Leon Sterling was very satisfied with the apartment this time. He looked at the landlord and said, "Let’s sign the contract."
The landlord hadn’t expected the young man to be so decisive. The apartment, which had been vacant for several months, was finally being rented out.
The landlord was happy too. While signing the contract, he was especially generous, saying, "I won’t charge you rent for this month. You can start paying next month."
There were only nine days left in the month, so it was just a matter of a few days.
"Okay, thank you." Leon Sterling nodded his thanks. After signing the contract, grabbing the keys, and confirming how to pay the utilities, he left.
Standing at the entrance of the residential complex, Leon Sterling let out a huge sigh of relief.
He finally had a new place to live.
On the way back, Leon Sterling went into a bakery and bought two types of cake that Hazel Sinclair liked.
He also dashed to a bubble tea shop to buy a mango drink. Afterward, he went to the grocery store and bought a lot of ingredients.
There were ingredients for his food stall, as well as seafood, beef, and lamb bought specially for Hazel Sinclair.
The beat-up little electric scooter was carrying too much weight. Even with the throttle twisted to the max on the way back, its speed was still very slow.
When he finally made it back to the rental unit and opened the door, he saw a man standing in the living room, gripping Hazel Sinclair’s wrist and spewing curses.
"Hazel Sinclair, you have to come back with me today!"
"Why do you insist on debasing yourself like this?"
"You’re insane! Choosing not to live in the Sinclair Villa and insisting on staying in this place that’s smaller than a bathroom."
Hazel Sinclair, whose wrist was being gripped as she was dragged toward the door, kept resisting and cursing at the man.
"Ethan Sinclair, let go of me! I’m not going back!"
"You fucking idiot!"
Upon seeing Leon Sterling, Hazel Sinclair quickly cried out for help, "Leon Sterling, hurry and save me."
"This fucking idiot is trying to drag me back."
Leon Sterling carefully set down the things in his hands in a safe spot before walking over to face the two of them.
He recognized the man in front of him. It was the Sinclair Family’s second young master, Ethan Sinclair.
A highly skilled surgeon, currently an attending surgeon at the most prestigious hospital in the city center.
He had performed at least a hundred surgeries, if not two hundred, and his success rate was very high.
Leon Sterling stood before him and addressed him, "Brother-in-law."
"Who’s your brother-in-law? You’re a penniless nobody now, so what are you doing clinging to my sister?"
"Back when she wanted to marry you, you were decent-looking and the company you ran was okay, so we agreed to the marriage."
"Otherwise, even if you two had slept together, the Sinclair Family would never have let Hazel marry you."
Ethan Sinclair grew impatient just looking at him, and his words were exceptionally rude.
Every word dripped with disdain for the current Leon Sterling, who had nothing and was making Hazel Sinclair suffer along with him.
Standing to the side, Hazel Sinclair was a little stunned as she heard these words and looked at Ethan Sinclair.
"You’re a good-for-nothing loser. It’s one thing to have nothing, but you don’t even have a decent job. You’re just dragging my sister down with you to suffer."
"If you want to suffer, suffer on your own. My sister has no obligation to suffer with you."
"Useless, trash, pauper."
The three words were incredibly direct. Ethan Sinclair was trying to use this method to make Leon Sterling back down.
But Leon Sterling had heard this all too often from Hazel Sinclair. He felt nothing inside.
"Here’s one million. It’s enough for you to make a comeback. I can promise you that scumbag Vincent Hawthorne won’t interfere with you starting a new business," Ethan Sinclair pulled a check from his pocket, tossed it over, and said coldly.
"Now get out of the way. I’m taking my sister home."
Leon Sterling didn’t look at the check on the floor, nor did he pay any mind to Ethan Sinclair’s words.
His gaze remained fixed on Hazel Sinclair, and he glanced around the place they were currently living.
It really was small and cramped. Compared to the Sinclair Villa, it couldn’t even measure up to one of their bathrooms.
The environment here was poor, too, and the neighbors downstairs weren’t the best. When they had first moved in, Hazel Sinclair had even gotten into an argument with a couple.
The soundproofing in the apartment was bad, so they had to be as quiet as possible with everything they did.
"Fine, I agree." Leon Sterling stepped aside, his voice muffled.
Hazel Sinclair, who had been struggling the whole time, exploded with rage when she heard this.
She unleashed a torrent of abuse at Leon Sterling, "Leon Sterling, you coward! You useless piece of trash! I’m your wife! Not only are you not stopping him, you’re just handing me over!"
"Leon Sterling, did taking my money make you get a big head?"
"Leon Sterling, you coward!"
Hazel Sinclair desperately clung to the doorframe to keep Ethan Sinclair from dragging her out.
She pinned her last hopes on Leon Sterling, trying to get him to save her.
"Leon Sterling, aren’t you going to save me?"
"Leon Sterling—"
But no matter how much Hazel Sinclair screamed, the man stood rooted to the spot, head down and back hunched, a wave of sadness slowly emanating from him.
’Sad my ass! Aren’t you going to pull me back?’
’I still have a mission to complete! If I can’t get to a hundred Animosity Points, I’m dead, aren’t I?’
In the end, as she was dragged away, the man still didn’t come to her rescue.
Hazel Sinclair screamed, "Leon Sterling, I hate you!"
Immediately after, the door was slammed shut. The thunderous sound echoed as if the door itself was about to shatter.
When Leon Sterling heard her words, his body trembled slightly, his hands clenched into tight fists.
’I can’t make a useless gesture. Hazel Sinclair shouldn’t have to suffer with me.’
He had never hated Vincent Hawthorne before, simply believing it was his fate that his company was stolen. But now, he wished he could make Vincent Hawthorne pay a terrible price.
Aethel was his life’s work, and it had been stolen. Now, at his lowest point, Hazel was his treasure, and because he had no money, she too was taken away by the Sinclairs.
But he didn’t resent or hate the Sinclairs for taking Hazel. He only hated Vincent Hawthorne.
After a long while, Leon Sterling finally bent down and picked up the check from the floor.
The check was for one and a half million. Ethan Sinclair had been generous, adding an extra five hundred thousand to the million he had offered.
One and a half million. With this money, he could indeed do many things.
But he wasn’t happy at all.
After Hazel Sinclair left, the cramped rental unit instantly fell silent.
There was no one constantly nagging him to make good money anymore, and no one to care for him.
Dejected, Leon Sterling busied himself preparing the food for his stall that evening. Distracted while chopping vegetables, he accidentally cut his hand.
The sudden pain snapped him back to his senses. Leon Sterling quickly dropped the knife and ran to rinse his hand under water.
After doing all that, he went over to the coffee table with his injured hand and rummaged for a Band-Aid, looking at the cute pattern printed on it.
Leon Sterling thought of Hazel Sinclair again. If she were here, she would have found the Band-Aid while cursing him under her breath.
She’d call him an idiot for being so clumsy with such a simple task.
Even as she scolded him, her hands would have been gentle, disinfecting the cut and applying the Band-Aid.
For a fleeting moment, Leon Sterling wanted to recklessly charge over to the Sinclair Family’s home and take Hazel Sinclair back.
She was one of the few treasures he had left.
Meanwhile, Hazel Sinclair was locked in the room the original owner of her body used to live in. Looking around, she was completely floored.
’Is this just one room?’
’Anyone who didn’t know better would think it was a whole suite!’