The Man Who Never Looked Away novel Chapter 139

Charley was wearing a delivery driver's vest, his face covered by a mask, leaving only his eyes visible. Yet, his supermodel-like physique still made him incredibly conspicuous.

At this hour, there were still five or six people in the main office grinding through reports. Every single pair of eyes naturally gravitated toward them.

Lavinia lowered her voice to a frantic whisper, "How did you get up here? The security guards actually let you in?"

"They wouldn't, so I improvised." Charley placed the bag on her desk. "You weren't replying to my messages, so I figured you hadn't eaten dinner. I brought you something."

Lavinia opened the bag. Inside was a four-tiered circular thermal lunchbox, the kind families used. It sloshed slightly as she moved it, indicating that one of the tiers held soup.

"You made soup again?" Lavinia asked.

"Ginseng chicken soup. It'll restore your energy," he said warmly.

Lavinia kept her voice hushed. "Got it. Charley, everyone is staring. You need to leave."

"It's too late for you to be out alone. Taking a cab at this hour isn't safe for a woman. My car is in the basement. Call me when you're ready to leave, and I'll pull up to the main entrance to get you."

"Okay, okay, I understand." Lavinia darted a glance at her colleagues; they were all still openly staring.

Charley's hand twitched as if he wanted to reach out, but he dropped it to his side, turned, and walked away.

Lavinia was genuinely starving. She opened the thermal box to find two entrees and a soup, plus white rice mixed with sweet corn—all her favorites.

Once she finished eating, she carried the empty containers to the breakroom to wash them before giving them back to Charley.

As she approached, she heard hushed whispers coming from inside, and then, she distinctly heard her own name.

"Only one of the three trainees is getting a full-time offer. Should we team up?"

"How?"

"That Lavinia girl doesn't even have a finance degree. Let's work together to push her out first."

...

Lavinia recognized the voices instantly. It was the two other trainees who had joined Celestial Capital with her today: Howard Denton, who held a Master's in Finance from overseas and was assigned to the manufacturing group, and Jacqueline Abbott, who had a Master's from a top domestic university and was placed in the tech group.

It was only day one, and they had already formed an alliance to get her fired.

Lavinia pressed her lips together. *Bring it on,* she thought. *I'm not exactly easy prey.*

The car fell silent for a few seconds.

"What are you going to do?" Charley finally asked.

Lavinia smiled confidently. "Don't worry. The Industry Research Department and Quantitative Research are on completely different floors. The company is huge; she won't even notice I'm there."

"Good."

Charley gently pressed the accelerator, and the car merged silently into the night.

***

The alarm on her phone blared. Lavinia couldn't even pry her eyes open. She swiped blindly to turn it off and instantly drifted back to sleep.

*Ring—ring—*

The sudden incoming call violently jerked her awake. She shot up in bed, grabbing her phone. It was Charley. She answered with one hand.

"Good morning. Are you up?" His voice was a perfect blend of crisp and deep, incredibly pleasant to the ear.