It'll Come Naturally

"Goodness! This is your home?" Claire's eyes popped out of its sockets as Leena drove them into the Leng's house. She wasn't expecting a house as grandeur and splendid as this! It wasn't only huge, it was landscaped to perfection. There were beautiful ponds and many rare flowers arranged carefully around the place. Claire was so shocked that she hadn't been able to close her mouth for a while. She had never imagined Leena to bring her into such a magnificent place. 'This is not a house! This is manor with a garden and a chateau!' she thought. "Yeah! Do you like it?" asked Leena casually as she saw the stupefied expression on Claire's face. She shot her sister-in-law a sweet smile and then continued driving. This was her home and growing in it made her too familiar with it. Thus, she never really paid much attention to its details. The only reason why she wanted to bring Claire here was to show hospitality. She even thought that this wasn't the best season to visit their house since it would look even more beautiful during summer. The botanical gardens and ponds would look wonderful during that season since it would be the time for the flowers to bloom at their best. It might be beautiful as for now but it was nothing compared with how it would look on those summer days. Most of the flowers and grasses had withered due to winter's coldness, even the trees had lost their leaves. The place was actually dull to Leena's eyes. The winter wind had blown away the aristocratic glory of the Leng's house.

"Wow! It's so huge! Leena, is this really your home? I mean, are you sure that we're not driving to the wrong place?" Disbelief was still all over Claire's face. She had been hesitating about this place for minutes now. The picture she had sketched in her mind about Leena's house was far from what was before her. She had imagined Leena's home to be an apartment. Not a huge villa that occupied a broad area.

"Haha! You can't be serious, right? Is there even a person who can't recognize his or her own home? By the way, let me remind you about my brother first. Duke is not an easy going guy. So please, try not to say or do anything that could provoke him. He can be scary when he is mad. Another thing is about his wife. My sister-in-law's name is Belinda. She is a very nice lady. She is very easy to get along with most of the time but her personality is also straightforward. She may speak out whatever she thinks and her words could be hurtful sometimes. Some people don't like her because of it. I hope you won't mind if she blurts something that you're not happy with. She is a good combination of a sharp tongue and a kind heart. She is really nice inside, no worries." Leena's smile went a bit fainter. The necessity to warn Claire beforehand had pressured her a bit. Claire couldn't keep acting thoughtlessly as how she usually did when she was with the Gu's or in their apartment. She would know what a disaster meant if she accidentally provoked that couple. "Okay you are making your family sound so rich, are they?" Claire didn't respond to Leena directly but asked her own question instead. She had completely ignored her sister-in-law's warning. She didn't even care if Duke and Belinda were easy going or not. Her focus was all about how wealthy Leena's family was. 'Is Leena's family richer than mine?' she secretly asked herself. Claire wouldn't want to accept the fact but then found it hard to deny it too. Claire was internally having struggles with her thoughts. So Leena wasn't a bumpkin but an aristocrat! No way! Claire didn't even know what answer she should be expecting from Leena now.

"Well, kind of. We're here. Let's get off the car," said Leena. She felt a bit better after telling Claire about the real status of her family. Claire would know about this anyway since she planned to stay in S City for a while. There was really no need for her to keep this a secret any more.

On the other hand, Claire was still having a hard time digesting the truth. It wasn't easy for her to accept that Leena's family was actually wealthier than hers. She had looked down on Leena's family countless times and she felt embarrassed now. Leena had always been kind and generous to her even after her stupid acts. The realization of how bad she had behaved was like a slap on her face. She was terrible!

"Leena, my little girl! Welcome back home! Aren't you going to come home and see me at all if I didn't ask your brother to call you?" Lloyd welcomed his princess with fake anger in his words. He hadn't seen Leena for a while and he missed her a lot. It was the sound of a car pulling over that made him excitedly run out of the house. He laughed so happily upon seeing his child that his eyes narrowed. His voice sounded soft even though he intended to reprimand her. His undeniable love for her was all over his face.0000