Chapter 107

Bella playfully shoved her. "With a friend like you? Forget it, from now on, I don't know you!"

"Fine, then Clara and I are going hiking on Saturday without you!" Agnes shot back.

"Clara's glued to Jeremy every day. When does she have time for you? Your husband's even busier. I'm the only one who can go with you on Saturday, dear Agnes. Be nice to me, or you'll be hiking solo!" Bella retorted.

Agnes winked. "Bella, wanna bet?"

"What kind of bet?"

"I'll call Leopold right now. If he agrees to go hiking with me on Saturday, you treat me to lunch for a month; if not, I treat you. Deal?" Agnes proposed.

Bella clapped her hands in agreement, then immediately regretted it. "Wait, no. You two are in the honeymoon phase. Why should I bet with you? No, no."

Agnes wouldn't let her back out, proudly showing her already dialed phone screen. "You already agreed, and I've dialed the number. Too late to back out now."

"Oh no!"

The call connected quickly. "Hey, honey."

The sudden term of endearment almost made Agnes choke. "Leopold, are you busy?"

"Not really, what's up? Do you miss me?" Leopold replied.

Agnes was speechless, pushing away Bella who was trying to snuggle up to her. "Are you free on Saturday to go hiking together?"

"Saturday? I can't. My mom's coming over," Leopold replied.

Agnes was so shocked by Leopold's words that she almost jumped up. After a moment, she nervously asked, "Why is she suddenly coming?"

"She wants to meet you. Isn't that normal?" Leopold said.

Realizing her reaction was a bit exaggerated, she awkwardly cleared her throat. "Yes, you're right."

"Her flight's at noon on Saturday; we'll pick her up together," Leopold continued.

"Okay," Agnes responded numbly.

'Teresa is coming. What does she look like? Will she like me?' she thought.

Leopold was still talking, "What do you want for lunch? Come join me at the office."

Mentioning lunch, Agnes snapped back to reality, glancing at Bella who was busy chatting on WhatsApp, and helplessly said to Leopold, "It's all your fault. I have to treat Bella to lunch for a month. I can't accompany you."

Bella, hearing she had won, made a triumphant victory gesture.

"Why?" Leopold was puzzled. How was it his fault?

Agnes slumped over the desk, chatting idly with him, "I lost a bet with Bella."

"About hiking?" Leopold guessed immediately.

"Yes."

Leopold chuckled. "Come over for lunch. I'll handle Bella, okay?"

"No, a bet is a bet. I have to treat Bella to lunch for a month."

Bella, hearing this, quickly whispered, "Agnes, I was just kidding. You don't really have to treat me. Don't take it seriously!"

"Give the phone to Bella. I'll talk to her." Leopold knew how much Agnes valued loyalty and keeping her promises.

"What do you want to say to her?" Hearing that Leopold wanted to talk to Bella, Agnes immediately straightened up.

Leopold chuckled. "Agnes, I'm just helping you settle this. Don't worry. I won't say anything unnecessary."

Leopold's tone carried a hint of mischief. Agnes quickly explained, "No, no, I'm just curious. You're overthinking it. I'll give her the phone now!"

Bella, realizing the call was indeed for her, nervously bit her finger and softly confirmed with Agnes, "Mr. Neville wants to talk to me?"

Agnes blinked and nodded seriously. "Yes."

Bella quickly put down her own phone, wiped her hands on her clothes before taking Agnes's phone, and politely said, "Hello, Mr. Neville!"

Agnes remained silent.

Leopold said something on the other end, and Bella quickly declined, "No, Mr. Neville, Agnes and I were just joking, really. There's still plenty of money on the card you gave me last time. Please don't take it seriously!"

After Leopold seemed to say something else, Bella could only agree, "Okay, thank you, Mr. Neville."

The phone returned to Agnes's hand, and she looked at the still-connected call screen. "Leopold, what are you up to?"

"Nothing, I'll have my assistant pick you up at noon, and we'll have lunch together."

After the call ended, Bella couldn't wait to say, "Agnes, I found that Leopold is even more straightforward than you, really."

"What happened?" Agnes asked, puzzled.

Bella recounted exactly what Leopold had said to her.

Leopold told her that this was no joke, and what was said must be done. Since Agnes lost the bet, if she didn't treat Bella to lunch for a month, she would feel uncomfortable. So he had already instructed his assistant to top up her membership card on the fifth floor of Alioth with enough money for a month's worth of lunches.

Agnes was silent.

She realized that Leopold's way of solving problems was always, if money could do it, he wouldn't waste words.

At noon, Anita came to pick her up and took Agnes directly to the company, where Leopold then took her to the restaurant.

After ordering, Agnes couldn't wait to ask, "Leopold, what does your mom like? What does she like to eat? What are her hobbies? Is there anything I should be aware of?"

Before she could finish, Leopold had already taken her hand.

Agnes looked at him in confusion, and Leopold gently patted her hand to comfort her, "She's very nice. You don't need to be too nervous. I believe she'll like you very much!"

Agnes was half-convinced. "Really?" She had heard plenty of family conflict stories before.

"Absolutely sure!" Teresa had said before that when he got married, he should marry a cheerful and lively girl. She also hoped for a lively daughter-in-law.

Agnes finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright then, how long is your mom staying?"

Leopold handed her a warm wet towel. "Two days."

Agnes's mind was preoccupied with the upcoming meeting with Teresa, so much so that she was a bit absent-minded when Leopold asked her questions.

"Where did you get the money to buy the ring?" The card he gave her sent him notifications for every transaction, no matter how small, and he hadn't received any notifications of her spending thousands of dollars recently.

"Of course, I earned it!" She didn't know what Teresa looked like, but judging by Leopold's appearance, Teresa should be quite good-looking too.

"How did you earn it?" Leopold asked.

"Singing." Should she take Teresa out for a walk when she arrived?

"Where did you sing?" Leopold pressed.

"At a bar. Hey, what did you just ask me?" Agnes inadvertently noticed Leopold's displeased look and suddenly snapped back to reality, trying to recall what he had asked and what she had answered.

Leopold held her hand tightly and asked in a deep voice, "Who let you sing at a bar? Didn't I give you a card? Did you drink?"

Her hand hurt a bit, but feeling his anger, Agnes didn't dare to pull away. "I won't go again. The card you gave me is yours. What's the point of buying you a ring with your money? But, Leopold, I really didn't drink."

Agnes looked at him with a face full of appeasement.

Hearing her say she wouldn't go again and that she didn't drink, Leopold's expression softened a bit. "Was your hoarse voice last time from singing?"

Knowing she couldn't avoid it, Agnes nodded frankly. "I hadn't sung in a long time, and I sang a bit too long that day, so I got hoarse! But my voice heals quickly, it was fine the next morning, you know that!"

Indeed, he knew her voice was fine the next morning, and the medicine he had prepared wasn't needed. "What do you mean by healing quickly?"

"It just gets better on its own. I used to get hoarse from singing too, but my voice seems to have gotten used to it and always recovers quickly!"

At this moment, Agnes's sweet smile deeply touched his heart.

He held her hand and pressed it gently to his lips. "Silly girl, don't do that again! If you want to buy me something, use the card I gave you. Once I give it to you, it's your money, understand?"

"Alright, but, Leopold, I'm already twenty-one. I can totally earn my own money, right?" She cautiously defended herself.

"If you want to work, you can do whatever you want after you graduate, but for now, focus on your studies. Agnes, I want you to study hard so that you can be even more successful in the future, understand?" Leopold said.

Although she was already impressive in his eyes, he knew that as a woman, she would face many challenges in the future. If she could excel even more, that would be the best.