True Fated Marriage (Grace and Heinz)
Chapter 1912

It was not a good idea to go for a trip in winter, especially when she didn't bring any luggage with her.

Leah only carried a backpack, which was a double strapped one that she bought from a convenience store along the way. She bought the coat last minute when she was shopping, but she was still feeling very cold.

She felt so tired after sitting in the car for a few hours.

The people who joined the trip were all in pairs or with family and friends. She was the only one alone, seeming particularly lonely.

The only advantage was that her mind was clear and she no longer felt like she was in a daze.

Perhaps it was easier for people to think over certain things in the cold weather.

When they arrived, it was already afternoon. Their first destination was to go to a famous ancient building with the tour guide.

It was said that the building had produced many top talents in the ancient times. It was a very famous scholar mansion that was built back then.

Walking through the carved corridors and painted towers, Leah's mind was not on the scenery.

On the first day, she did not turn on her phone.

It was not until noon the next day that she turned on her phone.

At that time, she received a lot of messages.

Ernest had sent a message almost every hour. He only sent one message at a time.

Leah looked at the messages and twitched her lips.

Both her mother and Norval had texted and called her as well.

She had left the group during the visit of the attractions and did not intend to continue the trip with the group. She wanted to take a stroll alone.

She sat down at a coffee shop and chose a window seat. Bathing in the warm winter sunshine, Leah picked up her phone and called Ernest. When the phone was connected, Ernest had just reached the city that Leah was travelling in. He was still looking for the hotel where Leah stayed at.

He didn't expect to receive a call from Leah.

Ernest was very surprised and quickly picked it up. "Leah?"

Leah's voice came from the other end of the phone. "Ernest, I see that you sent me a lot of messages. I have just turned on my phone."

"Leah, I know that you are sad, I'm sorry." Ernest didn't know how to comfort Leah. He just regretted that he didn't meet Leah earlier.

"No, it has nothing to do with you." Leah shook her head. "Or rather, it doesn't have much to do with you. I admit that I'm a little narrow-minded. It's just that what makes me sad is not you, but my mother." "Your mother?" Ernest was stunned. That was the first time he heard Leah talking about her mother.

Leah pondered for a moment, then said softly, "It's my mother. She suddenly appeared with her stepson."

Ernest was confused. "Do you not want to see them?"

"No." Leah felt that sometimes, meeting each other was not as good as just thinking about them. "I really don't want to."

"I understand." Ernest vaguely remembered how his mother and his aunt didn't want to see his grandmother as well. It was because when they were at the age when they needed his grandmother the most, his grandmother chose to become a deserter and only considered her own happiness. Neglecting his mother and aunt who were still young, she eloped with his grandfather and gave birth to his uncle, Lowell.

He wondered what happened to Leah's mother.

He once thought Leah's mother was dead.

Unexpectedly, she appeared again.

"You don't understand," Leah said with a wry smile. "My mom wants me to marry her stepson. She feels that I'll be closer to her in that way."

Hearing that, Ernest couldn't help but to step hard on the brake.

The car screeched, letting out a sharp noise.

Leah seemed to have heard it. She asked anxiously, "What's wrong?"

It was not until then that Ernest realized what had happened. He quickly turned to the phone and said, "I'm fine. Did you just say that your mom wants you to marry her stepson?"

Leah bitterly smiled and took a breath. "Isn't it funny?"

Ernest drove the car to the side of the road and took a deep breath. "Did you reject her?"

"Of course I rejected her," Leah said. "Should I agree to it if I don't reject her?" She didn't forget that she had a boyfriend. Of course, even if she didn't have a boyfriend, she wouldn't marry Norval. Hearing that, only did Ernest feel a little better and he asked, "Where are you? I'll go and see you."

"I'm away in other city," Leah said. "Don't look for me. I'll contact you when I get back to Northern City."

"I'm in the city where you are now. Where are you? I'll drive there to see you," Ernest said in a low voice.

"Are you here?" Leah was shocked and unconsciously raised her voice.

"Yes," said Ernest. "I only found out that you're here this morning. You said before that you were going on a trip, so I asked my dad's subordinate to check and see where you are. My dad only told me where you were going after a day. Otherwise, I would have come yesterday."

He didn't hide anything and directly told Leah.

Ernest just wanted Leah to know that he would not hide anything from her anymore in the future.

After hearing that, Leah was really surprised.

She was in a daze for a long time, forgetting how to respond.

It was not until the waiter brought her a hot latte that she came to her senses and said to the waiter, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The waiter put it down and left.

Leah came to her senses then and said, "What are you doing here, Ernest?"

"Don't you want me to come?" Ernest asked in a low voice.

Leah sighed. "It's not that I don't want you to come. It's just that it's too tiring for you. I didn't mean to burden you. I just wanted to be alone for a while."

