You Are The Apple of My Eyes

Chapter 669 Mistake

During their third day at K City, Leon and the others saw Jon. That afternoon, their car stopped at the intersection and waited for the light to turn green. When Leon looked around, he noticed someone wearing a cyan dress entering a cafe.

Leon hurriedly got out of the car and followed her inside the cafe. "Valerie!" he called.

The woman turned around and looked at him with a strange look. She smiled at him and replied, "Sir, I believe you're mistaking me for someone else. My name isn't Valerie Feng."

Her face was similar to Valerie's, not exactly the same. Her badge revealed her name. Upon realizing his mistake, Leon apologized politely and watched the woman leave with a cup of coffee.

After parking the car, Bryant met the woman at the door. Because he knew her cousin very well, he didn't need a second glance to know that that woman wasn't Valerie.

He saw Leon and approached him. "Where's Valerie? Didn't you say that you saw her?"

Leon didn't seem to hear him, his gaze still fixed somewhere outside. No one really knew where he was looking at. He could be looking at passers-by or something else entirely.

Bryant noticed Leon's somber mood. "What's wrong?"

"I was mistaken. I mistook her for Valerie," Leon said with a faint smile.

Bryant was stunned for a moment. Then after a while, he smiled. "Not bad. If Wynn knew, he would raise his glass in celebration. It's been a long time. You should've moved on."

Leon remained silent.

He had always thought that aside from her sister Nina, the only other person he would surely recognize would be Valerie. He thought he could identify both of them just by looking at their silhouettes.

But just now, he had mistaken someone else for Valerie.

Since the cafe only had a few customers that day, the overall ambiance was very peaceful. The only sounds inside the cafe were the door sliding open when someone came out and the waitress greeting customers coming in.

Bryant looked around the cafe. "We're here. Sit down and have a cup of coffee."

Both of them sat down and ordered two cups of coffee. As he placed his order, Leon asked the waitress, "Is there a design company called the ZH Company nearby?"

"Yes. It's next to our coffee shop! When you go out, turn right and keep going until you see their billboard. That's where their office is located. Do you have any business with them?" The waitress put the coffee on their table.

Leon didn't answer her but smiled. "Thank you."

Leon's charming look made it hard for the waitress to leave, but she left nevertheless.

As Bryant added sugar to his coffee, he asked, "What's wrong with ZH Company?"

"I saw the badge of the woman, the one I mistook for Valerie. She works for ZH Company." Leon's eyes brightened as he took a sip of his coffee. "I just called her Valerie. And yet, she told me that her name wasn't Valerie Feng. More so, she seemed strange when she said that."

Bryant sprang upright and stopped stirring his coffee. "If she knows Valerie's surname, she must know Valerie!"

"Maybe she doesn't know her. Perhaps she just heard her name from someone else, such as Jon." At the mention of Jon's name, Leon remained composed, feeling neither anger nor resentment.

Calmly, he said, "Check the ZH Company first."

"Okay." Bryant took out his phone and searched the Internet for any information about the ZH Company. He found out that it was a relatively new and small company. They only started last year and had less than thirty employees in total.

Upon coursing through all the relevant information, he turned to Leon. "Jon changed his name into Baker. He graduated from design school last year, started his own business, and is now running the ZH Company. He is an ambitious man. No wonder Valerie..."

He realized where he was going and immediately stopped.

"No wonder Valerie chose him," Leon continued for him. "Although he's from a wealthy family, he isn't a playboy. He took his studies seriously and started a business. That's good."

His tone was largely indifferent, as though he couldn't care less about what was happening in Jon's life.

After a while, a smirk flashed on Leon's face. "Too bad they broke up in the end. I don't want to see him. You can go and ask him where Valerie is."

"What do you mean? Are they separated?" Bryant was surprised. He didn't know about this.

Leon smiled and said nothing. Although he wasn't absolutely certain, he was confident that the woman he mistook for Valerie a while ago was Jon's secretary. No, not Jon, since he changed his name to Baker. She was Baker's secretary.

A female secretary that looked like Valerie and wore a cyan dress that Valerie liked seemed like a good replacement.

He would only be looking for a replacement for Valerie only if Valerie weren't around anymore.

Midway through their coffee, Baker's secretary came back to the cafe. With a genial smile, she said, "Mr. Feng, Mr. Lu, my boss wants to see you."

Bryant was surprised by the invite. However, Leon was expecting this. "I'll be waiting for you here."

