clothes and came downstairs, but still didn't see her.

Frederick called out to Holly who was passing by, asking, "Where is she?"

"Madam is still sleeping."

It was already 7:30.

This was indeed unlike Madam's style.

Usually at this time, when the master was home, Madam would already be making breakfast. When the master wasn't home, Madam would be reading various books on the chaise lounge by the window.

Holly tentatively asked, "Sir, do you need me to wake Madam up?"

Frederick: "No need."

He walked to the sofa and sat down, picking up the unfinished financial magazine on the table.

At 8 o'clock, Holly came to serve a cup of morning tea. There was no movement upstairs; Leah was still not awake. At 8:30, Holly came to serve pre-meal fruit, and there was still no movement upstairs.

9 o'clock.

A car drove down the tree-lined path. The man who entered was wearing a black windbreaker. He took off his sunglasses and ran towards Frederick: "I heard from your assistant that you're back from your business trip, so I came right away. You really nailed that international cooperation case. Those old directors who didn't approve of you in the company now don't dare to make a peep!"

Harrison Carter looked around and said, "Where's Leah?"

As soon as he finished speaking.

Noticing Frederick's slightly cold gaze, Harrison immediately corrected his form of address: "I'm sorry, bro. I spoke too quickly. I just asked because I didn't see sister-in-law around."

Frederick and Leah's relationship wasn't good.

The outside world knew they had an arranged marriage following the elders' orders, and that they were polite and courteous to each other. However, no one dared to openly slight Leah.

Frederick was protective of his own.

Even though it was an arranged marriage without an emotional foundation, he still gave her full respect. Harrison didn't like Leah, but he still followed Frederick's orders and called her sister-in-law.

Because his brother had taught him: "One must have manners."

However, towards Leah, Harrison could only forcibly put on a few airs of good manners. He complained: "Bro, ... sister-in-law is the marriage partner Quinlan chose for you, she's Quinlan's spy, used to monitor you. She's very capable, it's been two years and she hasn't shown a single flaw."

Quinlan was the matriarch of The Carter Family, Frederick's nominal mother.

More than twenty years ago, Alexander Carter went abroad for work and married Frederick's mother using his British identity. It wasn't until little Frederick was four or five years old that his mother learned her husband had a wife in Los Angeles.

The mother hated herself for misjudging people and sympathized with Quinlan, who had suffered the same fate. She thought about taking Frederick and fleeing to a faraway place, but never imagined that Quinlan would hire assassins. The mother died on a cold, rainy night.

For years, Frederick had also been avoiding Quinlan's assassination attempts. It wasn't until five years ago, when Frederick made a name for himself through securities investment, that he was able to protect himself and return to the country.

He was very talented.

He had a good business acumen and was also good at leading subordinates and managing companies. In recent years, he had entered Carter Enterprises Group, starting from the bottom and working his way up to his current position as executive director.

Quinlan was wary of him.

She only regretted not getting rid of this bastard earlier, like she had done with Frederick's mother.

Now that he had returned to the country, it was even harder to move against him.

So, in order to better control Frederick, she planted a spy by his side. Under the guise of considering his lifelong happiness, she actually just placed a monitor on him.

It's unclear whether this monitor was too stupid or too good at pretending, as they hadn't found any evidence of private contact between Leah and Quinlan in the two years since the marriage.

Footsteps were heard from upstairs.

Leah appeared wearing a lotus pink waist-cinching spaghetti strap long dress, paired with a white knit cardigan. On this early spring morning, a fragrant breeze blew in from the window, lifting the hem of the woman's dress. The dress floated lightly against her fair, slender ankles, embodying the gentleness of a young girl but not lacking the charm of a woman.

She wasn't wearing makeup.

Her palm-sized face was clean and fair, without even a trace of lip gloss. A casual fishtail braid hung lazily over her left shoulder. As she came down the stairs, she lowered her gaze to watch her steps, lightly lifting her skirt.

For a moment.

She seemed even more eye-catching than the spring scenery outside.

Harrison's eyes widened like brass bells, and he was stunned for several seconds. In his impression, Leah was very rigid, dressed very conservatively, and rarely wore dresses. She gave off the feeling of the dull twilight of late autumn, never before showing such vibrant springtime energy.

Her features were beautiful.

But they had been completely hidden by her dull, uninteresting, and introverted demeanor and actions. In the past, every time Harrison saw her, he felt like his life was shortened just by speaking half a sentence more to her.

How did she seem like a completely different person today?

She didn't look like Leah anymore.

Holly was the first to greet her. The woman's eyes sparkled, "Madam, are you going out? You look so beautiful today, especially pretty."

She had a spirited aura.

At her age, she should be lively and unrestrained.

"Mm, I have something to go out for," Leah responded.

As soon as she finished speaking, she carefully noticed a certain gaze in the living room. Leah turned her head and met Frederick's eyes without any deviation. He was a cold and solitary person, always difficult to read, and wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, his inner thoughts were deeply hidden. Apart from his profound black eyes, Leah couldn't read any of his emotions.

She moved her gaze away.

She glimpsed Harrison's wild and untamed face.

Harrison was Frederick's brother, not by blood but closer than family, with a deep bond.

Two years ago, when The Carter Family and The Evans Family arranged the marriage, the room was full of respected elders, and no one dared to interfere. The 17-year-old Harrison was the bravest, bursting out in protest: "Why does my brother have to marry her?"

"My brother should decide his own marriage."

"What right do you people have to determine his lifelong happiness with just a few words? Because you're old and about to die?"

His protest was ineffective.

Leah and Frederick still got married.

After the marriage, she would encounter Harrison at Orchard View Villa and at The Carter Family's old mansion. The man's eyes were fierce and arrogant, his expression haughty and defiant, but he would still lower his head and call her: "Sister-in-law."

Harrison really disliked her.

This bit of respect came from Frederick's orders.

Leah didn't speak to the brothers. She withdrew her gaze, turned towards the dining room, and asked as she walked, "Holly, what's for breakfast this morning?"

Holly: "Madam, I made the salmon noodles you love."

The mistress and servant walked away.

Their voices faded.

Harrison stared in the direction Leah had left for a long time, then turned to look at Frederick, his jaw still dropped: "Bro, you saw that too, right? She's not right, did she take the wrong medicine? Why is she so different from before? She, she, she—"

She had indeed changed.

Frederick had noticed it when he returned last night.

Compared to Harrison's shock and surprise, Frederick's expression remained unchanged. He put down the financial magazine in his hand and only said: "She is your sister-in-law, maintain a proper attitude."