AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You can leave,” he said since the documents he had to sign were done, and I nodded in response.
I felt immense relief as soon as I left his presence because more and more I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He knew I was lying to him, I knew I was lying to him, and overall it all just seemed messy and ungenuine, and it was hurting me. I hated it. I had to endure because for now and the near future, there was no way to escape.
Chapter 41
Lucien
Ihated that she was lying to me, and worse than that, I hated that I noticed. I didn’t used to, but now I couldn’t help it, and I just wished she would confide in me. Even though our relationship wasn’t personal, I expected that due to the length of association we’d had so far, she would at least feel comfortable enough to reveal things to me that threatened her well-being when they came up. Unless Gregory had threatened her. But try as I might, I couldn’t think of even a single thing that he could have used to successfully threaten her with. It made absolutely no sense to me.
I tried to get back to work but found I was too distracted, so after checking the time, I placed a call to Felix.
“What’s the need of the day,” I accused the moment he picked up. “Why don’t I have any response yet?” I asked.
“My apologies, sir,” he said. “I was just about to contact you to share what I have found.”
“And what is it?” I asked. “Was there any interaction between them?”
“Yes, sir, there was,” he replied. “From the timestamp of three-eighteen to three-nineteen pm. He was waiting for heroutside of the bathroom when she got out, and then he called out to her. It took a while for her to respond, but eventually, she did, and they spoke for a bit.”
“I nodded at this, and for the first time, I began to consider this from a different perspective. Was this even personal at all? Maybe he wasn’t trying to woo her, but this was a business strategy of some sort. But again, I couldn’t see the reason for this, as we were both partners. However, I had to be vigilant in every way, so I didn’t leave any considerations out.
“Do you have the surveillance footage or pictures?” I asked.
“Yes, I do, sir,” he replied. “That’s why I was delayed. I saw all of these a while ago, but I needed to wait till now to collaborate with the security guy to hand it over.”
“Alright,” I said. “Send it over.”
“Will do, sir,” he replied, and the call came to an end.
A few minutes later, I received it on my phone. Immediately, I watched it and could confirm Felix’s entire description of all that had taken place. I could see her reluctance, her annoyance, and fear. His bullying, his amusement. By the time I was done and had put the phone aside, I was so pissed that I almost didn’t know what to do with myself.
All of this, and she was still keeping it to herself.
I thought of Gregory and thought of confronting him about this once again, yet something stopped me because it all felt too premature. Maybe their encounters wouldn’t go beyond this. Maybe he was just showing her all this excitement simply because we had just begun and she was like a shiny new toy. And so maybe eventually, he would look away, and no fuss would be made.
These were all hopes I had at the back of my mind, but the fact that the reality could be worse, especially after I had seen the caller ID saved on her phone – ‘creep’, kept my gaze on the door to my office and kept my mind on her.
And so I called Felix back because I really couldn’t bear to take a risk.
“I need additional surveillance, but this time around it will be on my assistant, Sophie Turner.”
“Oh,” he said, a bit startled at my request.
“When can you begin? Do you need her address?”
“No, sir,” he replied, “and I’ll get started on this now.”
“Remain out of sight,” I told him. “This will only be brief. I just need to ensure that she isn’t being forced to do anything beyond her will. Only look out for the man we saw in the surveillance footage. Check if he comes anywhere close to her, and if they meet, and if this happens, inform me immediately.”
“Yes, sir,” he responded, and finally, I was able to breathe.
Scarlett
Suddenly, I didn’t want to be alone. I had been looking forward all day to returning to my apartment and resting, but suddenly, all I could think about was Sophie’s apartment and how much safer I would feel being there with her. So, the moment I got out of the building, I hailed a taxi and went straight to her home in Chelsea.
On my way over, I received several messages from said creep. Most of which I ignored; this one, however, I had no choice but to respond to.
“I have a yacht decked and waiting to sail. Once again, I’m extending my invitation for you to join me for dinner. It’s been twenty minutes without a response, so I will assume upon any further delays that you’re reneging on our agreement to get to know each other better.”
