Chapter 193
Chapter 193
When Leanne and Curtis got hitched, she was practically a stranger to him.
Leanne On their wedding day, she was all dolled up in a gorgeous bridal gown, but her smile was nowhere to be seen.
As they exchanged rings during the ceremony, the officiant announced, “You may now kiss the bride.” Curtis, holding the hand that now bore his ring, leaned in slowly towards her. Beneath her white veil, her eyelashes fluttered incessantly.
He found it amusing and wanted to tease her, but in the end, he let it be, settling for a chaste peck through the veil.
At the reception, Curtis was plied with drinks, though he play-acted drunk, staggering with exaggerated unsteadiness. Someone called out to Leanne, “Help your husband there.”
He glanced her way and saw her hesitate, her expression tangled in conflict for a few seconds before she came over and propped him up like she was assisting her granny.
Later, when Curtis returned to their honeymoon suite at Crystal Cove Villas, she was there waiting for him, still in the red cocktail dress she had worn for the toasts.
The off-the-shoulder neckline highlighted her slender, delicate shoulders, and the smooth satin clung to her waist. The mermaid-style dress pooled around her on the carpet, and on her feet were high heels with crystal straps, the thin silver chains winding around her ankles.
Curtis felt something fuzzy squirm inside him.
For the first time, he saw in Leanne the allure and charm of a grown woman.
She looked up at him, her fingers nervously twisting the fabric of her dress. She hadn’t even finished school yet, her eyes clear but tense.
Curtis stood there, wrestling with himself for a moment, but in the end, chivalry prevailed “I’ll sleep in the guest room.”
He had personally designed every detail of the honeymoon suite, but he put the most thought into the bedroom lighting.
The click of a nightlight was a must for Leanne, who always feared the dark. Sarah had scolded her several times, saying it was bad for her eyes and sleep, but Leanne, ever obedient, never argued, yet she never changed either.
Regular nightlights wouldn’t do, and the light had to fill the room, leaving no dark corners.
Curtis consulted several lighting designers, revised dozens of plans, and ran countless tests before finally creating a lighting scheme that illuminated the whole room comfortably without disturbing sleep.
He didn’t know if Leanne slept well or not because, for the first two months of their marriage, he slept in the guest room.
Amid everyone’s expectations, Curtis had felt like a wastrel whiling away his days. But after getting married, he felt the responsibility to take care of Leanne and so founded. ElitePinnacle Investments. Property © NôvelDrama.Org.
He didn’t use a dime of the Richardson family fortune, and perhaps feeling guilty, Maddox. and Jennifer didn’t oppose.
him.
Starting from scratch wasn’t easy, and warming up Leanne’s icy demeanor was even harder, but during that time, Curtis relished every challenge.
With his love by his side and a career in his grasp, the imbalances of the past seemed to smooth over. He now had a purpose and a person to love.
He poured his heart into winning Leanne over, and after several months, she began to warm up to him.
Then came an unexpected blizzard that wrecked their honeymoon plans but gave Curtis the happiest time of his life in Northwood.
He’d never devoted himself to a woman so completely before, wholeheartedly accepting her stubbornness, always ready to yield because her smile was priceless.
Being trapped in a house together would have driven him nuts in the past, but during that time, he was like an emperor bewitched, convincing Leanne that the roads were still impassable, doing everything he could to keep her there.
Curtis who had never so much as boiled water learned to cook, putting aside his company projects to study recipes like they were his business.
In a moment of feverish passion, he even asked her, “What if we just stayed hidden away here forever?”
A world of their own, where they were each other’s everything.
Returning from Northwood, Curtis and Leanne entered a brief period of intense romance. It was like diving headfirst into a pot of honey, a dream so sweet.
But he woke up from that dream at the staircase landing, overhearing Jennifer say that Leanne had initially wanted to marry Phillip.
Phillip was a complex figure for Curtis, both a beloved brother and the man who always seemed to outshine him.
For years, he struggled and came to terms with the fact that everything in the world belonged to Phillip.
11:24.