All Chapters of From Mr. Nobody to Mr. Perfect!: Chapter 71
- Chapter 80
179 chapters
Chapter 71
Leon did not raise his voice when the assistant finished speaking. And that's exactly what unsettled the room so much. The screen behind him displayed a quiet, methodical timeline: names, companies, countries, dates. Failed startups, strategic marriages, and short-lived partnerships that always ended the same way: Wayne Shephard exiting with capital intact, sometimes multiplied, while the other side absorbed the collapse. “This isn’t new,” the assistant said carefully. “He’s done it at least three times in different jurisdictions. Each time, there’s an emotional bond involved. A proposal. A promise of rescue. Then control.” Leon’s gaze remained fixed on the screen, his expression still. “Women with something to lose,” he said. “Yes, sir. Family companies. Inherited assets. Legacy brands under pressure.” Leon leaned forward slightly, resting his palms on the edge of the desk. The muscles in his jaw tightened—not with explosive rage, but with something far colder. Calculated ange
Chapter 72
Mia was sitting alone in her office long after the lights on the floor had dimmed. The city outside her window glowed in fragmented reflections, glass and steel mirroring a life that felt just as fractured. Her phone lay face-down on the desk, untouched for over an hour. Wayne’s last message still burned in her mind even without looking at it. [I can fix this… you just have to let me.] She pressed her palms to her eyes. Marriage. Family. Company. All three were pulling at her from different directions, each demanding sacrifice, each insisting it was the most important. She thought of Leon. Of the silence that had grown between them—not cold, not cruel, just… heavy. A silence filled with things unsaid, plans hidden, misunderstandings left to rot. She had told herself the distance was practical. That it was safer. That it was how they had always survived. But now, standing at the center of a storm she hadn’t created, the silence felt like abandonment. Maybe divorce is the clean
Chapter 73
The room had gone unnaturally quiet, the kind of silence that did not feel peaceful but expectant, as if the walls themselves were holding their breath. Conversations that had been buzzing moments ago died mid-sentence. Cutlery lay forgotten against porcelain plates. Even the soft background music seemed suddenly too loud, too inappropriate for what was unfolding.Leon stood at the center of it all, hands relaxed at his sides, shoulders straight but not rigid. His posture was unhurried, almost casual, as though he had not just dismantled the evening’s carefully curated illusion. He did not look angry. He did not look pleased. If anything, he looked bored—as though the entire spectacle had merely confirmed something he had already known and quietly prepared for.Wayne misread that calm completely.He let out a light chuckle, the sound too sharp in the silence, and lifted his glass as if to toast away the tension. “Leon, if this is about hurt pride, we can discuss it privately,” he said
Chapter 74
The doors of the banquet hall closed behind them with a restrained, final sound, the muted thud echoing far louder in Mia’s chest than in the corridor. It felt like a seal being placed on the evening... on everything that had been exposed, dismantled, and irrevocably changed. The noise inside the hall did not follow them. The outrage, the whispers, the scrambling explanations were shut away, contained behind polished wood and thick walls.Mia walked ahead without slowing her pace. Her back was straight, her chin level, her steps measured and purposeful, as though she were still being watched and judged. Control was the only thing holding her together, even though her emotions were anything but controlled. They churned beneath the surface, sharp and uncoordinated, threatening to spill if she faltered even slightly.Leon followed a few steps behind her. He kept the distance deliberately, resisting the instinct to reach out, to touch her arm, to call her name and anchor her before she fr
Chapter 75
The morning arrived quietly, as though the house itself was holding its breath.Soft light filtered through the kitchen windows, pale and cool, illuminating the familiar counters and the faint steam rising from a mug. Leon stood by the coffee machine, moving with unhurried precision. He had been awake for a while, his mind alert despite the lack of sleep. The study light had stayed on until dawn, but his thoughts had finally settled into something resembling clarity.He poured hot water slowly, watching the dark liquid swirl and settle.Behind him, footsteps paused.Leon sensed her before he turned.Mia stood at the kitchen entrance, still dressed in the soft clothes she slept in, her hair loosely tied back. There were faint shadows beneath her eyes, evidence of a restless night. She did not look angry. She did not look defensive.She looked tired in a way that went deeper than exhaustion.Leon finished pouring the coffee and set the kettle aside. He did not rush. He did not pretend n
