"Nope!"

"Nah!"

Piles of clothes had scattered on his bed as he tried one pair after another. Nothing seemed to tickle his fancy as he found himself throwing another jacket on the floor.

"Definitely not."

Completely unsatisfied with the way he looked.

Rummaging through his walk-in cabinet, he found another black jacket that would look perfect with his outfit.

After modeling in front of the mirror, he nodded. "Much better," he thought as he checked his handsome reflection. Sharp jaw, expressive eyes, kissable lips, and a body that made women drool over him.

"What do you think, Caleb?" He looked at the young version of his older brother, who was sitting impatiently on a chair, staring at him with a bored expression.

"You’re just wasting your time, Uncle Benjie." His young nephew remarked, belittling his effort. "She’s not interested in you." His tone was completely annoying and arrogant.

Furrowing his brows at that little rascal, he walked toward him with his arms crossed against his chest.

"Did she say anything?" He asked, curious if the young boy knew something he wasn’t aware of. "Did you hear something?" He continued, sounding a bit anxious.

For as long as he could remember, getting the attention of a woman was easy. He would simply walk into a room, smile, and make some witty remarks, and then she would be putty in his hands.

"Nope!" Caleb smugly shook his head. "I just know that Leah had more sense than to fall for your tricks, Uncle." His nephew looked down at his fingers as if bored and uninterested.

Caleb jumped out of the bed as if he had reached his limits. With his little hands, he tagged at his jacket, beckoning him to kneel down. Then, those brilliant eyes turned to him, as if daring him to refute his words.

"Aren’t you a smartass? You’re really like your father." He extended his hand and ruffled his nephew’s tidy hair.

The young boy was not just a spitting image of Oliver, but he certainly inherited his father’s know-it-all charm. Unlike his brother, he had never enjoyed reading books. He was just not good with letters and numbers.

Although he was also as athletic as Oliver, he preferred music rather than anything else. But as a Morton, being an artist was not exactly a career he could follow.

However, he was glad that Oliver’s child had Morton’s genes clearly flowing in his blood. He could already see that Caleb could easily inherit the Morton legacy. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Anyway, he could not be mad at his young, incredibly intelligent nephew since his words carried some truth. "But kidding aside, Caleb, what do you think she likes in a man?"

Crazy right? Asking a young kid for romantic advice, but he had not met anyone like her. Besides, Caleb seemed to be close to Leah. Maybe his young nephew could help him bridge the gap between them.

Since his last encounter with Leah, she had avoided him like he had the plague. Whenever he entered the same room as her, she would immediately leave. When he bumped into her in the hallway, she immediately looked away and turned in the opposite direction.

Most girls would jump at the chance of receiving such an expensive diamond necklace, but she easily threw the damn thing at him when he suggested that he put it on her. Then, she stormed out of the room as if her feet were on fire.

"Leah?" Caleb ran his fingers on his chin as if he had been deeply contemplating. "Definitely not anything like you, Uncle. No offense." Although his nephew might seem innocent, his words were not.

No offense meant, simply saying that he was just saying the truth, but he did not want to hurt his feelings.

"Leah would never fall for a playboy like you." Then, his nephew walked toward the door and exited his room without looking back.

If he were being honest, in his deeper subconsciousness, he agreed with the young boy.

Leah was different from the other girls that he had met before. First of all, she belonged in the other part of their social circle. They were from two worlds separated by wealth, status, and power.

In truth, a man liked him should not be even bothering with a girl like her. But tried as he might, he could not stop thinking about her.

Despite her humble beginnings, he found himself attracted to her. The more he learned about her, the more he was intrigued. The more he wanted to know her.

Even Caleb was clearly beguiled with her. Not because she was beautiful, but because she was interesting.

There was something about her that make her standout. That made her special.

Maybe it was her determination and resilience. Maybe it was her strength to rise above her situation. Whatever it was, his feet dragged him to a line that should not be crossed.

"I guess we’ll see about that." Honestly, he had no clue what his intentions were with the young lady. But today, he just wanted to see her, hoping he would finally catch her attention.

