Love's Change of Heart

Chapter 79

Perhaps her life and her mood had shown some positive change after she moved over—the doctor told her that the child in her belly was developing in a normal and healthy manner. All she had to do was wait patiently for a few more months, and the baby would be in her arms.

When Leanna got home, she saw a copy of the finance column of a newspaper on the front porch. She placed her other things aside and was about to hand the yarn to Naomi when a few words in the newspaper caught her eye. 'Pearson Group' was written in large letters.

After the Pearson Family's recent engagement with the Barnetts, there had been distinct changes in the power distribution of their management team with the news dominating the headlines for days. Aidan's probably swamped with work. No wonder he doesn't have any spare time to care for me.

Right then, Naomi walked out of the house to find Leanna looking at the finance news. "What is it? Are you interested in this?" she asked. Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

Leanna hastily looked away before smiling at Naomi. "No. I was just taking a look at it."

Naomi glanced at the papers and thought about it for a moment before smiling. "You're from Highside, right?"

"Yeah." Leanna nodded.

Naomi looked as if she had more follow-up questions after that, but she held her words back in the end. "Have you bought the yarn?"

"Yeah." Leanna handed the bag to Naomi. "Ms. Fletcher, I bought some clothes on the way back. I'll

wash yours and return them to you later."

"Forget it. You can have them. I can't wear those clothes anymore, anyway," Naomi said before turning and heading back to the house. That night, the male tenant next door knocked on their door. "Miss McKinney, Ms. Fletcher, I bought some desserts earlier. Ms. Shaffer and I couldn't finish them, so I thought we'd bring some over to you guys." The people around the neighborhood often brought small gifts over for one another, so Leanna took his offering without thinking much about it.

The next day, she bought some fruits on her way home and brought them to their place in return. But to her surprise, things started to get out of hand.

"Miss McKinney, my mother sent some local delicacies over from my hometown. You and Ms. Fletcher should try them out."

"Miss McKinney, my friend has just returned from abroad and he got these chocolates for me. I don't have a sweet tooth, so I figured that girls might appreciate this gift a little more."

"Miss McKinney, my department handed us movie tickets. If you have time tomorrow, perhaps we could catch a movie at night."

Regardless of how insensitive of a person Leanna might be, she was still able to tell that something was right. After Harry left, Leanna turned and walked back into the house with the movie tickets in her hand and a dazed look on her face. Naomi was sitting at the desk and knitting a sweater. "This is the fifth time he brought something over in the past two days, isn't it?" she asked.

"I think so…" Leanna muttered.

"He's a decent guy. I heard that his parents are teachers and that he's working for a state-owned enterprise. That's a solid and steady income we're talking about. He's a reliable man!" Naomi uttered. Leanna sat down beside the other woman. She was at a loss for words.

"Aren't you going to consider him?" Naomi looked up and gazed at Leanna.

Leanna smiled. "You don’t understand my situation, Ms. Fletcher. I…"

"You're pregnant, right? What's the big deal?" Naomi asked.

Leanna's eyes widened upon hearing the other woman's words. "How did you find out about that?"

"What's the surprise? There is a bunch of middle-aged women living in this area, and we've all given birth to our own children. We knew about your pregnancy from the day you moved in. You came here because you wanted a fresh start, right? Why do you care so much about the past, then? I can tell that Harry genuinely likes you. If you're interested in him, perhaps you could talk to him about this while you guys watch the movie tomorrow. A relationship involves two-way effort, so there's no harm in taking the first step to try things out," Naomi advised.

"I don't think any man can accept a woman who's pregnant with someone else's child, right?" Leanna said after a long pause.

"There are always going to be exceptions to the norm. You'll never find out until you try him out. You should make things clear, and you should help him to understand why you rejected him. If he's able to accept you for who you are, he'll come looking for you. If he doesn't accept it, that's still good news! At least he wouldn't pester you anymore," Naomi uttered.

Leanna stared at the other woman quietly. That sounds simple and straightforward. It does sound like the most effective plan, she thought. She had never intended to keep her pregnancy her secret in her new residential area. She simply didn't have a reason to announce it to everyone—she figured that everyone would know about it when her belly got bigger. However, she hadn't foreseen someone like Harry to pop up at a time like this.

"I'll clarify things with him tomorrow," Leanna finally said after giving it some thought.

"How does it look?" Naomi held up the knitwear that she had been working on in the past two days, and Leanna immediately realized what it was. It was a pair of baby socks!

…

At 6.30PM the next evening, Leanna showed up at the front entrance of the cinema in one of Naomi's dresses. Soon enough, Harry jogged over with his forehead covered in sweat. "I'm so sorry! There was a jam on the way here, and I had to run as I was worried that I would be late. I'm not late, am I?"

Leanna beamed at him. "No. We still have ten minutes until the movie starts, so we're just in time." He let out a sigh of relief after hearing her words. "Great. Let's go in, then." However, Leanna didn't move immediately. "I have something to tell you, Harry," she uttered instead.

"We can talk about it later. My colleague told me that this movie is really amazing," he replied.

She thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Okay."

This was the first time Leanna had come to the movies alone with someone who wasn't Zoe.

Throughout the process, Harry didn't speak much—his gaze was fixed on the screen. When the movie was over, he stretched his limbs while turning to look at the woman. "Are you hungry? Let's have a meal," he suggested.

"I am rather hungry. Sure," she replied. Leanna paid for dinner, but Harry insisted on paying her back when he found out that she had paid. "I'm the one who asked you out. How can I expect you to pay for me?"

Leanna smiled at his words. "It's fine. You paid for the movie tickets, so it's reasonable for me to pay for dinner." Harry understood where she came from, but he protested against her logic anyway. "My department was the one who gave us these movie tickets, so I didn't pay anything…"

"It's fine. It's the same thing," she replied. After they got out of the restaurant, Harry addressed Leanna in a gentle tone. "Miss McKinney, is it… okay if I call you by your first name?"

"Sure," she replied.

"L-Leanna, I'm 29 years old this year. My parents are teachers working in my hometown, and they have sufficient savings to retire and grow old on their own. I—" Leanna interrupted him before he could go on. "Harry, thank you for telling me about all this. However, I'm not looking for anything romantic right now. I just want to focus on taking care of the baby in my belly," she uttered.

Harry seemed rather anxious after hearing her words. "But you're a girl, and it's really hard to care for a kid all on your own. I'm willing to do it with you," he offered. Leanna wasn't surprised that he was already aware of her pregnancy. "We've only known each other for two weeks, and we don't know much about one another. Furthermore, your parents would never agree to this," she replied.

"Well, relationships are built with time, aren't they? My parents… I can just tell them that the baby is mine. They'll be so happy!" he cried.

But she shook her head. "You're just infatuated with the new girl in the neighborhood—your feelings aren't going to last for long," she told him.

"But—" he started.

"Thank you for the movie. I'll leave now."

After finishing her words, Leanna turned around to leave. The moon was especially bright that night, and its light seemed to spill onto the ground as Leanna took a stroll along the river nearby. She was kicking a pebble that she had found on the ground, and she was having a lot of fun with it.

However, all of a sudden, the pebble skipped and landed right beside a granite stool. There was a man seated on the chair.