Shattered Longings Novel

hapter 30 What Do You Think of Me?

The more Bella thought about it, the more convinced she became. It seemed her landlord, Leonard, wasn’t someone to be trifled with. If she wanted to live peacefully under his roof, she definitely couldn’t afford to offend him.

It was as if Leonard could smell the food. Just as Bella finished cooking, he arrived home. He was as laid- back as ever, wearing a tank top despite it only being spring, his well–defined but not overly muscular physique on display.

After sharing a meal together the previous night, Leonard took the initiative to grab a bowl and cutlery to join Bella for dinner.

Bella bit the end of her fork and pretended to ask casually, “Do you have a girlfriend?”

Leonard scoffed, dismissing the idea. “Why would I want that? It’s just a burden.”

Bella hadn’t expected that response and was momentarily speechless. She was worried about the potential risks of living under the same roof as a single man, especially since she had only just met him and didn’t know much about him.

Her thoughts drifted back to the night when he had followed her to meet Simon, which felt a bit creepy.. Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

She felt bad for being suspicious of someone who had helped her, but if he hadn’t scared her so much, she wouldn’t be having these paranoid thoughts

After a while, she cautiously brought up, “Before you got back, one of those guys from yesterday returned my wallet. Did you go talk to them?”

Leonard didn’t bother hiding it. He nodded while chewing on his food. “Yeah, I told you I’d handle it.”

Bella hesitated before asking. “How did you handle it?

Leonard grinned mischievously. “I used force to deal with force.”

Just as she suspected–he must have been the one who injured that guy’s leg. Feeling a bit unnerved, she weakly asked, “Do you… like men or women?”

Without hesitation, Leonard replied, “Women.”

Bella took a deep breath. “So… what do you think of me?”

Leonard choked on his food and nearly spat it out. “What? You’re… alright, I guess. Did you something today? You’re not thinking about dating me, are you?

take

“No, no way. First, my dad wouldn’t allow it, and second, my buddies wouldn’t either. Let’s just stick to being landlord and tenant. That works.”

Bella felt completely thrown off, quietly setting down her fork. “Yeah… that’s fine. I didn’t mean it like that. You’re overthinking. I’m going to go wash my face.”

What she didn’t know was that as soon as she turned to leave, Leonard dashed back to his room like he’d seen a ghost and sent a message to Dominic.

“If you don’t get here soon, Bella’s going to ask me out. She just asked if I have a girlfriend, if I like women, and what I think of her!”

Even though Bella had clarified that she didn’t mean it that way, Leonard had been avoiding her ever since. When he couldn’t avoid her, he stopped wearing tank tops and started covering up more.

Chapter 30 What Do You Think of Me?

Bella knew he’d misunderstood, and since explaining didn’t help, she couldn’t be bothered to try again. Besides working at the hospital, she also made some extra money by helping Lia with her studio’s design work.

Lia, who didn’t attend the same university as Bella, was a sculpture enthusiast who opened her own studio after graduating. She had become quite successful in her field.

At the end of the month, Bella received her salary from the hospital and payment from Lia’s studio. After setting aside her living expenses, she transferred the remaining money to the account she had set up for Dominic.

Knowing that Dominic had blocked her number, she got a new SIM card specifically to inform him about the transfer.

As expected, her message went unanswered, but she wasn’t particularly disappointed.

Even though they lived in the same world, breathing the same air, and looking at the same sun and moon, they would never meet again.

Her heart was in pain as soon as she thought of him.