The Man Who Never Looked Away novel Chapter 206

"Did he come here to see Mr. Coleman, or to see Sigrid?"

"He probably went to Mr. Coleman *for* Sigrid, right? Telling the Chairman to take good care of his girl."

"Wow, that's so romantic."

"Right?"

"It looks like it's true love between him and the Director."

"I heard his actual wife was just an arranged marriage picked out by the elders. They probably don't have any real feelings for each other."

"Honestly, if that's the case, I kind of want to root for them. True love is priceless, after all."

"The actual wife has never made a peep. She's probably not very presentable anyway. I bet once the old folks kick the bucket, Mr. Harper will officially marry Sigrid."

"No wonder he bought her that massive diamond ring and made such a public spectacle out of it."

...

The office gossip drifted into Lavinia's ears, but she felt entirely numb to it.

Before she knew it, the office had cleared out.

*Knock, knock.* Jocelyn walked over and tapped her knuckles against Lavinia's desk. "It's time for lunch. What are you zoning out about?"

Lavinia snapped back to reality and stared at her blankly.

Seeing her dazed expression, Jocelyn asked with concern, "What's wrong? What did Mr. Coleman say to you upstairs?"

Lavinia shook her head.

"Let's go eat, then." Jocelyn didn't press the issue.

The two of them skipped the company cafeteria, heading downstairs to find a quiet, uncrowded Western bistro for a quick bite.

Jocelyn suddenly asked, "I heard Garnett Harper showed up. Was he here to mark his territory?"

Lavinia froze slightly. "How did you know?"

"You realized you were being targeted, so you went running to Mr. Coleman to declare that you're his person."

Lavinia's face fell. Her lips parted a few times, but she managed to swallow her words and said nothing.

After lunch, while walking back to the building, they bumped into the crew from the Quantitative Research Department.

Sigrid had taken a few of her loyal subordinates out for a private lunch, and the two groups collided right in the lobby.

It seemed Garnett hadn't agreed to stay and have lunch with her after all.

Chester stared at Lavinia and smirked. "Lavinia, the investment committee is voting on Renova Biosciences next week. With so many heavyweights backing it, did you really think a lowly little analyst like you could turn the tide?"

Lavinia was just about to pile on some more praise when her phone rang. It was Maeve.

Lavinia stepped to the side to answer. "Maeve, what's wrong?"

"Ma'am, yesterday, Judith had a massive argument with Nestor Harper and Zenia Ford. We've officially moved out of the Harper house," Maeve's voice was calm and steady, as if this were just a minor inconvenience.

"Moved out? Moved where?"

"The Gilmore family has a property, and it's even nicer than the Harper residence." Maeve chuckled. "Judith asked me to inform you that if you want to visit her, you don't need to go to the Harper house anymore. Come to the Gilmore Estate."

"The Gilmore Estate?"

"Yes, I'll text you the address."

After hanging up, Lavinia received the address. It was located in the WestEnd, a prime piece of real estate.

When she walked back over, Jocelyn asked, "Family emergency?"

Lavinia nodded. "Something like that."

"I'll approve your afternoon for fieldwork. Go handle your business," Jocelyn said.

Lavinia blinked, then offered a grateful smile. "Thank you, Boss."

Truthfully, she really did miss her grandmother.