The Man Who Never Looked Away novel Chapter 64

Conrad Jensen stared at the voice recorder, then looked at his son.

Tobin's lips trembled. He tried to speak but no words came out.

Conrad took a deep breath and turned to Lavinia.

He had never expected the supposedly frail young Mrs. Harper to be so ruthless.

"Mrs. Harper," he said, his voice dropping into a somber register. "I've failed in raising my son. Rest assured, I know what needs to be done. I only hope you can leave the Jensen family with a little dignity."

Lavinia looked at him for a few seconds, then nodded.

She slipped the recorder back into her bag, picked up her phone from the table, and walked out of the room without looking back.

The hallway was perfectly quiet. Charley was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, waiting for her.

Seeing her walk out, the corner of his mouth curved up slightly. "Not bad."

The tension in Lavinia's shoulders instantly vanished.

"Charley, about this..."

"You don't want Saul to know, right?"

Lavinia blinked in surprise, then nodded. "He'd worry."

Charley looked at her, then reached out and ruffled her hair.

"Alright. We won't tell him."

Lavinia smiled. Suddenly, she felt like navigating this world wasn't so impossible after all.

***

Garnett Harper was having dinner with his old classmate, Joel Sprague, when he heard the news about Tobin.

Joel set down his drink, his tone unhurried. "Tobin got beaten half to death by his dad and kicked out of corporate. They banished him to some subsidiary in the middle of nowhere to be a regional manager."

Garnett's hand paused over his plate.

"Apparently, he offended someone," Joel continued. "That person called his dad over. I heard that afterward, his old man ended up buying a massive order of products from their company."

"What company?"

Facing the glass, she reached up, fixed her bangs, and then smiled. The corners of her lips curled, and her eyes crinkled in that playful, youthful way of hers.

Garnett stared, completely stunned. In that split second, it was as if a memory he thought he had forgotten—a summer afternoon from their teenage years—suddenly came rushing back to life, pausing right before his eyes.

And then she walked away.

The familiar sensation vanished.

Joel was also taken aback. "Was that Lavinia? Did she come to find you?"

Garnett didn't answer. His eyes chased her retreating figure as she walked briskly into the adjacent building without a single backward glance.

He stood up. "I'm going to check."

He strode out, pushed open the restaurant doors, and glanced back at the spot where he had just been sitting.

The massive glass facade reflected the streetlights and traffic in the dark.

He suddenly understood. The glass was reflective.

She hadn't been smiling at him; she was just using the window as a mirror.