The Billionaire’s Aloof Wife

Leila averted her eyes and whispered, "Don't pretend to care about me."

She was really embarrassed to be seen in this state by him.

"You're this tough with me, why did you let someone slap you?" Zachary frowned as his hand on her waist tightened.

Leila glared at him and snapped. "Let go of me."

Zachary just smirked and paid no heed to her words. "Just answer me."

Leila's expression distorted, seeing his grin. She pushed him away, but his body was like a wall that couldn't be moved.

She took a deep breath and raised her eyebrows at him. "Don't poke your nose into someone else's business," she said and grabbed his hand off her face and bit his wrist. She thought he would let her go, but he didn't, so she bit him harder until blood oozed out of his wrist.

As fresh blood filled her mouth, Leila hastily let go of his wrist and looked at him, perplexed. Guilt waved through her as she stared at his injured wrist.

Instead of being angry, Zachary lightly smiled as he raised his injured hand and gently stroked her cheek. "Little girl, I rushed here so I could help your company, yet you treat me like this? You didn't even smile at me. You're quite cruel, aren't you?"

Her ears seemed to buzz when she heard his words. Her initial guilt faded and was replaced by annoyance.

'How could he say I'm cruel? It was him! He rushed here because Talia called him! But when I asked him for help, I had to bring up our promise ten years ago!' she screamed inside her heart.

"President Leighton mistook me for my sister. Isn't she the one who called you? So why don't you ask her to smile at you? But she's still asleep in my bedroom, so maybe you could wait for her!" she huffed angrily.

Zachary didn't mind her disgruntled face and said indifferently, "Why didn't you throw her out when she forcefully occupied your room?"

Leila clicked her tongue. "Of course, I'll eventually do it."

A low and magnetic laugh escaped from his lips. He looked at Leila in amusement and caressed her cheek again. But this time, he forgot it was swollen and rubbed it with a bit of force.

He felt displeased upon thinking someone had laid a finger on her and couldn't stop himself from saying, "Don't worry. I won't let you suffer in vain after being hit like this."

Leila hissed in pain. She subconsciously hit his hand and took a step back.

"Sorry. Does it hurt?" Zachary retracted his hand and pulled her closer.

'Why was he asking for the obvious?' She mentally rolled her eyes and sniggered.

Zachary's eyes darkened. He suddenly lowered his head and pressed his warm lips on her cheek.

Leila froze and couldn't react for a moment. Then she felt his sultry tongue licking her cheek.

"You!" This was the only word she could say as blood rushed to her head, and she fell into a daze.

When she snapped out of her trance, Zachary was long gone. Her face flushed red when she felt there seemed to be some residual heat on her skin.

Leila hurriedly went to the sink and splashed cold water on her face. She took a deep breath to calm herself before leaving the bathroom.

When she went to the living room, she saw Philip and Zachary discussing something. She walked over and sat on the sofa.

Zachary seemed to be listening carefully to his father's words with a light smile on his lips.

"Mr. Leighton, when do you think it is better to sign the investment contract?" Philip asked. His eyes had a hint of impatience. He wanted to sign the contract immediately, so Wright's wouldn't go bankrupt.

"What do you think?" Zachary threw a question back at him. Albeit he was clearly speaking to Philip, his eyes seemed to be asking Leila.

"I'll personally oversee the payment first thing tomorrow morning," Philip hastily said. His face gleamed with excitement as he spoke.

"I'm afraid the senior management of Leighton's family won't agree if President Clark is overseeing this investment," Zachary said lightly, which immediately popped Philip's bubble of happiness.

Philip was quite dissatisfied, but upon reflection, it was up to the Leightons whether to invest in them. He swallowed his discontentment and smiled. "Then do you want Talia to be in charge? After all, she's the Vice President of Wright Corporation."

Zachary didn't respond right away. He swept his gaze at Leila, seemingly waiting for her response.

"I'll go." Leila butted in.

A faint smile tugged on the corner of his lips. 'Sure enough, this little girl definitely wouldn't let go of this opportunity.'

"What are you saying? You know nothing about the company's matters!" Phillip immediately objected.

Hearing her father's tone as if implying she was useless, a tinge of pain flitted into her heart. However, she won't back down.

"How can you say I can't handle it? I don't even try!" Leila insisted.

"Try? It is not child's play to deal with such a huge sum of money. What do you know about the Wright family's business? Plus, you don't have any work experience! You've been studying for many years, yet you accomplished nothing!" Philip huffed angrily and paused for a moment.

"If your mother were still alive, she would have been disappointed to have an ignorant daughter like you!"

Leila's heart sank. She sucked in a deep breath but said nothing. A sense of self-deprecation coursed through her insides. Initially, she thought she had returned like a triumphant general, only to find that she had lost her battle armor and helmet.

On the other hand, Zachary scowled at Philip's words. A biting cold glint flashed in his eyes as he looked at the latter with displeasure. "Mr. Clark's words are a bit too much. Actually, I admire Miss Wright's courage."

Then he shot Leila a look. "Can you do it?"

"Yes," Leila immediately responded. Then she flashed a confident smile.

Zachary leaned comfortably on the sofa and stared at Leila with satisfaction glistening in his eyes. The latter didn't say she would try her best, and Zachary understood her character well. In Leila's vocabulary, there was no 'try your best' because it only meant one thing—a lack of ability to achieve something.

"Then try it. Ten billion is a measly sum of money for me, so take it easy. And tell me, if you run out of money, I'll reinvest," he said casually, as though they weren't discussing a tremendous amount of money.