Chapter 76
The auction hall glowed the way power always did—warm lighting, expensive restraint, and an unspoken understanding that nothing truly valuable here needed to announce itself.Mia stood near the center aisle, her posture flawless, her smile practiced. She knew this room. Or at least, she thought she did. These were the donors who had shaken her hand during Quinn Group fundraisers. The collectors who spoke of legacy as if it were an inherited right rather than something built. The women who appraised her dress and her marriage in the same breath.Leon stood slightly behind her, not asserting himself with his usual self at all. She had noticed it the moment they arrived.Most men in this room were trying to magnify presence like a peacock—louder laughs, firmer handshakes, unnecessary proximity. Leon didn’t. He greeted people politely when addressed, nodded when required, and otherwise remained still, as though he were observing rather than participating.It unsettled her.“You’re very q
Chapter 77
The drive home was quiet in a way that felt deliberate rather than peaceful.Mia sat angled toward the window, her reflection fractured by passing streetlights. Leon drove with the same steady precision he always did, hands relaxed on the wheel, gaze fixed forward. The city thinned around them, glass and noise giving way to darker stretches of road.She was the one who broke first.“Why did you let that happen?”Her voice was controlled, but only just. Each word felt weighed, measured, as if she were afraid of what would spill out if she let herself speak freely.Leon did not look at her. “It’s done now, we can't change anything Mia.”That was all.Mia turned sharply. “That’s it?”“Yes.”The restraint in his tone snapped something inside her.“No,” she said, heat rushing up her throat. “No, that’s not an answer. You stood there while he humiliated you. While he used me as a prop. You watched it happen.”Leon slowed at a red light. His jaw tightened, not defensively, but with something
Chapter 78
The news broke just after dawn, sliding quietly into the financial sections rather than exploding across the front page.Featured Artwork Placed Under Temporary Review Following Auction.The wording was deliberate. Neutral. Sanitized.Mia read the headline on her phone while standing in the kitchen, the mug of coffee in her hand slowly cooling. She read it again, slower this time, as if repetition might reveal what the article was hiding.Across the table, Leon sat with his tablet propped neatly beside his plate. He had already read it. His expression did not change. There was no satisfaction, no irritation, no visible reaction at all.“That’s it?” Mia asked, unable to keep the edge out of her voice. “That’s all you have to say?”Leon lowered the tablet and looked at her calmly. “It is the first move,” he said.“It’s public,” Mia replied. “Which means speculation has already started.”“Yes,” Leon agreed.“And Joseph will not accept this,” she continued. “He will push back, loudly.”Le
Chapter 79
The transfer did not happen in a hall filled with cameras or beneath a chandeliered ceiling where applause could be measured and traded.It happened in a room with no windows.A conference table, two witnesses and three signatures.The artwork was reassigned, not repurchased. The paperwork was precise in its wording, deliberate in its restraint. The final amount exchanged was a fraction of the auction price, so small by comparison that it bordered on insult.No one mentioned the original figure again.The auction house issued a brief internal notice. The language was courteous, almost warm. It praised the winning bidder for his “gracious cooperation” and his “commitment to institutional integrity.” It thanked all parties involved for their professionalism during an unexpected procedural complication.Publicly, the bidder was congratulated for his composure.Privately, his reputation collapsed.His donors withdrew support without explanation. His preferred lenders suddenly discovered r
Chapter 80
The Quinn residence was not accustomed to surprises.Everything about the family's residence was designed to announce stability, more like a fortress. The long gravel drive that curved politely instead of dramatically, the clipped hedges that never grew wild, the front doors polished to a restrained sheen. Even visitors were usually predictable, announced days in advance, categorized, expected.So when the black luxury sedan rolled through the gates mid-morning without prior notice, it immediately unsettled the rhythm of the house.The car was expensive, but not ostentatious. No vanity plates. No unnecessary flourish. It came to a smooth stop at the front steps, engine quiet, presence deliberate.The driver stepped out first, circled the car, and opened the rear door.Elara stepped out alone.She did not pause to take in the house or adjust herself for effect. She wore a tailored coat in a muted shade, her hair pulled back neatly, her posture composed. There was nothing desperate or