The Man Who Never Looked Away novel Chapter 140

Still shaken from her rude awakening, Lavinia clutched her chest. "I'm awake, I'm awake! I almost fell back asleep."

"I knew it," he let out a low chuckle. "You have thirty minutes to get ready. I'm driving over to pick you up, and I have breakfast waiting for you."

Warmth flooded Lavinia's chest. "Charley, you really don't have to go through all this trouble."

"Don't mention it. Hurry up and get ready."

Lavinia hung up and rolled out of bed to wash her face. At a venture capital firm like Celestial Capital, analysts were constantly going out for site visits or meeting with founders and financial heavyweights, so the dress code was exceptionally strict.

She spent fifteen minutes doing her makeup. The moment she stepped out of her building, she froze—a black Bentley was parked right by the entrance. For a terrifying second, she thought Garnett had tracked her down. But upon closer inspection, it was a different model, and actually a tier above Garnett's.

The window rolled down, revealing Charley's striking features.

Seeing her stand there like a statue, he smiled. "What are you waiting for? Get in."

"Charley, is this your car?" Lavinia's eyes were wide as saucers.

"I borrowed it from Jimmie Jennings. Get in."

Lavinia opened the door and slid into the backseat.

"Why would you go out of your way to borrow a Bentley just to give me a ride?"

"In this industry, image and background matter. The investment world judges a book by its cover more than anyone else."

Lavinia secretly stuck her tongue out. He had gone through the trouble of borrowing a Bentley just to give her some prestige at the office?

Traffic was much lighter today. Charley drove straight into the VIP parking spot right outside the office building. The security guards didn't even bat an eye.

*Yep, the world really does treat you differently based on what you drive,* Lavinia thought.

Charley stepped out first, smoothly buttoning his suit jacket before walking around to open Lavinia's door, playing the part of a high-status escort flawlessly.

Lavinia felt incredibly self-conscious, but since he had already set the stage, she had no choice but to play along, lifting her chin to look the part.

Dozens of eyes locked onto them outside the entrance. Charley wore a mask and looked completely unfazed; Lavinia also wore her mask, but she could feel her face burning beneath it.

Her sharp gaze swept over Lavinia. "Lavinia, did you help Miles draft some reports yesterday?"

"Yes, Mr. Rowe asked me to help refine the medical sections."

"He called in sick with a family emergency today. You'll be sitting in on the executive morning meeting in his place."

Lavinia froze. Before she could even process the instruction, Jocelyn had already disappeared into her private office to grab her meeting materials.

The morning meeting was primarily a stage for Directors and above, but all department team leads were required to sit in on the perimeter. If a specific project needed detailed elaboration, the respective team lead would brief the executives directly.

Lavinia never imagined that on her second day of work, she would be thrust into an executive meeting. What if they called on her to speak? Sigrid would recognize her immediately.

But there was no time to panic. Lavinia quickly gathered the printed reports. Just as she finished, Jocelyn stepped out of her office, waving her hand. The department team leads silently fell into line behind her.

Lavinia quickly hurried to catch up.

Behind her, her fellow trainees Jacqueline Abbott and Howard Denton exchanged a deeply meaningful look.