When Philip heard him, his face turned ashen. Zachary's words were like a slap on his face. He looked at his daughter hatefully and wished he could make her disappear at that moment.

A pin-drop silence hovered above them.

The sunlight peeked through the floor-to-ceiling windows and shone on Leila's body.

A dazzling light glimmered on her slender neck when Leila leaned her body sideways.

Zachary's eyes narrowed into slits. He caught sight of a familiar male ring on her necklace.

His jaw suddenly tightened when he remembered something from the past. He suppressed his anger and stood up. "I have something else to do. So I won't stay any longer. Secretary Moore will contact your company later about the contract."

With that, he strode out of the house.

As soon as Zachary left, Philip scoffed and glowered at Leila before he went upstairs with a livid expression.

Leila collapsed weakly on the sofa. She put her hand on her forehead and stared blankly at the ceiling. Fortunately, everything went well. Now, she would have the opportunity to take back the things that belonged to her.

"Miss, it seems Mr. Leighton left his key."

Leila immediately sat up and looked at the maid in front of her. In the latter's hand, there was a car key. It was indeed Zachary's.

His cold expression before he left flashed into her mind. She rose from the sofa and hurriedly took the key from her.

"Thanks." After she said that, she ran out.

She thought his car was parked at the front door, but when she went out, there was nothing. Leila heaved a deep sigh and rushed to the gate.

Wright was a century-old family with deep roots and was one of the four prominent families in Tesanera City. The Wright Villa alone covers a hundred acres of land.

It took Leila about five minutes to run to the gate. When she finally reached the gate, she was already out of breath.

She panted heavily and patted her chest to relieve the tension inside her. Shortly after, she looked around and finally saw Zachary. He was leaning against a massive tree while smoking.

It seemed that he noticed her and immediately looked at her.

Leila couldn't help but draw another breath before she walked toward him.

Zachary's expression was calm as he puffed the cigarette and blew out the smoke. He stared at Leila as she approached him. The latter was like an angel, bathing in the warm sunlight.

"You left your car keys," Leila said and handed him the keys. She was still gasping for air as beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.

Zachary threw the cigarette butt and stomped on it, then took the key from her, brushing his icy fingers on her.

Instead of leaving right away, Leila composed herself, looked him in the eyes, and said with extreme sincerity, "Zachary, thank you."

'Thank you for giving me the opportunity to snatch back my mother's company,' she whispered inside her mind.

"Don't mention it. I have a reason why I did that." He patted his clothes and walked to the driver's seat. He opened the door and glanced at her.

"You can go now," Zachary said tersely. As he was about to get inside, he suddenly clutched his stomach. His hand clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"What's wrong with you, Zach?" Leila promptly asked when she saw he seemed to be in great pain. Then something flashed into her mind. It was the cup of black coffee he had drunk earlier.

Without a second thought, she sidled forward and grabbed his arm with a hint of anxiousness.

Zachary cast a deep look at her, and his gaze inadvertently landed on her neck. His eyes turned colder enough to freeze her. "Let go."

Leila seemed oblivious to his current mood and reasoned, "But you have a stomachache."

She should have known he would feel uncomfortable since he drank coffee. Back then, she heard Secretary Moore say Zachary was so workaholic despite his young age that he didn't eat on time and eventually damaged his stomach. It became worse, which made his stomach bleed thrice.

"Sorry, it's my fault. The concentration of black coffee is too high. You shouldn't drink it in the future, alright?" She sighed and blamed herself as she saw Zachary's face grow paler.

As if she remembered something, she asked, "By the way, where's Secretary Moore?"

"She's at the company." Zachary's face crumpled. He was inexplicably upset to hear her tone. It was as if he was just a stranger to her.

"Then where's your driver? Come on, call him. You have to go to the hospital," Leila said and looked at him.

Albeit he was displeased with her words, he still replied, "The driver went home for his honeymoon with his wife."

A deep scowl appeared on his face. 'How difficult is it to ask her to take me to the hospital?'

"Alright. I'll give Secretary Moore a call." Leila dug into her pocket to fish out her phone but got nothing. It was empty.

She bit her lips in annoyance and looked at him. "Where's your phone?"

Zachary ignored her and leaned against the car.

Seeing he was uncooperative, Leila gritted her teeth, mustered up her courage, and began looking for his phone in his pockets. There was nothing in his right pocket. She sighed and checked the left side. Her fingers immediately stiffened when she felt something hard.

Leila hurriedly retracted her hand as if a lightning strike had hit her. Blood rushed to her head, dying her cheeks and ears red.

Zachary had an urge to laugh after seeing her reaction. But he suppressed his impulse. He lightly coughed and said, "That's a cigarette case."

Despite her embarrassment, Leila reached out to his coat's inner pocket and felt relieved when she found the phone inside. She hurriedly turned it on, but the screen was just black.

'Damn it! His phone was out of battery!' She cursed inside her head. Her hand squeezed the phone in frustration.

"You drive," Zachary said perfunctorily.

"I..." Leila was surprised and momentarily forgot to respond. A sense of apprehension rose inside her when she glanced at the steering wheel.

In fact, since that night five years ago, she hadn't dared to touch any car.

Zachary went to the passenger seat and said, "Don't say that you can't drive because I taught you before, as far as I remember. There's no way you won't know it."

A bitter smile tugged on Leila's lips. 'That's right. I almost forgot we had sweet memories together.'