Love's Change of Heart

Chapter 857 Hardships Paid Off

Dinner was almost ready by the time Louis and Daniel arrived.

Leanna came out of the kitchen and said, "Go wash your hands first. Dinner will be ready in five minutes."

Daniel looked around and asked, "Aren't we waiting for President Pearson?"

Leanna poured each of them a glass of water and replied, "No need to wait for him. He'll be late today."

Leanna called Aidan and told him to come over for dinner after leaving the studio in the afternoon.

However, Aidan had several meetings to attend tonight, and he couldn't come back.

Louis approached and took the glass from her hand. "Sit down. I'll take care of the rest."

Leanna said, "I'm fine. I still have some dishes cooking in the kitchen. Hey..."

Louis brought her to the couch before she could finish her sentence.

He knew that she went to the studio to shoot in the morning even though Daphne didn't explicitly tell him yesterday.

He could guess it when Leanna invited her over for dinner.

Louis soon turned and went into the kitchen.

Leanna thought everything was almost ready besides the dish cooking in the pot. So, she let him do as he pleased.

Meanwhile, Zoe was washing the dishes in the kitchen. She greeted Louis with a hint of flirtation when she turned her head and saw him, "You're here, Louis."

"..." Daphne, who was distributing the plates, couldn't help but feel awkward.

Then, Zoe said, "I'll leave this to you guys. I'll go out first." Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Louis nodded, and he went to prepare the ingredients.

Daphne looked at the darkening sky outside, and she asked, "Why did you finish class so late?"

Louis answered, "I didn't. It's because the counselor asked me to go to the office for something."

Daphne replied, "I see. That explains why you're late."

Louis only looked at her without saying anything.

Daphne raised her head and quickly averted her eyes when she sensed his gaze. "What... What's wrong?"

Louis leaned on the counter with one hand and looked at her from the side. "Did you get a driver?"

"No, I drove here myself."

She didn't have much work recently except for the previously arranged schedules.

The new drama was on the way, so he guessed that she would start filming soon.

Louis asked, "Can I drive you home?"

"..." Daphne remained quiet.

She lowered her head again, and her face turned red in an instant.

Louis occasionally stayed overnight at her place during this period, but there was nothing too intimate between them apart from that incident a month ago.

They only kissed and hugged at most.

In short, they hadn't reached that final stage.

Daphne picked up a plate and was about to leave. She said softly, "Let's talk about it later. Let me finish..."

However, she only saw darkness as soon as she turned her head.

Louis lightly bit her lip and quickly backed away in those few seconds.

Leanna and the others were still talking outside, yet they did such a thing in the kitchen.

Daphne's face instantly turned red, and she glared at him.

Louis only smirked before he took the plate from her and left the kitchen.

Zoe was chatting with Leanna as she turned her head to keep an eye on what was happening in the kitchen. She was so excited that she could hardly contain herself when she saw that.

Unfortunately, she only saw Louis lean in. The rest was blocked by the door.

But, it didn't matter because she could imagine what happened.

She felt as if one of her dreams finally came true when she saw them being together.

Daniel suddenly approached and asked just as she was getting into it, "What are you looking at?"

"..." Zoe could only remain silent at that instant.

She was so startled that she immediately leaned back, and she almost fell off the couch.

Thankfully, Daniel managed to lean forward and hold her arm in time. He got so close to her that his nose touched her forehead while he was trying to save her.

It was quite an intimate scene in the eyes of the others.

It wouldn't cause such a big scene usually. But, Leanna was sitting right next to them when that happened, and Zoe could sense her teasing gaze. As a result, Zoe's face instantly turned red, and she quickly pushed Daniel away. "Why... Why did you get so close?"

Daniel only raised an eyebrow before sitting back down.

Leanna almost laughed out loud. Louis brought out the dishes just as she turned to look at the kitchen shortly after.

Then, she stood up and said, "Alright, let's eat."

The atmosphere was just as tense even though Aidan wasn't present during the meal as a pervasive sense of ambiguity and mystery filled the air.

Furthermore, Zoe and Daphne were still not used to the changes in their relationships, and they couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.

They never thought that they would engage in a romantic relationship when they sat together at the table last year.

Meanwhile, Leanna sat alone in her own seat, propping her cheek on her hand and looking at the two couples on either side. She couldn't help but smile out of satisfaction.

She had thought about how nice it would be if they could become a big family and live together every day a long time ago.

That unrealistic idea gradually disappeared as time went by.

However, it seemed that they had truly become a family today.

Daniel was her father's adopted son. That made him her stepbrother.

She never expected that Zoe would become her sister-in-law.

As for Louis and Daphne...

Louis was pouring a glass of water for Daphne when Leanna glanced at them.

They too got along well.

The little guy would soon recover now that she was finally pregnant.

They would be a family of four in the future.

Finally, all the hardships had paid off.

Daphne said to Leanna when Louis had finished cleaning the kitchen after dinner, "Rest early today. I'll take my leave now, okay?"

Leanna nodded. "Take care on your way back."

Just then, Louis came out of the kitchen. "I'm leaving too. I'll come see you on the weekend."

Leanna only smiled. "Of course, go ahead."

Daphne quickly walked away with her ears red as they left one after another.

Daniel and Zoe were also about to leave after they left.

Zoe said, "Just let me know if you need anything, Leanna. Don't force too much on yourself."

Leanna saw them off at the door. "I know. Don't worry. Aidan will be back soon."

Zoe waved at her and closed the door behind her. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Daniel and Zoe looked at each other in silence when they were outside.

Zoe asked after a few seconds, "Aren't you leaving?"

Daniel only looked at her before pointing to the next door while raising an eyebrow.

"..." Zoe remained silent for a moment.

Then, she turned to open the door. "Come in."

Daniel followed her behind. "I wanted to ask during dinner, but I couldn't find the right moment with Daphne around."

Zoe changed her shoes and asked, "What is it?"

"Is she really pregnant?"

Zoe answered, "Of course not! How is that possible? It was me, her, and Nana who went to the pharmacy together yesterday. But, the paparazzi deliberately spread false news for the sake of publicity."

Daniel nodded after giving it some thought. "I thought so too. So... Is it you or Miss McKinney who got pregnant?"

"Huh?"

Just what exactly are you asking?