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Chapter 139 No Conflict of Interest
It was a ten-minute walk from the garden to the main house.
“I’ve been caught up with so many things these days that I hardly have the time to drop by the estate. I
hope you’ve been well since our last meeting, Miss McKinney,” Georgina piped up pleasantly, breaking
the silence between Leanna and herself.
Leanna managed a small smile. “Yes, I have.” She could be better, but at least she slept and ate
regularly.
Georgina glanced at the baby bump and pointed out, “It’s only been days since I last saw you. The
baby must be growing fast. Are you due soon?”
Without giving the due date away, Leanna nodded. In truth, she wasn’t sure what to make of Georgina,
but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was getting close to her for personal reasons. No woman in
her right mind would be generous enough to tolerate her fiancé’s ex-wife, much less act friendly with
her.
Then again, Georgina was different from Anna. While both girls had the same privilege of being born
into the upper echelons of finer society, the former was decidedly more poised than the latter, who was
known for being vicious and unreasonable.
However, that did not make Georgina’s kindness any less confusing to Leanna. First of all, their
relationship was an awkward one. Secondly, she was well aware that Georgina had her own reasons
for being so nice to her. They were not friends, not even close, and it hadn’t been that long ago when
they first met one another. It would be odd under these circumstances to believe Georgina’s kindness
was without ulterior motives.
Moreover, Aidan happened to be the man she was engaged to, and Leanna was the woman who had
come before her. Surely, this was Georgina’s sore spot.
That said, Leanna considered the possibility that she was too narrow-minded to give Georgina the
benefit of the doubt, or maybe she was just defining Georgina by her own standards because she could
never be so altruistic.
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When both women came to a stop outside the bedroom door, Leanna said, “Thank you for escorting
me, Miss Crossley.”
“You’re welcome,” Georgina replied warmly. Then, she asked, “You know, Anna and I are going
shopping later. You could join us if you’d like.”
“No, thanks. Anna and I can’t stand each other.”
“Oh, right…” Georgina pursed her lips and elaborated, “I thought it might be a good idea for you to get
out of the house for a while. A change of environment will do wonders for you, especially since you’ve
been cooped up here for the last week. If you’re worried about Anna, I’m sure she won’t stir up trouble
while I’m there. We’ll only leave in the afternoon anyway, so just think about it, okay?”
Leanna managed a perfunctory smile and nodded, then turned to go into her room.
Georgina had only just walked away from the closed bedroom door when Anna came around the
corner and complained, “Why did you invite her, Georgina? She’s such a killjoy.”
“Anna, she was married to your cousin and was part of this family once. You will not speak of her that
way,” Georgina said patiently.
Anna snorted. “The only reason she’s here even though she and Aidan have divorced is that he went
and knocked her up! She won’t ever marry into the family ever again. Besides, you and Aidan are
engaged now, so I’d much prefer if she could just disappear off the face of the earth!”
With Aidan out in the garden, Anna no longer had to keep her resentment to herself and let it all out. In
fact, she made sure Leanna heard her scathing remarks loud and clear by raising her voice on
purpose.
Sighing, Georgina said disapprovingly, “Anna…”
Meanwhile, in the room, Leanna had plugged in her earphones and turned up the music to block out all
the noise from the hallway. She had no idea what Georgina was plotting, but she was determined to lay
low for the next few days until the birthday banquet. If all went well, she could finally get out of this
hellhole.
Lunch was a tense and quiet affair with Georgina at the table—well, at least it was for Leanna; the
others seemed distinctly unbothered.
As such, Leanna spent a better part of lunch with her gaze down, taking small mouthfuls of food as she
tried to be as invisible as she could. She was also furtively praying for lunch to be over soon, but the
universe had other plans.
Halfway through the meal, Georgina suddenly glanced in Aidan’s direction and said, “Aidan, why don’t
you join Anna and me at the mall today seeing as it’s your day off? We really ought to pick up a few
things for the house now that the wedding’s around the corner.”
The words hung heavily in the air, condensing it.
Naturally, Gordon disagreed with Georgina about the matter of the wedding, and he looked grim when
he heard her suggestion. Without waiting for Aidan to respond, the old man set his utensils down and
said gruffly, “I still think this engagement is too abrupt of a decision, Georgina, especially with the
current complications. It’d be wise for you to consider pushing the wedding back until the child is born.”
“I know that, Mr. Pearson, and of course, I would wait until the child is born before throwing a wedding,
but we really must start planning now that time is running out.”
“Perhaps you should go over the details with your father. If you’re sure the wedding is a going concern,
then it wouldn’t make a difference if you waited a while longer,” Gordon said impassively.
Georgina bit her lip when she heard this, but her smile returned just as quickly as she agreed, “You’re
right, Mr. Pearson. We’ve already waited this long, and another month or two would hardly make a
difference.”
Just then, Sienna interjected, “And what about you, Aidan? What do you think of all this?”
At once, everyone, Aidan included, turned to look at her in shock. Not one of them expected her to care
about what he thought.
Aidan met her gaze indifferently, but he did not speak.
Sienna elaborated, “I watched Georgina grow up, and she’s someone like a daughter to me. It’s only
natural that I’d ask about the wedding details. If you think you would prefer the wedding to be held
much earlier than scheduled, then I could have it arranged and ready to go. All you have to do is say
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the words.”
Justin spoke up worriedly, “Maybe we should talk about this later.”
Ignoring him, Sienna went on to say, “We don’t always get to have meals like this, and with Georgina
here, there’s no better time than now to make a decision. This is her first marriage, after all, and she
deserves more than half-hearted planning. As for the baby…” She shot a sidelong glance at Leanna,
who had been quiet throughout all this, then continued, “You and Leanna have been divorced for a
while now, so I don’t see how there will be a conflict of interest.”
Aidan made no reply, but his face was dangerously stormy.
Sensing the angry energy crackling in the air, Georgina immediately tried to smooth things over. “Thank
you for your concern, Mrs. Pearson, but as Mr. Pearson said, Aidan and I can hold off the wedding and
wait for the dust to settle.”
“If a person truly loves you, then he would not make you wait until the dust has settled; he’d marry you
at the first chance he got,” Sienna argued.
A pregnant silence fell over the dining room. Leanna had her head down the entire time, hoping to melt
into the background, but she could still feel their gaze sweeping over her.
She wished she could burrow under the table. Maybe then the conversation would be a much more
scintillating one, and they could speak their minds without having to beat around the bush like how they
did now. In fact, she had a feeling that the whole engagement thing was brought up just to spite her.
This was their way of reminding her that her marriage to Aidan was irrelevant and served as a source
of irritation for the rest of the Pearsons. She also had a sneaking suspicion that they were, by analogy,
trying to tell her she was irrelevant and irritating as well.
Just as everyone was starting to think Aidan did not care about answering Sienna’s question as he said
impassively, “There’s no conflict of interest.” He gave Sienna a measured look as he added, “It doesn’t
matter if we hold the wedding before or after the baby is born, but I’ve always preferred to have things
done in advance.”
In other words, he had no qualms about having the wedding sooner than planned
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