Leon and Baker had always been rivals in terms of love. The anger and resentment between the two were buried under a grave so shallow that even after many years, those feelings would easily arise as soon as they saw each other. Bryant stayed silent as he stood up and left with Baker's secretary.

However, as soon as they left the cafe, Leon caught up with them. "I have something to ask him."

ZH Company was only a small company with less than thirty people. Everyone's office was in the same place. Apart from Baker. He had a separate office.

Baker and Leon were both twenty-six years old. However, when they stood side-by-side, Baker looked older than Leon. He no longer had the youthful look he once had. What remained was a calm and mature face that was built up in these years.

The tension between Leon and Baker didn't manifest as much as Bryant feared. He subtly let out a thankful sigh.

Before they could even ask, Baker got to the subject first. "I broke up with Valerie the second year after we left C Island." Even without being prompted to explain, he went on. "Leon was right. You can't have love without money. No one can survive with just love alone. Love can't solve life problems."

Leon stood by the window and looked at the blue sky outside. The entire time they were at Baker's small office, he hadn't looked even a glance at Baker.

Sitting on the chair, Bryant continued to listen.

"After just a few months we left home, we had already used up all of our money. We rented an apartment and didn't know how to take care of ourselves. After we hired a nanny, we became even poorer. At first, we encouraged each other. But as time went by..." Baker bit his lip and hissed as if something inside wanted him to stop talking. Yet, he continued.

"Valerie likes to dance ballet, but I couldn't afford to buy her a decent pair of ballet shoes. She felt so uncomfortable wearing low-quality dancing shoes that she would rather not wear them." Baker smiled bitterly, his voice about to crack as he started mocking himself. "I was so useless. I couldn't give her a better life. During our relationship, our quarrels became so bad to the point that I even slapped her."

When Bryant heard this, his face turned sour. Throughout her life, Valerie had never been bullied, let alone get slapped.

Leon shot an icy glare towards Baker, ready to throw a right hand straight to his jaw when Baker beat him to it and slapped himself hard across the cheek. The slap was so hard that even the employees outside heard it. They all looked at each other in confusion as they wondered what was happening inside.

Baker's face turned red and swollen. Leon felt disgusted by Baker that he couldn't stand to look up at him even for another second.

As the memory of that night grew more vivid, tears started to well up in Baker's eyes. The regret he felt from hitting Valerie hurt him so much that he no longer felt the sting on his face.

"I regretted it."

"You've already hurt her. Your regret means nothing now. Did you break up after you slapped her?" Bryant said with a stern and icy expression.

"Yes. She cried that night and told me she regretted it," Baker continued. "She ran away and never came back. I knew she never wanted to see me, so I stopped looking for her after half a year." Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Bryant's chest heaving unceasingly as his nostrils flared. Fueled by rage, he stood up and threw a packed punch that landed cleanly on Baker's nose. He fell over the table as the documents spilled onto the floor.

The commotion prompted the secretary to come in. Upon seeing his boss on the floor, his nose bleeding, a look of shock invaded her face. "Sir!"

"I'm fine. Get out." Baker raised his hand to stop her from coming closer. "All of you, take the day off. You can all leave now."

Even though she was worried about her boss, she had no choice but to leave.

Outside the office, the sound of rustling papers filled the room as everyone started packing. When all of the employees were gone, everything was quiet.

Meanwhile, before Baker could even stand up, Bryant knocked him down again with another punch. Blood started to ooze not only from his nose but also at the corner of his mouth.

"She's fine. She's living a better life now that she's not with me so you don't have to worry too much." Baker grabbed a tissue and wiped the blood on his face. There was no urge for him to fight back, as though he had accepted that this beating was his punishment for what he had done to Valerie.

Bryant straightened his crumpled suit and glared at Baker with cold eyes.

Leon looked at Baker. "Where is she? Give us her address."

"I don't know." Baker took off his suit. He didn't seem to be lying.

However, Bryant didn't believe him. "How could you not know where she is? How do you know if she's living a good life?" He grabbed him by the collar, coercing him to speak.

After a while, Baker said, "I really don't know where she is. She's passionate about dancing. I know she would try to pursue it. This is the only clue I can give you. Maybe you can find her that way."

Bryant sneered disgustingly at Baker as he and Leon left.

Before they could leave, Baker called out to Bryant.

For a second, Bryant stopped in his tracks but resumed immediately without looking back. As he continued to walk away, he heard Baker's voice. "When you see Valerie, can you please tell her that I bought her favorite ballet shoes? They're waiting for her at home."