Chapter 343
Why didn‘t she realize sooner that Garrett could be so annoying?
“Stop yelling, okay?” Laney looked at him impatiently. The more Garrett behaved like this, the more her heart softened.
After thinking for a few seconds, she decided to throw caution to the wind.
“Free meals are always cheap. I already said that we should forget this ever happened and just move on. Don‘t you understand?” Garrett put his dignity aside and forced a smile.
“I don‘t care if you think I‘m cheap. Let me escort you before my ‘value‘ increases.” Laney didn‘t like hearing this from him. She frowned and said resolutely, “We can‘t be together, okay? If you keep pestering me, I‘ll get sick of you.”
Hearing this, Garrett fell silent.
After a while, he asked in a low voice, “Are you saying that this was nothing but a one night stand?”
Laney pulled her hand back, picked up her things, and turned around without answering him.
Finally, when she reached the door, she paused for a second and said, “Yes, that‘s exactly what I‘m saying. I hope we never meet again, Mr. Harding.”
After saying that, she walked out of the room and slammed the door, leaving a dazed Garrett alone inside
The second Laney stepped out of the club, the cool breeze chilled her to the bone. She rubbed her arms and ran to the nearest convenience store to buy an umbrella. As she was about to pay, she saw a mother with her child nearby.
The child seemed to want to buy the candy bar on the shelf, so he reached out to take it. However, the mother immediately patted his hand and shook her head.
“You already have a cavity, little one. You can’t have sweets until the dentist fills it.”
Having been stopped, the child immediately burst into tears. The mother shot Laney an apologetic smile and pulled the little tyke out of the store. The cashier smiled helplessly.
“Kids, am I right?” Laney smiled back subconsciously, but then the smile froze on her face. It suddenly dawned on her that last night, Garrett didn’t wear a condom.
After paying for the umbrella, she headed to the pharmacy to buy emergency contraception. They had sex less than a day ago; she couldn’t take the risk. As soon as she got home, she quickly took the pills and then sat there, not knowing what to do next.
If she stayed in Barnes, she’d inevitably run into Garrett. After thinking for a while, Laney soon came to the conclusion that she had to leave. Last night had made it clear that she couldn’t control herself around Garrett.
It was best if she removed herself from the situation literally.
And the best way to put some distance between them was for her to go far away. Anyway, she knew she’d have a job anywhere given her prestige as a bodyguard.
Thinking of this, Laney felt a bit better. That very night, she packed up all her things. When she went to Sebastian to tender her resignation, the latter didn’t have any reason to object. Sebastian simply asked, “Are you sure that this is what you want? Your salary here is way above average.”
Laney nodded firmly. “And I appreciated that, sir. But it’s not that I’m dissatisfied with the pay. I’m just not used to life here in Barnes and I want to try going abroad. Plus, I have too many enemies here. I live in constant worry of being ambushed.”
Well, at least what she said was half true. Seeing that Laney had made up her mind, Sebastian didn’t force her to stay and simply signed her resignation papers. Before leaving the city, Laney went to Natalie to say goodbye.
When Natalie saw Laney at her door, she was pleasantly surprised. She smiled and teased, “What brings you here?”
She stepped aside, letting Laney into the house. Fidgeting with her hair, Laney looked a little uneasy and embarrassed.
“Actually, I came here to say goodbye. I’m leaving the country tonight.”
“What?” Natalie gasped in shock.
“You never told me that you were leaving. Is it because of Garrett?” Laney nodded.
After she told Natalie about what had happened between her and Garrett, she didn’t know what else to say.
“You guys moved way too fast… But I’ll support you no matter what choice you make. Take care, okay? I’ll visit you when I have the time, or perhaps you can come back to see me.” Natalie sighed heavily, clearly reluctant to part with her friend.
Laney stayed with Natalie until it was time to go to the airport. Natalie drove her there herself. The atmosphere was depressing.