"You were alone for the whole day and whole night yesterday. That's enough," said Ernest. "Now tell me where you are, I'll go and replace you."

Leah had no choice but to agree to him, and sent him her location.

She hung up the phone first and sent the location. Ernest set that in his GPS and immediately drove over. He called her again while he drove.

Leah held her phone and apologized. "Sorry, I was being wilful."

If she was calm enough, she wouldn't have run away to such a faraway place. She even had Ernest to drive so far to look for her. It was too tiring for him to replace her whereabouts, not to mention that he was driving over. How could he bear it?

"No." Ernest shook his head and said to Leah, "You are a good woman. However, it's me who forced you too much."

Leah did not say anything.

Ernest said again, "I just think that I want to go back to London after the Spring Festival, and I want to cherish every day, every second, and every minute that I spent with you. I don't want to waste any time we have."

Hearing that he would go back to London after the Spring Festival, and that they only had about a month left to be physically together, Leah immediately became anxious.

What was she doing?

They had limited time to be together, yet she was still making a fuss and left him instead of cherishing it.

She felt that she really shouldn't have done that.

"Sorry, Ernest, I always care too much about my own thoughts and neglected you," Leah apologized.

Perhaps because Leah was not by his side, she was very clear-headed and very calm.

She really felt that she cared too much about her emotions and ignored Ernest's feelings.

She could not participate in his past, and she felt regretful and sad. However, that was the fate arranged by God and it was not his fault.

His heart was hers and only hers then. He was being very responsible in their relationship, and that itself was enough.

Ernest smiled. Through the phone, Leah could hear his smiling tone. "Don't apologize to me. You're not wrong. Girls are a little narrow-minded, but I replace that adorable. I finally know how far I have gone after you left. Leah, I will make it up to you."

Hearing that, Leah burst into laughter. "How are you going to make it up to me?"

"With my body," replied Ernest.

He was always so direct. He was a gentleman, but in that matter, he was always so domineering.

Leah blushed and subconsciously looked around as if she had done something wrong. She felt very embarrassed.

At that time, she suddenly realized something. A tall man was looking at her. He was a little far away, but Leah still found out that he was looking at her.

After a brief moment of blankness, Leah frowned. She looked carefully and saw that the man was walking towards her.

Norval Qualls.

It should be him. Although they hadn't seen each other for a few years, Leah could tell at a glance that it was Norval.

He actually went there too.

Leah was very suspicious and said to the phone, "Ernest, I'm waiting for you at the coffee shop. I didn't expect that my mom's stepson is actually here too."

Ernest was stunned. There was no sound on the phone for a while earlier, and he thought that Leah was shy about what he had said as he was aware of it. He didn't expect that there would be an unexpected situation.

"I'm still three kilometres away," said Ernest, "I'll be there soon."

If there was no traffic, it should be fast. However, he was at a busy spot in the city, and he was not sure whether there would be traffic or not.

Leah reminded, "No worries. Drive safe."

"Don't worry," said Ernest.

"All right." Leah hung up the phone.

Norval had already arrived in front of her. He was taller than before, and he had a big build figure. He wore a pair of golden-rimmed glasses, his hair trimmed neatly, and he had a smile on his face. He looked quite refined.

He was wearing a white shirt and a wool overcoat. It was simple and neat.

Standing in front of her, he smiled at Leah and said, "Can I sit down?"

Leah pursed her lips and said, "Sure."

Norval sat down and looked at the latte in front of her. He said, "Coffee is the unhealthiest beverage. It seems that you haven't been taking good care of yourself during the years when your mother was not around."

"Compared to you, Mr. Qualls, it really wasn't fantastic for me," Leah said lightly, "It's just that my mother had to go and take care of you, so how could she have time to take care of me?"

"Yes." Norval raised his eyebrows and seemed to agree with Leah's words. "What you say seems to be true. I'm really sorry, Leah, I took away the motherly love you should have had." Leah's gaze turned cold. She didn't want to speak.

"However, I will make it up you." Norval smiled and said, "In the future, your mother and I will make it up to you by giving you twice as much love to make up for the childhood that you missed out on." "No need, I don't need it," Leah said flatly, "I didn't need it before and I naturally won't need it in the future either."

Norval looked at her, his eyes squinting. A glimmer of light appeared in his eyes as he said, "Leah, aren't you lonely travelling alone?"

Leah felt that Norval must have been quite capable to be able to locate her.

She looked at Norval calmly and asked, "How did you replace me?"

Norval smiled and said, "Are you curious?"

"I'm terrified," Leah said in a low voice.

"Hehe, there's no need to be terrified." Norval leaned back and sighed slightly regretfully. "I'm late. If only I had come a few months earlier."