After Divorce, Billionaire Ex Found Me Pregnant-Chapter 152 Her True Enemy.

“What are you doing?”

The sound of Melvin’s voice from behind pulled her out of her little self indulgence. However, she did not rush to place the papers back, nor lock the vault.

Instead, she did things at her own pace, only turning to face Melvin with a little tilt of her head after she had placed the papers back.

“What?” She asked calmly, earning a look of confusion from her older brother.

How could she afford to be so calm after he had caught her sneaking around in their father’s office.

“I said what are you doing?” He repeated, taking the initiative to walk closer. “You were just taking something from father’s vault, weren’t you?”

Leonica glanced back at the vault, then him, then the vault and finally at him, before answering. “Yes I was, got a problem?”

Melvin was almost speechless, no, he was speechless at this point.

Never had he received such a nonchalant response after a person had been caught doing something bad.

But wait, what was she doing? And how sure could he be that it was something bad? He thought.

“What was it that your were taking from the vault?”

“I don’t think you have the right to question me, especially after the everything that has happened, Melvin.”

He sighed and scratched his head, feeling frustrated. She coming around to his appearance was certainly taking longer than he had planned.

“Leonica, please don’t be like this.”

“Oh I will,” Leaning against her father’s table, making sure to use her hands as support from behind, she added. “You didn’t really think you’d be welcomed with open arms after being dead for fourteen years, now did you?”

Her words stung, and she could tell. Melvin’s expression fell a bit and his shoulders slumped.

“Mother and father, they may have accepted you, but not me. At least not without a proper explanation and apology.”

“Wow, so you want me to apologize for what? Trying to survive?”

“Damn right,” Leonica held her chin high. “And don’t forget to toss in an explanation along the way.”

Melvin stared at her and his expression changed. From angry to defeated.

“You’re never going to let go of the past are you?” He questioned.

“Never,” She confirmed.

He shook his head, his gaze dropping to the ground as he thought.

In the silence, Leonica spoke up. “I don’t have you Melvin, I’d be lying if I said I did. But I can’t easily let you back into my life after thinking you were dead.”

“I know, but shouldn’t you at least be happy?”

“I am, fucking hell I am, but with all this going on,” She gestured around them both. “You taking what actually belongs to me and ridiculing it in the hands of Rodrigo, I’m not as happy as I would have been.”

Melvin sighed and stuffed his hand into his pocket. “Well I’m sorry about that. I just thought that after all these years it would be best for me to take over the company, take some weight off your shoulder. And with all I’d heard from Rodrigo, with you caring for Ashley, your reputation and all, I thought I was doing the right thing. I’m sorry if my actions hurt you.”

Leonica’s expression twitched at his words before settling into a less hostile one as she took in his words, realizing that he really didn’t mean any harm from the beginning. It was just Rodrigo who had been pushing him.

That uncle of her had literally cooked Melvin into being the villain, avoiding suspicion while at the same time, stripping her of her title.

Shaking her head, she released a sigh. “Rodrigo is always proving more of pest than I can imagine.”

“I can relate.”

Melvin sudden words surprised her. Days ago he had sided with Rodrigo, defended him even, but now, he was... Relating to her words?

“What’s the sudden change of heart?”

Melvin hesitated to answer her question. “I... I went through the company’s books for the past five years, and saw how the company has been declining. I couldn’t wrap my head around the reason why, so I called the old board members who were with Father and Rodrigo at that time. They told me, the reason the company has been declining is because once father took ill, Rodrigo had put in place all this new policies that made investors pull away. It was on the verge of going under when,” He paused and gestured towards her. “When you took over.”

Of course it, Leonica thought but in turn, rather than saying it out loud, released another sigh.

“I see why you were so adamant about not letting him take the position of V.P.”

“Yeah? Well I can’t say I didn’t tell you so.” Leonica muttered.

Silence once again settled between them, giving Leonica enough time to process the little information Melvin had given her and reevaluate her true enemy.

Rodrigo.

“Be truthful Melvin, the company isn’t doing great. That’s why you called for the board meeting and looked through the company’s book, right?”

He nodded. “So many investors are pulling away. Perhaps they don’t like the change in power.” He solemnly said, showing how dishearten the change had made him.

The smile that wanted to grace Leonica’s lips at this point had disappeared.

She was no Mary Sue, but at the same, she wasn’t a heartless person and could feel when her brother was actually down. freewēbnoveℓ.com

“Should I fire Rodrigo?” He asked after a heartbeat and Leonica’s answer came almost immediately.

“No!”

He blinked twice in surprise.

“I’ll handle Rodrigo, so you just pretend like nothing’s wrong. Like we never had this conversation.”

“Handle as in?”

Pressing her finger against her lips, she smiled. “That’s a secret.” With that, she pushed off her father table and walked towards the door, but just as she was passing Melvin, she stopped and much to his surprise, gave him a gentle punch on the shoulder. “The next time you disappear on us, I’ll personally kill you.”

Melvin chuckled. “You’re sure to rub off Owen with your aggressive nature.”

At his words, Leonica glared at him. He was quickly about to apologize for calling her aggressive when she spoke. “Keep Owen out of this.”

He was stunned for a second before realizing that she was simply being protective. This time, he laughed, a genuine one.

“You really do like him don’t you?"

“That’s none of your business.” She shot back.

“If you like him so much,” Melvin began, chasing after her as she left their father’s study. “Why not propose to him?”

Propose to him? Ha, if only he knew Owen had already proposed, but she was just the one too afraid to ruin his life with her whole life’s drama, to say yes.

“Shut up Melvin, before I actually shut your mouth for you.”

Melvin chuckled at her threat, throwing his hands up in surrender when she glared back at him.

As they walked back to the dining hall, he couldn’t help but realize how much his junior sister had grown.

Was there really any need in thinking that she couldn’t handle the company?

~•~

By the Grace of God, the dinner ended rather peacefully and after saying her Goodbyes to her mother and a stiff greeting to her father, Leonica left.

When she returned to the peaceful silence of her home, she smiled and after refreshing and making herself a smoothie, she wandered towards the drawer in her room, pulling it open to gaze at the red velvet box that held ring that Owen had bought for her.

Picking it up, she peeled the lid and examined it once again before taking it out and gently slipping it into her finger.

It fit like a lucky charm!

Raising it up, she watched as it sparkled under the artificial light of her light bulb with a smile.

She liked it and loved it’s giver even more.

The rumbling of her phone against the table had her looking away and a different expression overtook her face when she saw Rodrigo’s name flashing across her screen.

He was calling far earlier than she expected. Well, what is to be expected of a person who is trying to ditch as quickly as possible?

Grabbing the device off the bed, she swiped right on the answer Icon and pressed the phone to her ear.

“Hello Mr. Rodrigo, you have an awful habit of calling at random times.”

“I apologize, Mrs. Smith, but I promised to contact you as soon as I had the company papers and I do. So, shall we proceed with the business deal? How about we set a meeting for tomorrow?”