Semua Bab Goodbye, Mr. Ex, I’ve Married Your Uncle : Bab 31 - Bab 40

Leon’s POV.Scarlett stood at the edge of the room, her arms crossed tight over her chest, like she was bracing for impact.“Yes?” I asked, leaning forward, both hands in my pockets. I didn’t move closer, but my posture shifted just enough to show I was listening. “What kind of deal?”She exhaled slowly, like it took effort just to be here. “I used you to reject Caden’s proposal before,” she sighed. “And now, I need you to keep going with it.”“Keep going how, exactly?”She met my eyes. There was no hesitation now. “Pretend to be in a relationship with me.”I stared at her. The way she said it—calm, blunt—told me she’d thought it through. Or maybe she was desperate enough not to care how it sounded.I didn’t answer right away. I took a few steps toward her. She tensed, but she didn’t back away. “You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend?”“Yes.” Again no hesitation.“For how long?”“As long as it takes,” she replied. “Until I finish what I started.”“And what exactly did you start?”

Scarlett’s POV.I paused at the threshold of the room.The coldness in the space said enough.We weren’t close. Not really. Not in a way that counted.If Leon were going through something, I couldn’t simply expect him to open up to me—could I?But his tone when he told me to get out…It was harsh. A little too harsh.All I wanted to do was to be helpful.The silence stretched between us, heavy and raw. He didn’t look at me. Just sat there with his elbows on his desk, head down, the muscles in his neck drawn tight.I suppose it was what it was. I turned to leave.But before I reached the door, I glanced back one more time—and that’s when I saw it.It wasn’t anger drawn tight across his expression.It was distress. Pain, even.The kind people didn’t show unless they thought no one was watching.I sighed under my breath and walked back in.Leon didn’t look at me, but I saw the way his jaw shifted slightly, like the words hit somewhere.I hesitated for a second longer, then crossed the roo

Scarlett’s POV.I wasn’t sure what stunned me more—that Leon showed up when he did, or that he actually went along with it.My father’s face twitched like a man trying to keep hold of two masks at once. He opened his mouth, probably to salvage the disaster he’d just caused, but I didn’t give him the chance.I turned toward Leon and said calmly, “My father wants me to apologize to our nephew.”Leon didn’t blink.My father shot me a glare, before his expression shattered—steadying a gentle look on Leon instead. “N-no, Mr. Rosenthal, I—of course not—I never meant—”He stepped forward with a strained smile, his mouth shaking nervously as he spoke. “Please forgive me. My words just now were out of anger. I respect your choices, of course—your… relationships.”Leon raised an eyebrow. “You mean my sexuality?”My father froze.Leon added, “Because I believe you were just saying, rather loudly, that I’m gay, and Scarlett was a disgrace for staying here.”The color drained from my father’s face.

Scarlett’s POV.For once, my father had nothing to say. My stepmother stood frozen beside him, her eyes wide.There was a long pause of silence before my father cleared his throat and adjusted the cuff of his jacket, pretending to recover. “Well… since this is all moving so quickly,” he spoke stiffly, “we should go back and prepare.”“For what exactly?” I asked flatly.He didn’t answer. He just gave Leon a shallow nod and turned toward the door, dragging my stepmother with him.Her heels clicked behind him, and she turned once more. “You’ve grown very bold, Scarlett,” she said quietly. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” she added before finally stepping outside.I made the decision not to respond.The door shut behind them. Their absence left behind a hollow silence.I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.“They won’t give up that easily,” I muttered, then turned to Leon. “Still… thank you. For helping me again.”He didn’t answer right away.When I met his eyes, somet

Scarlett’s POV.I arrived at Rosenthal Group before nine.Ezra met me downstairs and led me through the formal onboarding with HR. The paperwork was handled quickly and discreetly. No one said anything about my relationship to Leon, and it was clear he hadn’t told them to treat me any differently than any other new employee.Good. That was what I wanted. To keep my identity a secret. I didn’t want anyone to know I was somehow connected to Leon.I kept my head down, smiled politely, and followed Ezra from floor to floor as he showed me how the executive wing operated. I’d expected a quiet corner desk with limited access—but instead, I was stationed just outside Leon’s office. A front-row seat to the company’s highest-level operations.I wasn’t stupid. I knew Leon had placed me there so he could keep an eye on me. But I wasn’t complaining. If anything, it made things easier.I watched, listened, and asked questions. Ezra was surprisingly patient. Professional. He treated me like a colle