Tangled in His Obsession

Chapter 440

Patrick was also heading back to Sunburst City that day, not on the same flight as Andrea, but at a similar time. So, he sat down next to her and Seraphina and struck up a casual conversation.

Andrea, who called Patrick “uncle” out of domestic relation, wasn’t too familiar with him. They’d only exchanged brief hellos at some event they both attended by chance. So naturally, she didn’t have much to say to him. But Seraphina and Patrick were a different story. They gabbed about current events, buzzworthy news, and Patrick’s media empire, the conversation flowing like a river.

Andrea mostly stayed quiet, just listening from the sidelines.

It wasn’t until Patrick’s assistant came over to remind him it was time for security check that their engrossing chat came to a reluctant close. “Going through security with me, Andrea?” Patrick finally turned to her.

“No, thanks,” she replied. “I just got a text that my flight’s delayed. I’ll hang back a bit longer.”

“Alright then, Patrick said. “You two take it easy. I’m off.”

Seraphina waved with a grin, and Patrick flashed a brief smile before turning to leave. He paused, looking back at Seraphina, “Next time you’re in Sunburst City, let me take you out for dinner. Or if I’m in Summitville again and you’re still around, let’s grab a bite, yeah?”

“Sure thing,” Seraphina responded with easy confidence. “We’ll plan it out.”

With a nod and a more formal farewell, Patrick finally left. Seraphina let out a small sigh as she watched him go.

“What’s with the sigh?” Andrea asked, her tone light.

“I just missed out on a golden opportunity,” Seraphina replied. “He wanted me to work for him once, and I was quite tempted.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because he’s a legend,” Seraphina explained. “He’s got the Midas touch, and working for him would mean getting my hands on the most intriguing cases. Plus, he really trusts me. Imagine how fulfilling that job would be!”

Listening, Andrea slowly said, “He doesn’t just trust you, he quite likes you!”

Seraphina shot her a glance. “So what?”

“Aren’t you afraid Leandro will get jealous?”

Seraphina couldn’t help but laugh. “He likes me because I’m likable. If Leandro gets jealous, that’s his own sour problem!”

“You keep telling yourself that,” Andrea teased. “We’ll see who can’t sleep at night.”

Seraphina glared at her. “I won’t lose sleep over anyone.”

“I’m not the one sleeping next to you, how would I know?” Andrea shot back.

“Then zip it,” Seraphina huffed, making a zipping gesture across her lips. “Be responsible for what you say, got it?”

Andrea mimed zipping her own lips and wisely chose to stay quiet.

However, what Seraphina didn’t expect was that by silencing Andrea, she inadvertently stirred up a whole lot of chatter elsewhere.

The next day, a gossip website suddenly posted photos of her and Patrick deep in conversation, with a headline that screamed for attention, “Trouble in Paradise? Seraphina spotted in Summitville, cozying up to media tycoon Patrick in an intimate chat!”

The published photos indeed showed only Seraphina and Patrick, as if Andrea, who was sitting right beside them, had turned invisible, not even a thread of her clothing in sight.

If Seraphina wasn’t the subject herself; even she would believe the gossip spun by those images.

Once the news broke, her phone was bombarded with messages-texts, calls, DMs-one after another, nearly overwhelming her device.

Among the flood were media contacts, nosy onlookers, and a throng of the Reynolds family elders, all reaching out to her for an explanation:

Seraphina couldn’t be bothered. After skimming through the unread messages, she noticed none from Leandro.

With all these inquiring calls from the Reynolds’ elders, Leandro must have seen the gossip. But his silence-was it indifference, or was he furious?

As her phone continued to be swamped with messages, Seraphina spent the afternoon searching in vain for any word from Leandro.

“Mom!” At dinner, her phone still in hand, Seraphina finally drew Valerio’s annoyance. “You need to eat properly!”

“I know, I know,” Seraphina sighed and put her phone aside, picking up her fork.

“It’s the weekend,” Valerio remarked. “Is Dad coming over today?”

That caught Seraphina off guard-if there was no sign of him on her phone, maybe Leandro was planning to show up unannounced?

“Why don’t you call him and find out?” Seraphina suggested. “How would I know his plans?”

Valerio set down his fork and immediately dialed Leandro.

Seraphina listened intently, only to hear Valerio call out, “Mr. Keen?”

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She rolled her eyes at the title.

“Dad?” Valerio asked,

Whatever Keen said on the other end, Valerio hung up looking a bit deflated.

Mr. Keen said Dad’s in a meeting, he’s super busy, Valerio relayed. “He won’t have time to come over for the next few days.”

Hearing that, Seraphina let out a cynical laugh. Too busy to come over?

She knew all too well this kind of tactic-wouldn’t be surprised if she woke up in the middle of the night to find an unexpected visitor by her bed.

That night, Seraphina tossed and turned in her bed, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts that refused to settle. It wasn’t until the 3 a.m. that she finally succumbed to a restless slumber.

Outside, the world was shrouded in silence, not even the whisper of a leaf disturbed the quiet.

Saturday, and there was no sign of Leandro.

Sunday came and went, still no Leandro.

Monday came, and he still never came.

It wasn’t just his physical presence that was missing; her phone remained starkly silent, devoid of the briefest text or the slightest call from him.