The Man Who Never Looked Away novel Chapter 18

"Oh, him." Saul chuckled. "Back then, he was obsessed with acting cool. Wore a black face mask every single day like some edgy rebel. People actually thought he was hiding a disfigured face. One time, a teacher forced him to take it off in front of the whole class. Guess what happened?"

"What?"

"The second the mask came off, every girl in the room screamed for a solid minute." Saul burst out laughing.

Lavinia laughed along, her eyes curving into bright crescents. Her gaze drifted to the side, landing on Charley's face.

He had striking features—sharp yet gentle, distant yet inviting. The way he looked at people was like greeting an old friend, carrying a faint, elusive sense of familiarity. She had never met anyone who gave off such a contradictory yet harmonious vibe.

As Lavinia stared, she suddenly felt her cheeks grow warm.

Saul was still reminiscing about high school, bringing up a few old classmates.

Lavinia listened quietly, her spoon slowly stirring the soup in the bowl.

"My mom used to make all these different soups, and I hated drinking them back then, so she'd make Lavinia deliver them to me," Saul said with a grin. "She'd come over during the morning break and stand in the hallway, glaring at me until I finished every last drop before she'd leave."

Charley listened silently, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

Suddenly, a memory sparked in Lavinia's mind. Back in middle school, she used to walk over to the high school building every morning break to deliver the soup.

The hallway was long, and at the very end of it, there was always a tall boy standing there. He wore a black mask and leaned against the railing, staring out at the track field. His expression was always unreadable. She would walk right past him, and he never once turned around.

And there was another time. She had stayed late helping a teacher grade papers. On her way home, a group of thugs had followed her, shouting obscenities and laughing maliciously. Terrified, she broke into a sprint halfway home.

Just as she thought she couldn't outrun them, a loud crash echoed from behind, followed by the sounds of a brutal fight.

She couldn't help but look back. A high schooler wearing a black mask was brawling with the group. It was one against six. The thugs looked deranged, and one even pulled out a switchblade.

Somehow, the boy managed to drop all six of them.

"You just vanished after the summer of our freshman year. I was really worried about you," Saul said.

"Didn't Jimmie tell you? My grandmother was critically ill that year, so I had to go to the Aethelgard Country with my uncle. I ended up staying there for school."

"What have you been doing in Aethelgard all these years?" Saul asked.

"Studied. Started my own little venture after graduation."

"Doing what?"

"Consulting for fund products. You?"

"Me? I used to sell phone accessories at a street stall; now I manufacture them." Saul gave a self-deprecating smile, looking completely drained.

"Being the boss isn't easy. I'd rather work for someone else," Charley replied knowingly.