The Man Who Never Looked Away novel Chapter 159

During her lunch break, Lavinia received a call from an unknown number. Assuming it was her food delivery, she answered.

"It's me, Lavinia," that familiar, cultured voice drifted through the speaker. "Have you eaten?"

It sounded perfectly refined. Utterly restrained. She knew exactly what that meant.

She understood him better than anyone. Right now, he was experiencing blinding, terrifying rage.

He wasn't like other people. When most people got angry, they lost their minds. But Garnett Harper? The angrier he got, the more terrifyingly calm he became.

Lavinia pressed her lips together and stayed silent, but she didn't hang up.

"I've missed you. I've thought about a lot of things lately—about you, about our marriage."

She maintained her silence.

"Have you turned on your old phone at all? I've been texting you every single day. I've been incredibly worried about you. Saul told me you went abroad, but you've been in Blossom City this whole time, haven't you?"

Finally, she spoke, her voice measured and slow. "That's right. I've been here the whole time. Thanks for the fifty thousand you threw at me for those flower arrangement classes. I used it to pass my CFA Level 1 in a month, which is exactly how I landed this job."

Silence.

She knew she had just poured gasoline on the fire. A wicked smile touched her lips.

"Did you know, Garnett? Sigrid and I joined Celestial Capital on the exact same day. I was standing right there in the elevator when you dropped her off. Oh, and those matcha drinks you bought the whole office to celebrate her? I drank one."

She paused, her voice turning downright cheerful, dripping with lethal sarcasm.

"So, what do we do now, Mr. Harper? The whole company is convinced Sigrid is your one true love. They even call her Mrs. Harper behind your back. If our marriage gets exposed, where does that leave her? How is she supposed to show her face at work? The entire financial sector will know she's the 'other woman' in our marriage."

She deliberately enunciated the words "other woman," then waited quietly, savoring the dead silence on the other end of the line.

Right now, his fingers were probably crushing his phone to dust.

"I genuinely suggest you leave yourself a way out, Mr. Harper. A man as dignified as you surely knows the smartest way to handle this."

Dropping the bomb, she hung up.

Imagining the pitch-black expression on his face right now, Lavinia felt a rush of absolute, unprecedented euphoria.

So this was what it felt like to beat Garnett Harper.

Sigrid seized the opening, pronouncing every word carefully. "I never understood what you meant when you said she was just a little girl. Now I do. Garnett, keeping this marriage together must be utterly exhausting for you."

His eyes darkened.

After a long silence, he tore his gaze from her pale face and said coldly, "I maintain this marriage for the sake of my family. Sigrid, can you do me a favor?"

"Anything. If it's within my power, I'll do it."

"Find an excuse to get Lavinia fired from Celestial Capital."

Sigrid froze, lowering her eyes. "She'll despise me for it, but she'll despise you even more."

"What she thinks doesn't matter," he stated ruthlessly. "As long as she is still Mrs. Harper, she needs to learn her proper place."

***

Before she knew it, the clock hit 9 PM.

Lavinia was the only person left in the Industry Research Department.