He had to admit that Shirley�s words more or less brought him to his senses.

Despite the last night�s vow, and now that his head was clear, he began to wonder if he actually even loved Leia at all. Even he could not tell!

And Leia could see all of Xavier�s pain and confusion, her heart aching with every passing second.

�Do you love me, Xavier?�

She looked at him, waiting for his answer.

�I��

Xavier�s eyes quivered, and he could not answer.

�Fine, I get it.�

Leia said nonchalantly, �I know that you�re just confused. Don�t worry. I won�t bother you, so, do have a proper talk with the star actress-it�s not easy finding true love these days, so learn to cherish what you have.�

She patted him on the shoulder and shrugged, unconcerned. �I won�t lie. I was playing too."

Leia�s tone was firm because she didn�t want either of them to have any regrets. She left the apartment and took the elevator downstairs, and wasn�t surprised to find that Xavier didn�t come after her. Leia�s lip curled in disgust, and she wiped her tears away furiously.

�Ugh, all men are pigs! There�s no end to their greed!�

At that moment, she felt as if she had been sinking into an abyss she couldn�t pull herself out of. Come to think of it, she was probably cursed to only have one-sided loves- first with William Jones, now with Xavier Stuart. All she ever amounted to was the �rebound�� fated to return to the sidelines once the actual love interest returned.

It was tragic.

Was this fate? If it was, maybe she should just do away with love for the rest of her life!

Leia soon returned to Carmine Pawnshop, cutting a miserable figure. However, when she stepped through the front door, there was a loud �pop� overhead as confetti rained down on her.

�Welcome back, Miss Osborne!�

Chase had a saucer of olive oil, anointing her to do away with bad luck, while Renee

unleashed party poppers all around in celebration. They had been waiting for her for some time now, and happily celebrated her return.

�It�s been hard on you, Leia!� Renee had puffy eyes as she gave Leia a bear hug. Her eyes gleamed as she whispered excitedly, �So? How did it go last night? Did you manage to seal the deal?�

The chemistry between them had been all too obvious last night, and Renee was convinced that it was just a matter of time. Luck had not been on their side for a while now, so Renee would be happy if Leia managed to find love.

�Renee, don�t mention that name around me ever again if you consider me your friend� or it�s over between us,� Leia told Renee and everyone else, her tone uncharacteristically grim.

She had been hurt terribly, so it was only natural that she wanted to distance herself from everything related to that man.

�Well� Alright, as long as you�re home.� Renee could not bring herself to ask Leia what happened, despite her overwhelming curiosity. Inwardly, she was cursing Xavier�what on earth did he do to hurt Leia so badly?

Nonetheless, after half a watermelon, two mangoes, three packs of cherries, dozens of grilled skewers, and a pot of stewed mutton, Leia felt slightly better. JrNovels.com