Chapter 25 Do You Love Me Or Her

Leena was shocked. As soon as Miguel yanked Carlson away from her, he rushed to her side and took her hand. Glaring at Carlson, Miguel spat, "It seems you have a lot of spare time on your hands. Do you visit the Heaven Hotel daily? I couldn't care less who you flirt with, but don't you think it's a bit too much for you to flirt with my girlfriend?"

Carlson held up his hands in mock defeat. "So, you two are still lovers?" he asked with one eyebrow raised mischievously.

"Miguel, what are you doing?"

Just then, Spencer and his companions had just rounded the corner to see what was happening. When they saw that Miguel, Carlson, and Leena were all together, they felt a shiver run down their spines. Seconds later, the bosses that had come with Carlson also showed up. Perhaps they saw Miguel's companions running over there, and they figured out something was wrong so they decided to follow them. "What happened?" the elder boss demanded.

Carlson shrugged helplessly as the crowd of onlookers grew. "Well, everyone, come and see for yourself!" He figured that, between him and Miguel, it was Miguel who had more to be embarrassed about in this situation.

With a cold and calculated expression on his face, Miguel gripped Leena's hand tightly. Ignoring everyone else present, he looked into her eyes intensely. "Come with me, we need to talk."

Leena's thoughts raced. One moment, she was getting intimate with one man, now another was trying to yank her away! However, it was Miguel who had hurt her deeply in the first place. Trying to pull away from his grasp, she shook her head stubbornly. "Miguel, we broke up! You chose Alina over me. We have nothing to talk about!"

"Who said we broke up?" Miguel demanded, eyes flashing furiously. He tightened his grip on Leena, making it impossible for her to get away. "Who exactly allowed you to break up with me?"

"Are you seriously going to argue with me in front of everyone?" Leena hissed, struggling to pry his hand off of her.

Just then, Carlson announced to his friends in a loud, laid-back tone, "Uncle Austin, this isn't anything serious. It's just a joke!"

His Uncle Austin narrowed his eyes at him, but then decided to drop the subject.

Patting Leena's shoulder affectionately, Carlson said to her, "It's okay. Make things clear to him now and cut it off once and for all. I'll pick you up first thing tomorrow morning!" He then winked at her, and turned to leave with his companions.

Now, this left Leena, Miguel, and Miguel's companions. Wearing a cold expression, Miguel asked, "How could you mingle with such a man?"

By then, Leena had managed to calm down and gather her wits. "Well, if you want to clarify things so badly," she said icily, "then let's go find a place where we can talk in peace. But first, I'll need to change." Yanking her arm away violently, she finally freed herself from Miguel's grasp. She abruptly turned around and walked away.

Lewis Liu, the boss of the Heaven Hotel, hurriedly rushed over to her to ask what was going on. Leena only apologized curtly, briefly explaining that something personal had come up and she needed to deal with things quickly. He sighed in response. "Too bad, Leena, my dear. Listen to your Uncle Lewis, will you? Don't come to work here anymore. It's too dangerous to keep going on like this." He paused and looked at her sympathetically. "Don't you study economics? And you're almost done, aren't you? I heard that Simon is going to expand his own subsidiary company. You might not have seen each other for a while, but he still remembers you. How about I ask him for a favor on your behalf and you work in his company?"

"I'm sorry," Leena said apologetically. "This is all my fault, I know. I promise I will handle things to make sure they don't affect my or the hotel's future."

"So, will you take the job?"

"Uncle Lewis, can we talk about this after I graduate? The salary here is better than most places."

He sighed. There was no use trying to persuade her now, not while she was firm in her decision. So, he let her go to change her clothes.

Miguel was waiting for her right outside the hotel with Spencer. He had ordered the rest of his people to go back to their respective positions. Leena and Spencer nodded at each other po

litely and were about to get in Miguel's car when suddenly, another car arrived. The driver's window rolled down. It was Rena. "Leena! I'm here to pick you up!"

"Oh my God! Here comes the devil!" Spencer exclaimed in a shaky voice. As soon as those words left his lips, he realized trouble was imminent if Rena realized Miguel was here. And he was right. The moment Rena saw Miguel, her face fell. Rushing out of her car, she pointed a finger at Miguel menacingly. "How dare you show up here! Didn't you run away with that bitch? What the hell are you doing here, ruining people's lives again? I've been wondering what I'd do to you if I ran into you, yet here you are. Come here! You absolutely need to be taught a lesson!"

Rena was so furious that, at first, no one dared to approach her. But just as she was marching towards Miguel ominously, Spencer valiantly rushed over to stop her. "What do you think you're doing here?! This is between the two of them. They're just going to talk, alright? You have no right to get involved!"

"'No right to get involved' my ass!" she shouted at him. "Let go of me! Or I'll beat the both of you myself!" Rena clenched her fists, indicating she was not joking. She continued to shout, "Let go of me! Or else! I'm good at Taekwondo!"

Despite her threats, Spencer didn't give up. It seemed he would rather die than let her hurt his friend. At last, Leena lost her patience. "Rena, stop. I'm simply going to talk to him."

Rena continued to curse at them, throwing punches at Spencer. Finally, she stopped when she saw Leena glaring at her. "Fine," she spat. She finally stepped away from Spencer, leaving him wincing in pain. He shot her a defiant glance, then retreated to Miguel's side.

Leena and Miguel got into the car and drove away at once. Spencer and Rena, on the other hand, proceeded to get into their own cars and followed them from behind. They all rode in silence. When they made it to a quiet place, Miguel finally started to talk. "Your friend is really strange. Is she always so hot tempered?"

"You can scold me, but leave my friend out of this!" Leena snapped, defending her friend fiercely.

Miguel didn't push the topic. The atmosphere suddenly dropped a thousand degrees. Both of them sat in awkward silence. At long last, Miguel broke the ice. "You're judging me, aren't you? Since when?"

"Don't you think that's a stupid question?" she retorted. Obviously, when he cheated on her and left her in the dust to chase after Alina!

He replied, "I admit I made a mistake, Leena, and I'm sorry for that. But I'm not here to argue with you today."

'You have no idea how mad I am at you right now,' Leena thought in her heart. 'You don't understand, and you always look like you're better than me. I can't talk to you like this!'

"When I was with you, I was sincere," Miguel continued. "I did like you back when we were kids, so I was excited when I recognized you that night. From chasing after you, to finally being with you, I wasn't pretending at all. My feelings were true."

She didn't answer immediately, but he didn't say anything more for a while. Finally, she asked pointedly, "So, what?"

He sighed. "But I didn't expect Alina would show up… I admit that I wasn't able to control myself when she was around. I still have feelings for her, but I don't think it's love. It's kind of a complicated feeling, and I don't have the words to explain it..."

"How could you say that?" She had no patience for this, he was giving such ridiculous excuses.

Miguel shook his head. "You don't understand what we've been through, so you obviously wouldn't understand how I felt when I saw her again. My past with her was very complicated... When I found out that she was once abandoned, I took pleasure of her misfortune. But the moment I saw her drinking alone and crying, I felt sorry for her. I decided to listen to her and give her a shoulder to cry on, until I found out that I couldn’t simply let her go!"

"So, what exactly are you trying to tell me?" Leena had already been in a bad mood ever since she'd gotten into Miguel's car, but with every word he said, she'd grown angrier and angrier. By now, she was furious. Who wouldn't be, if the one they loved admitted he couldn't get over his ex-girlfriend?