The Man Who Never Looked Away novel Chapter 121

With two minutes left on the clock, Saul Joplin and Charley Sheffield waited outside the exam center.

"The day Lavinia finished her finals, I waited outside the gates to pick her up just like this," Saul sighed. "You don't understand how it feels to be a protective older guardian."

Charley glanced up at the sky, his expression mild. "I understand."

The final bell rang, and both men stood up.

"Lavinia will definitely be one of the first ones out," Saul said.

Right on cue, they spotted Lavinia. Holding her pencil case, she practically skipped toward them. The wind caught her hair, revealing two blonde streaks tucked behind her ears.

Saul frowned. "Lavinia, when did you dye your hair?"

She froze. Before returning to Blossom City, Charley had told her to dye her blonde hair back to black. Reluctant to let it all go, she'd asked the stylist to leave two hidden strands behind her ears. She hadn't expected Saul to spot them so quickly.

"Saul, don't you want to see Lavinia's edgy, rebellious phase?" Charley asked casually.

Lavinia went pale. She grabbed his wrist and lowered her voice. "Didn't we agree not to tell him?"

"What? Are you two keeping secrets from me?" Saul bristled, reaching for Charley's phone. Lavinia immediately blocked his path, shielding Charley.

...

A black Bentley rolled past the gates and stopped at a red light.

Garnett Harper casually glanced out the window, just in time to see Lavinia playfully wrestling for Saul's phone while Charley stood by, watching them.

She had dyed her hair, and her entire style had changed.

His eyes darkened.

"What are you looking at?" Sigrid Sloan leaned closer, following his gaze. After a brief silence, she said softly, "You should go see her. About what happened last time..."

"Drive," he ordered coldly.

The light turned green, and the Bentley glided forward.

A cold scoff echoed through the receiver. "Have you actually read that trust deed? I highly suggest you take a good look at it."

Before Garnett could respond, Nestor hung up. Garnett lowered his phone, his face thunderous.

"Is it about your grandmother?" Sigrid asked delicately.

"Yeah," he replied curtly, clearly unwilling to elaborate.

The mere thought of that family trust going to Lavinia gnawed at Sigrid's heart like a swarm of ants. If only she had married him sooner, Judith Gilmore's fortune would rightfully belong to her as the granddaughter-in-law.

"How much is in that trust roughly?" Sigrid probed gently.

"I don't know. I didn't look at the deed last time," Garnett said flatly. "It shouldn't be much anyway. She spent most of her money supporting the Harper family in the early years. At most, there might be a few tens of millions left."

Sigrid pondered this for a moment, letting out a wistful sigh. "Could you try explaining things to your grandmother again for me? I'm really not the kind of person she thinks I am."

She lowered her eyes and paused. "I remember when I used to visit your house as a kid, she would always have Maeve bring out handmade pastries just for me."