Neither one of them knew what to say. It wasn’t until Laney was about to depart that the two looked at each other with silly smiles, their eyes filled with tears. Holding the flight ticket tightly in her hand, Laney suddenly threw her arms around Natalie tightly.
“I’m lucky to have you as a friend. But I never thought we’d be separated so soon.”
Patting her on the back, Natalie smiled through the tears.
“We’ll meet again.”
Just then, the airport announced that Laney’s flight was about to depart. Wiping her eyes, Laney took one last look at the cityscape in the distance and then turned around to walk towards the boarding gate.
Two days later, Garrett found that Laney had left. He had been staying in the presidential suite of the club. When he finally checked out he went straight to Pole Shadow to see Laney.
Only then did he find out that Laney had resigned. As for where she had gone, nobody at Pole Shadow knew. It was as though she had vanished into thin air. 6 Garrett knew that if anyone knew where Laney was, it was Natalie.
*******
As soon as Natalie got off work, she saw Garrett‘s car parked in front of W Marks Studio. She wasn‘t surprised at all, though.
Ignoring the man in the driver‘s seat, she started walking towards her home.
Garrett released the brakes slightly and followed Natalie. He honked several times and asked, “Where‘s Laney? I can‘t get in touch with her. She won‘t answer my calls. You must know where she is, right?”
Natalie stopped and glanced at Garrett indifferently.
“Obviously, she doesn‘t want to see you. And even if you knew where she was, what‘re you going to do? Get her back? And then what? You can‘t give her what she needs, can you? So what‘s the point?” Garrett wanted to say something but stopped on second thought.
Seeing that Garrett had fallen silent, Natalie sighed and softened her tone.
“Anyway, you think it over. No one can help you but yourself. If you really want to be with her, you should be prepared for a fallout with your family.”
After saying that, Natalie turned to leave. The next second, she paused and warned him, “Don‘t follow me!”
With a long face, Garrett didn‘t say anything. He refused to listen to her and followed her to her house. Seeing that she was about to enter the villa, he jumped out of the car and caught up with her.
“Just tell me where Laney is, and leave the rest to me.” Ignoring him, Natalie entered the house and slammed the door shut.
Annoyed, Garrett rang the doorbell incessantly. Unexpectedly, it was Sebastian who came to the door.
“What do you want?” Garrett was still on edge. He pointed a finger at Sebastian and hissed, “I need to talk to your wife. Let me in.”
Sebastian reached out one hand to block Garrett‘s way. He gave him a warning look and said,
“You‘re a grown man. You have to think before you act. If you really want to be with Laney, you should get prepared to face the consequences. Make sure that you‘ll be able to protect her no matter what before you go after her. If you can‘t do that, don‘t go.
You‘re not strong enough now. Even if Laney agrees to be with you, you can‘t protect her. In the end, you‘ll only make her suffer.
Is this the kind of love you want to give her?”
After hearing what Sebastian had to say, Garrett stopped in his tracks. His anger was suddenly extinguished Dejected, he returned to his car with his head lowered and drove away. The second he got home, Garrett sought solace in alcohol. He drank one bottle after another.
A few days later, he had finally calmed down. Nobody knew how Garrett had managed to get all his ducks in a row, but one day, he went back to the Larson Group and started to work hard, devoting himself to his career.
Seeing him like this, Sebastian had a new impression of him. At lunchtime, he asked, “Do you still want to look for her?”
Garrett unhurriedly pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. There was a calm look about him.
“I respect Laney‘s choice. The reason why she refused me was very rational. Besides, she doesn‘t want to be with me. If I forced her back, we wouldn‘t be happy. I can only let her go.” He smiled and looked into the distance with a trace of sadness in his eyes.
“The earth is round. If I keep on walking forward, I can eventually meet her again in the near future, right? I have to prepare for that moment. When that day comes, I will definitely be ready with my own choice, and by then, I‘ll never let go of her.” Sebastian raised his eyebrows and looked at Garrett quietly.
