The Man Who Never Looked Away novel Chapter 16

Sigrid looked stunned. "Isn't this for your wife?"

Garnett placed the paper bag on the ground. "If you like it, take it. If not, throw it away."

He left the bag there, turned on his heel, and walked away.

Sigrid watched his retreating figure before looking down at the velvet box inside. After a long moment, she picked up the bag.

***

Lavinia tossed and turned, unable to sleep, so she got up in the middle of the night for a glass of water.

Drinking the water only made her more awake. She leaned against the headboard and aimlessly scrolled through her phone.

Because she had talked about "pearls" earlier tonight, the algorithm on StyleSphere had flooded her feed with posts about them.

Suddenly, one specific post made her eyes burn.

The pearl set she had worn for barely thirty minutes was now resting against the pale neck of another woman. The face was cropped out, but Lavinia knew exactly who it was.

The caption read: [Good night, my love.]

Lavinia instantly regretted waking up and looking at her phone. If she hadn't checked her feed, she wouldn't have had to swallow such a disgusting pill.

For a brief, foolish second tonight, she actually thought Garnett had bought those pearls to make up for the humiliation she suffered at the manor this afternoon. She had even imagined him telling her she could wear them to important events from now on so she wouldn't have to tolerate his family's disdain.

Instead, he forced her to wear them publicly just to play the doting husband, only to turn around and give them to his precious girl.

Lavinia jumped out of bed, violently yanked open the drawer, and pulled out the signed divorce agreement. She wanted to storm over and force Garnett to sign it right this second.

But after hesitating for a long time, she put it back down. She smoothed out the edges of the paper she had crumpled in her grip.

She still needed Garnett to get that new drug to save Latham's life! Compared to her uncle's life, her pride was nothing.

Let everyone laugh at her all they wanted, as long as Latham survived.

***

Jimmie stared at him eagerly. "How are you going to handle it?"

Charley didn't answer right away. He picked up his glass and took a slow sip.

"Say something!" Jimmie reached over and shook his shoulder.

Charley glanced up at his childhood friend. "Theoretically, I could just send her a lawyer's letter demanding she return it."

"Return it? A lawyer's letter?" Jimmie's eyes lit up. "And then what?"

"But that's not dramatic enough." Charley watched the amber liquid swirl in his glass. "I'm going to make sure everyone knows she took something that didn't belong to her."

Jimmie looked ecstatic. "When? Right now?"

"What's the rush?" Charley gave him a cool look. "You have to wait for the perfect storm to call down the lightning."

Jimmie grabbed his phone and aggressively liked the post. "Hear that? The lightning is on its way."