The Man Who Never Looked Away novel Chapter 12

She understood the subtext perfectly. Coming from Sigrid's mouth, she sounded like a pathetic creature in need of charity. And her husband was the kind of man who had to be reminded by other women to go home.

But she didn't need another woman to "donate" her own husband back to her. She had stopped wanting this husband a long time ago.

Garnett gave a curt nod, his grip tightening as he ushered Lavinia outside.

The parking lot fell silent, their footsteps echoing through the cavernous underground garage.

Garnett drove himself tonight. Lavinia sat in the passenger seat, perfectly quiet. She stared out the window, but the glass reflected her image wearing the pearl necklace—a blurry halo of light that looked like an entirely different person.

The silence stretched on for a long time.

"Do you like them?" Garnett suddenly asked.

"...Huh?" Lavinia turned her head, her eyes wide and confused.

She had the soft, bewildered look of a small animal. Garnett paused for a fraction of a second before repeating, "These pearls. Do you like them?"

Lavinia's fingertips lightly brushed the cold stones at her collarbone.

"They're quite pretty," she murmured, lowering her gaze.

"Have you met any new friends lately?"

"No. With Uncle Latham's condition being so critical, when would I have the time to socialize?"

"You're running to the hospital every single day. Have you bumped into anyone you know at St. Agnes Hospital? Say, some old college alumni?"

"No. Not a single one."

Garnett didn't press further. She was just a woman whose entire world revolved around her husband and her maiden family, too innocent to harbor any illicit intentions.

These pearls definitely hadn't been bought for her. Someone was deliberately trying to humiliate him. He had already dispatched people to investigate.

Lavinia asked, "How much did you spend on these pearls?"

Garnett replied, "It didn't cost me anything."

Lavinia murmured, "The starting bid was 3.8 million. If you gave a blank check bid, it must have been at least 10 million, right?"

"What, is Mrs. Harper feeling slighted?" he asked coldly. "Harper Group handles investments in the billions, but you think your family's little issue is the only thing that matters? Are all my employees supposed to drop everything and revolve around you?"

Lavinia didn't say another word. It felt as though all the air had been sucked out of the car. They sat in heavy silence, neither willing to speak.

At a red light, the car rolled to a stop.

Garnett observed Lavinia from the corner of his eye. Her face was turned away, her eyelashes cast down. The streetlights outside flickered across her cheek in alternating waves of light and shadow.

Garnett arched a brow. His wife was, at the very least, remarkably beautiful. His grandma really had weighed her options carefully when she picked her.

"Relax, I'll help you," Garnett said plainly. "We are husband and wife, after all."

The corner of Lavinia's mouth twitched. A fleeting smirk, gone in a flash.

He thought she was smiling.

But she wasn't.