You Need Me

Chapter 8

"Now that we agreed with each other..." Leon passed her a bank card.

Viola took the card. She noticed that her name was printed on the front.

She knew what it was. Viola wanted to refuse but Leon waved his hand. "You may need it."

Viola felt uncertain about accepting the card but decided to keep it for now.

"The password is my birthday." Leon added.

"I don't know your birthday." Viola replied flatly.

"29 February."

Viola made a mental note. "Umm... Thank you."

Leon took out a mobile phone and showed it to Viola. "And this."

Viola was surprised to see HER phone. She thought it was lost during the commotion in Mir.

"How do you..."

"I sent it for repair the other day." Leon spoke while tapping something on his phone. "You are lucky that only the front screen was damaged. Whatever you have inside should still be there."

Viola took the phone. The screen lit up over a finger's touch and a picture came to life – an image she had been trying to erase from her memory. It was a photo of her and Walter on their engagement day a year ago, looking so in love with each other. The happiest day in her life. She stared at the screen, lost in thought.

"You'd better change that wallpaper if you don't want people to think you are cheating on me." Leon remarked, his eyes still glued to his phone.

Viola blushed and tapped the screen to enter the passcode.

[Wrong Passcode]

Viola entered the 4-digit passcode again.

[Wrong Passcode]

Viola was puzzled. She did not remember changing her passcode.

"It's my birthday." The answer came unexpectedly from Leon who looked pleased to see whatever he was seeing in his phone.

"Why are you..."

Forget it. Viola had no interest in finding out why her husband was so obsessed with his own birthday. She keyed in 2902 and voila, the screen unlocked itself. There were a few messages from her superior and colleagues from the research lab in Mir. Prior to her resignation, Viola was an assistant researcher in her alma mater. The messages were more or less the same. They had expressed their condolences and were concerned about Viola's well-being after hearing the news about her family. Viola replied every message with the same short reply "Thank you for your concern. Please do not worry." and quit the message app. There was no message from Walter.

Viola paused for a moment and tried checking her emails. Nothing from Walter here too.

Where did Walter go? Did he really frame her father? Why would he do that? Her family loved him dearly and was extremely delighted when he asked for Viola's hand in marriage.

Viola closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind. She could not fathom the reason someone like Walter would harm her and her family. She looked through the messages she exchanged with Walter, hoping to find something, anything that could explain his sudden disappearance − but there was nothing unusual.

Viola's head lowered and she stared blankly at her phone. The screen was reflected on her green eyes, making them looked lifeless.

"The photo at the beach is acceptable."

Viola turned her head to Leon. "What... do you mean?"

Leon looked up from his phone. "You can use the photo you took at the beach if you are unsure which to choose for your new wallpaper."

Viola looked at Leon, completely baffled.

"There are thousands of photos in your gallery folder. Amazing." He added.

"You... You looked into my phone???" Viola asked in disbelief.

Leon ignored her question and gave his attention back to his phone.

"Don't tell me you..." Viola could not finish her sentence.

"Your cheesy talk with your ex-boyfriend? Not interested." Leon shrugged nonchalantly.

"This... this is violation of your number one rule for not interfering with my private life. How could you...!"

"That happened before we signed the agreement." Leon replied calmly. Viola was lost for words.

A sharp ping was heard coming from Viola's phone. There was a new message. From Leon. What? He even added his own number into my phone without permission??

"I just sent you a link to an article. Take a look at it when you have the time." Leon got up from his seat and walked to the door.

Viola opened the link Leon just sent her. It brought her to Bellfield Times, the national newspaper homepage. When the page was fully loaded, Viola stared in horror at the headline picture.

"It turned out quite well, don't you think?" Leon added and left the room.

The image of her and Leon kissing this afternoon filled up almost the entire screen.