There was not much ntion of Belinda in the novel. Leslie only learned bits here and there about the pampered young miss of the Qin family. She didn’t expect to et the lady here.
Standing by the table, Belinda stared at Calix. She tried getting him to host a gathering for everyone.
"Brother Calix, shouldn’t you plan a al with all of us? We can gather and get to know each other. I know Brother Xander and Brother Davin will be happy about it. Sister Violet too."
Leslie refrained from scoffing once Belinda brought up Xander’s na again. She knew that Calix and the male lead’s friendship was still strained from Xander’s previous stunt.
Xander tried to reach out to Calix a few tis but, the latter told him to save his insincere apology to himself.
At the sa ti, Davin respected Calix’s decision to go low contact with Xander. The forr understood how much Xander had ssed up this ti.
A smile was still plastered on Calix’s face but, his eyes turned frosty. Belinda blinked, sensing sothing was different from the way the man stared at her.
"Belle, aren’t you aware of what you’ve caused?"
Calix’s usually llow voice had a razor-sharp tinge on its edge, startling Belinda. A knot quickly ford in her stomach, telling her sothing was amiss with the man.
"Brother Calix, what are you..."
"Don’t play innocent," Calix cut Belinda off. Unwilling to prolong this conversation, he added, "Don’t be such a loudmouth gossiper. Please leave. Our family is still having a al."
Belinda blinked, not expecting Calix to openly tell her off like this. Even though the man didn’t raise his voice, she still sensed the suppressed wrath oozing from him.
What was going on?
Did she miss sothing?
Maybe...
Widening her eyes, a realization dawned on Belinda. Her blood quickly drained from her face, leaving her pale.
Crap!
He was referring to when she reported those rumors to her cousin, leading to an ugly fight between the two n.
How could she not rember that?
"I’m... I’m sorry..." Belinda hurriedly shifted her eyes to Leslie, stamring to speak, "I didn’t an to... I’m sorry, Mrs. Charlene. I foolishly believed Gladys..."
Leslie held back from sighing. Knowing that Calix was still upset, she uttered, "Be careful with rumors. What if you hurt soone because of it? If there’s a chance, we might see each other in the future."
Leslie’s remarks stunned Belinda. Embarrassed, a tinge of blush spread on her pale cheeks.
The aning behind the wheelchair-bound lady was obvious. She neither forgave nor planned to et with her again. The lady was simply saying that to chase her away.
Belinda shifted her gaze to Calix, noticing how grim his countenance was. Clenching her hands together, she weakly uttered, "T-then... I’ll go now... Enjoy your al..."
Turning around, Belinda hurriedly left, her high heels clinking on the marble floor.
Calix and Leslie didn’t waste ti seeing where Belinda disappeared. Staring at each other, they exchanged faint smiles before they realized a pair of small eyes looked at them above a plate of pancakes.
"Mama, Papa, who?" asked Calliope, wondering about Belinda’s identity. She only noticed the lady’s appearance when she almost wiped the plate clean of the fluffy pancakes.
"Well, just soone I knew," Calix reached for a tissue, wiping the corner of Calliope’s mouth stained with jam, "Wanna eat more?"
"Hehe, yes~"
Leslie and Calix spoke nothing about Belinda as they focused on finishing their breakfast. None of them also cared to see whether the young lady was still around or not.
From a hidden corner of the restaurant, Belinda begrudgingly stared at Calix and Leslie. What happened earlier still embarrassed her.
Argh! She shouldn’t go to greet them but, her curiosity won.
"Why do you look like that? Did they not welco you?"
Blinking, Belinda’s eyes moved from Calix and Leslie to the man sitting opposite her. Dressed in a round-collared shirt and a jacket, the man calmly took a sip of his coffee.
"W-well, nothing happened," Belinda quickly schooled her expression, trying to smile, "That man over there fought with my cousin so... he didn’t want to see too."
"What kind of fight?" asked the man, arching his brows. Interest flickered in his eyes.
"Just a silly fight between n," Belinda quickly dismissed the man’s inquiry. Reaching for her cup of coffee, she said, "Let’s hurry. I still need to get my mom’s new bag. She won’t let anyone but get it for her."
"Okay."
Belinda was glad when the man dropped the subject. She was afraid her excuses would sound thoroughly fake if he continued asking.
Half an hour later, the family of three left the restaurant all stuffed from breakfast. They headed to the lobby on the first floor.
Logan was already waiting for them at the front porch of the hotel. Their next destination was the Xu family’s ancestral ho.
"Papa, Mama, Poppy still can eat chocolate ah."
Calliope patted her round tummy, trying to convince Calix and Leslie to let her have chocolate as soon as she t her cousin Alia.
Pushing Leslie’s wheelchair while glancing at Calliope walking ahead of them, Calix replied, "Are you sure, Poppy? Your tummy is rounder than a ball ah. What if you overeat? Papa will just give you a small chocolate."
"Poppy is not a ball," Calliope whined, her pouty lips deserving to be tied with cute ribbons, "Poppy want a bigggg chocolate."
Calix and Calliope were engaged in a battle of stare when none of them was willing to give up. The little one walked backward as she continued looking at her papa.
"Just a teeny tiny piece of chocolate. How about that?" Leslie stifled her laughter, amused to see the sulky look on Calliope’s face, "Then, you can have it after lunch too."
"Okay~ Poppy will follow Mama! Poppy will... ah!"
"Poppy!"
"Careful!"
Calliope’s back bumped into soone walking. She would fall facefirst if not for the passersby to quickly grab her.
"Thank you, mister," Calix stepped around the wheelchair, his tone having a hint of urgency and worry, "I’m sorry. I didn’t tell my daughter to walk properly."
"It’s nothing. I didn’t see where I was walking too," replied the man with a smile. He passed Calliope to Calix, "Such a cute daughter. You and your wife are blessed."
"Indeed, we are," Calix smiled, pleased to receive the complint. Looking at Calliope in his arms, he asked, "Poppy, what should you tell this uncle?"
"Oh... Poppy is sorry, uncle," Calliope bowed her small head, her brows scrunching from worries, "Sorry."
"Next ti, look at where you’re walking, en?" said the man, his smile deepening, "What if you bump into a bad guy?"
"Uhuh... Sorry."
The man simply smiled. Waving at Calix and Calliope, he nodded at Leslie who hadn’t spoken anything before hurrying to a direction.
Calix was still looking at the man’s disappearing figure. He narrowed his eyes once he saw the man approaching a familiar figure near the entrance.
"En? ..isn’t that Belle? That man’s her friend? What do you think, Leslie? ...sweetheart?"
Tearing his eyes from the man and Belinda, Calix looked at Leslie only to find her face losing colors within just a few minutes.
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