Leon Sterling’s photography skills weren’t half bad. He turned on the flash and started snapping photos of Hazel Sinclair.
When he was done, he handed the phone back, his voice cool. "Have a look."
Hazel Sinclair looked at the photos he’d taken. Every single one was beautiful—even better than the ones from before.
"I guess you’re not completely useless after all," Hazel Sinclair said with a nod.
Hazel put her phone away and was about to take off the dress when Leon Sterling stopped her.
"Could you... dance for me?" Leon Sterling asked. His gaze was fixed on her dress, his mind replaying the image of her dancing the other day.
Leon Sterling asked tentatively, terrified she would say no.
"You want to see me dance?" Hazel Sinclair arched an eyebrow.
"Mhm."
"Sure," Hazel Sinclair agreed right away, without any coyness.
She glanced around at the available space and complained instinctively, "This place is too small. It’s cramping my style."
Despite her words, she was already striking a pose.
Once in position, Hazel Sinclair began to dance, swaying her hips, turning her body, her hands flowing with the movements.
It was short, only about thirty seconds.
But it was enough to make Leon Sterling’s nose bleed.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa—why is your nose bleeding all of a sudden?" Hazel Sinclair had just finished her final move when her eyes landed on Leon Sterling, and she saw blood streaming from his nose.
The blood was flowing fast, dripping straight from his nostrils onto the floor.
The pristine white floor was stained crimson. The drops looked like plum blossoms blooming in the snow, exceptionally striking.
Snapping back to his senses, Leon Sterling immediately clapped a hand over his nose and hurried to the bathroom.
After cleaning himself up, he stuffed a tissue in his nostril. His gaze fell upon the mirror, where his handsome face stared back, completely flushed.
The tips of his ears were an even brighter red. Looking at his reflection, Leon Sterling couldn’t help but curse himself internally.
’So embarrassing.’
"Are you... okay?" Hazel Sinclair asked, standing worriedly in the doorway, her voice now hushed and careful.
"Are you sick or something?"
Leon Sterling scrambled for an excuse. "It’s nothing, just the heat. It’s been so hot lately, it’s easy to get a nosebleed."
"Don’t worry about me."
Hearing that, Hazel Sinclair nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh, good."
’System, he scared me to death! A sudden nosebleed... I thought he had some terminal illness or something,’ Hazel Sinclair quickly vented to her system.
The system didn’t reply, but simply laughed, a wicked cackle that sounded just like a villain’s.
The noise gave Hazel a headache. She couldn’t help but snap, ’Stop laughing! You’re giving me a headache.’
’Alright, alright, I’ll stop laughing,’ the system immediately complied, stifling its laughter.
’This male lead is certainly full of hot-blooded passion. He gets like this just from watching Hazel Sinclair dance for a bit.’
Hazel Sinclair changed out of the dress and into her pajamas, then flopped onto the bed to play on her phone.
First, she touched up the photos Leon had taken. Then she picked out the three best ones and posted them to her feed with a caption.
[The dress Mr. Sterling picked out himself. A perfect match, don’t you think?]
[3 Photos]
It wasn’t long before the likes and comments started rolling in.
Hazel Sinclair immediately tapped to see. When she saw a comment from Caleb Sinclair, her expression fell.
[You’re this happy over such a cheap dress? Come home. I’ll buy you a real one.]
’How is this cheap?!’
’It cost more than four thousand!’
Hazel Sinclair seethed internally, but then she remembered his status and wealth, and her anger deflated into sadness.
’To hell with all you rich people!’
[You shut your mouth. Leon Sterling bought this for me, and you’re not allowed to talk about it like that.]
Her heart ached as she sent the reply. She had pushed her wealthy brother away yet again.
[Tsk, so you’re really living in a dump now, huh?]
This comment was from Simone Sinclair. Her tone was dripping with schadenfreude.
[So what if I live in a dump? It’s none of your business.] Hazel didn’t have strong feelings about her, so replying didn’t sting at all.
A moment later, a private message from Simone Sinclair popped up.
Seeing the money transfer notification, Hazel was thoroughly confused.
’What’s with her?’
’Why is she sending me money?’
[Simone Sinclair: A little something for you. Can’t have you living such a miserable life, can we?]
After reading that, Hazel just had to see how much she’d sent.
She tapped open the notification and glanced at the amount: fifty thousand. The maximum for a standard transfer.
Well, money talks. Hazel immediately tossed her pride aside, accepted the transfer, and sent back a cute little bunny sticker that said "Thank you."
After sending the sticker to thank her, Hazel’s demeanor returned to normal as she typed her reply.
[Hazel Sinclair: Hmph. Who asked for your pity?]
The two of them didn’t actually have some deep-seated grudge. When Simone was first found and brought back to the family, the original Hazel, fearing she’d be cast out, had treated her very well.
In the beginning, she’d given Simone necklaces, bought her clothes and bags, taken her for beauty treatments, taught her about makeup and skincare, and even instructed her in piano, dance, and her studies.
For about half a year, the two of them had a great relationship.
But after Serena Sinclair got involved, their relationship steadily deteriorated. It hit rock bottom after the original Hazel drugged someone, after which her relationship with Simone completely soured.
Because now, every time Simone saw her, she would greet her with mockery and harsh words.
[Simone Sinclair: Pity you? What are you thinking? Why would I ever pity someone like you?]
Seeing that, Hazel found a reaction meme to send back.
[gun_shot.jpg]
Leon Sterling walked out of the bathroom with a tissue still stuffed up his nose, looking rather disheveled.
"Feeling better?" Hazel asked, looking at him with concern.
"I’m fine," Leon Sterling nodded. He went to the closet, grabbed a few hangers, and went back into the bathroom.
A little while later, he came out carrying the dress Hazel had changed out of, along with her underwear.
Seeing him carrying her underwear, Hazel’s face instantly flushed red.
’I told him I’d wash my own underwear, but he wouldn’t listen. This is so embarrassing!’
After he was done with the chores, Leon Sterling got into bed, leaned against the headboard, opened his laptop, and resumed his stock-trading activities.
He had already invested twenty thousand of the fifty thousand Hazel Sinclair had given him into the stock market.
The stocks he’d bought were slowly climbing, and his twenty-thousand investment had already earned him a few hundred.
After checking his portfolio, Leon exited the trading platform, opened a document, and began writing a business proposal.
Seeing that he was busy with work, Hazel tactfully left him alone, lying on her side and watching videos on her phone.
When she saw a video of a handsome guy stripping and shaking his hips, she immediately liked and bookmarked it.
She replayed the "transformation" part over and over and even left a comment.
[Gotta take this hottie home and make him my husband.]
"You want to marry him?" Leon Sterling’s voice suddenly sounded from right behind her, making Hazel jump.
"I’m just messing around!" Hazel explained hastily, terrified he’d taken her seriously.