By driving her car, Anne went to a restaurant that had been determined by Leon. After receiving a call from Professor Gilbert who said that Leon would sue the UAL campus, Anne then unblocked Leon's phone number and immediately called him.

Leon, who was having a meeting at the office, was very happy when he saw Anne's number appear on his cell phone screen. He didn't expect that Anne would directly contact him in such a short time. Without thinking, Leon then picked up the call from Anne. Soon after, he returned to the meeting room and ordered his assistant to continue the meeting without him because he was going to see Anne, because Anne had asked him to meet with her and Leon immediately agreed to that without thinking. That was why Leon ordered a five-star luxury restaurant in the downtown area to meet Anne. Leon even took a shower before going to see her. He also wore his best clothes and expensive perfume this time. Even though every time he traveled with Steffi, he was never so meticulous with his appearance.

​​

However, Anne was different. She chose to dress casually by wearing a jumpsuit and black t-shirt. Anne also tied her short hair at the top and let her bangs move freely without any pins. With an appearance like that, Anne looked even more adorable. She also looked much younger. After driving for nearly forty-five minutes, Anne finally arrived at the restaurant that had been booked by Leon. She immediately got out of her car and walked into the restaurant. After mentioning to the receptionist that she had an appointment with Leonardo Ganke, she was escorted to a VIP room, where Leon had already been waiting for her.

"You're really annoying, Leon. If it isn't for the sake of my college and Professor Gilbert, I would never do this," Anne thought quietly as she walked into the VIP room following the restaurant waitress who escorted her.

"Please, Miss, Mr. Ganke is already inside," said the friendly waitress.

"Thank you," replied Anne briefly with a smile.

After saying that, the waitress then left Anne who was already standing in front of the VIP room. When the waitress was gone, Anne took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down as she felt like exploding in anger. Then she opened the door to the room slowly. The reason was that Anne's emotions were currently bubbling because of Leon.

"Marianne, you're here!!!" Leon screamed with joy when he saw Anne enter his room, his eyes sparkled when he saw Anne was already in front of his eyes. Leon was astonished at her current appearance.

"You cut your hair, Marianne?" asked Leon quietly when he saw Anne with short hair.

"Yes, I want to try a new hairstyle," replied Anne briefly as she opened the napkin that was on the table to put on her lap.

Seeing what Anne did made Leon smile. He didn't expect Anne to act so gracefully.

"With this hairstyle you look very beautiful and adorable, Marianne," said Leon sincerely.

Anne's lips lifted to hear the compliment from Leon. Actually, Anne could not wait to end her conversation with Leon and ask for the contract letter that he had mentioned earlier. But suddenly, Anne thought of a crazy idea to make Leon even more fascinated by her. She slowly grabbed her hair bun and immediately untied her hair so that her hair fell back freely. She slowly fiddled with her hair and returned to tie all her short hair again, but because her hair was short, not all of her hair could be tied perfectly. Seeing Anne was playing with her hair made Leon gulped. He even held his breath when he saw Anne used her teeth to bite her hair band while she was trying to straighten her hair to tie it back.

Anne's triumphant smile grew when she saw Leon's face turn redder. She knew Leon had a crush on her, so she deliberately did that to make Leon even more uncomfortable seeing what she was doing.

"Really? Who's prettier, me or your wife, Steffi?" asked Anne quietly, looking at Leon with a mischievous look.

Thump!

Leon's heart raced very quickly when he heard the words of Anne. He did not expect to hear such words from Anne.

"Of course you are prettier, Marianne, you are so beautiful ..."

"Liar." Anne immediately cut off Leon's words pretending to be annoyed.

"What do you mean? I'm not lying, Marianne, you are really beautiful. Steffi can't be compared to you," Leon said passionately.

"Really? Then why did you have an affair with Steffi back then?" asked Anne quickly to lure Leon.

"I-it's because of my stupidity, Marianne, I was tempted by her. She was the one who teased me. She came to my office and offered her body to me the day before we got married. I was really stupid, Marianne, I was stupid for being caught in that ugly duckling's trap," Leon answered without pause, while trying to grab Anne's hand which was on the table. But Anne acted swiftly and pulled her hand away before Leon could reach them. So Leon couldn't touch her hand.

Anne refrained from throwing up when she heard Leon's disgusting words. She really wanted to throw the glass of water on the table to Leon's face so he would wake up. But she held it all because she had a bigger goal this time. Moreover, she had to make Professor Gilbert's name remain good in the eyes of campus officials. She knew what Professor Gilbert did was solely so that the art college students could get good jobs. That was why Anne tried to restrain herself from attacking Leon. When Anne was about to open her mouth, suddenly the door to the VIP room was knocked from outside and two waitresses came in with super delicious and luxurious food on a tray. Carefully, the two waitresses set down two plates containing the best steaks of the restaurant that received the highest rating, as well as a bottle of wine and two empty glasses.

"Can I have a bottle of mineral water? I don't drink wine," said Anne quietly to the waitress who had just poured wine into her glass.

"Mineral water?" asked the waitress, surprised.

"Yes, Miss, please," answered Leon quickly.

"O-okay sir, then wait a minute," the waitress stammered. She knew who the man was talking about at this time. Because Leon had already shown his limited edition black card at the cashier's desk, and not everyone could have the magic card. Therefore, none of the waitresses dared to refute Leon.

Not long after that, the waitress came back into the VIP room with cold mineral water requested by Anne.

"Just put it down, Miss, let me open it myself," said Anne quietly, forbidding the waitress to open the bottle of mineral water she had just brought.

"All right then, Miss. Now if you'll excuse me. Is there anything else you two need?" asked the friendly waitress.

"Not for now," Leon answered quickly.

"All right, excuse me." The waitress left while bowing her head. Not long after she left, Leon and Anne were alone again.

After a while, Anne grabbed the bottle of mineral water brought by the waitress. She quickly downed the glass bottle without first pouring it into the glass so that there were drops of water that flowed from the side of her lips, down to her neck slowly. Leon swished when he saw the water droplets running down her white neck. He wanted to stop the water droplets with his lips. Anne, who deliberately did that, pretended not to know what had happened. After she quenched her thirst, Anne then put the bottle back on the table without any disinclination.

"Ahh sorry, you have to see this," cried Anne quickly, wiping her lips and neck with the napkin in her lap.

"It's okay, Marianne, you don't need to be awkward with me. Come on, let's eat, this steak is much more delicious while it's warm, Marianne," Leon replied nervously.

"Really? Well then cut this steak for me," said Anne quickly with a spoiled look.

Leon was petrified for a moment when Anne looked at him like that. He was completely carried away by all of Anne's attitudes and words.

"Please," Anne pleaded again in a pitiful tone.

"O-of course, I'm happy to," Leon stammered as he grabbed Anne's plate and began to carefully chop the expensive steak.

Anne continued to stare at Leon without blinking. Even though her lips were smiling, deep in her heart, she couldn't bear to share and breathe the same oxygen in the room together with the man who had thrown her away.

"Be patient, Anne be patient, calm yourself. You have to get used to this, you have to be strong," said Anne in her heart to calm herself.

to be continued