One last look in the mirror, he left his room to look for her. He had never had a problem talking to the ladies, so he was confident that she would finally give him the time of day.

"Just be polite, smile, show those adorable dimples that the girls love, and... and... compliment her looks." He mumbled to himself as he searched the hallways.

Usually, Leah would either be cleaning the rooms or doing some errands for Taylor. But so far, he had not seen her anywhere.

Then, as he turned towards the pool, he found her. "There you are." He whispered silently in the air, his eyes zeroed on her, like a hunter who had just found his next prey.

Slowly, he moved toward her, acting nonchalant and cool. But it seemed she hadn’t noticed him since she had her back to him as she cleaned the pool.

"Hi, there." With a boyish smile plastered on his lips, he readily greeted her once his body stopped just a couple of feet behind her. But a few seconds blew by, nothing. No reply. Zero reaction.

Was she deliberately ignoring him? Pretending that she didn’t hear him. That he didn’t exist.

Mildly frustrated, he ran his fingers through his hair and stepped one foot closer. Then, he tried again. "Hey, Leah." Instinctively, although he knew he should not have, his hand moved voluntarily without his consent and touched her by the shoulder.

As if a cat who had just had a great scare, she suddenly jumped out of her skin, appearing stunned by his sudden presence.

Then, it happened so fast. Even he didn’t have time to react. One minute, he was staring at her shocked face, the next, he was watching her fall.

His instinct kicked in as his hands spontaneously reached for her, but he was too late. His fingers barely touched the tip of her outstretched fingers.

Soon, splashes of water spread all over a two-meter radius as she landed hard on the pool surface.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you." He quickly shouted, as panic registered on his face. Then, he watched her, wondering if she could swim or not. Whether he should jump into the pool or wait.

But when he saw that she was struggling, he didn’t hesitate. Kicking off his shoes, he just plunged into the pool, swimming until he had her wrapped in his arms.

The pool was not too deep, but with her height, her feet would not reach the bottom. She would have drowned if he hadn’t saved her.

Eventually, he felt her hands clung to him as if she were hanging for dear life. More like instinct to survive than anything else.

"I’m sorry again." He whispered near her ears as he carried her up the stairs. Although it was an accident, it was still his fault, especially when he realized that she had her earplugs on.

Leah was not deliberately ignoring him. She just didn’t hear him.

Now, he felt more guilty for blindsiding her.

"Are you okay, Leah?" He asked as soon as he sat her on the lounge near the pool, seeing that she was still shaken.

Quickly, he grabbed a clean, dry towel from the cabinet near the chair and wrapped it around her body. Then, he took another one, gently patting her face and hair dry.

But as if she had snapped back to reality, she snatched the towel from his hand and pushed him away.

"What’s wrong with you?" Leah finally said, glaring at him with blazing eyes. Of course, she was mad. What else would he expect?

"Oh, my!" She suddenly gasped as she saw the wet earplugs that were dripping loosely around her shoulders. Then, she pulled her phone out of her pocket. Just like her, the phone suffered the same fate. "My phone." Holding the small device in her hand with so much grief and disappointment.

"Don’t worry about that." He said, thinking it was just a phone. And it did not exactly look like it was worth much. "You must get out of those clothes before you get sick."

Realizing that he was also soaked, he gradually peeled the jacket and t-shirt from his body and threw his wet clothes on the other chair.

"Come on." He hastily picked her up from the chair, ready to carry her to her room.

"What do you think you are doing?" She looked surprised before she trashed out of his grip. "Let me down. I can walk." Pushing herself away from his chest until he finally let her go.

"Do you really enjoy bullying me?" Clearly, she misunderstood the incident. "Can’t you take a hint? I don’t want to play any of your stupid games."

With that said, she gazed at him with so much contempt, and then, without warning, he threw the broken handset at him. Luckily, he was quick, dodging the phone before it hit his head. His lower head.

"Ouch!" But it still hit his thigh. "You got this all wrong..." He tried to explain as he looked at her.

But she just gave him a "Fuck you!" sign before she marched towards the maid’s quarters, leaving him staring at her back.