Without giving the leader a chance at all, Matthias said without raising his head, “You can leave now.” It was as if he hadn’t even heard what the person had just said.
Everyone looked at each other for a while before someone took the lead and left, and the rest followed suit. Eventually, only the leader was left standing before Matthias, who did not even spare him a glance. He was busy with the task at hand as if the former didn’t exist at all.
Matthias had handled things too kindly in the past, and it emboldened the other as a result. But now, he wasn’t going to continue to be so polite.
“Head over to the finance office and collect your pay.” He spoke very firmly. The leader looked at Matthias pleadingly for him to change his mind, but it was to no avail.
Matthias did not even ask him who was behind the incident. In fact, he had already made his guess without intending to confirm it with the leader.
Since there was no longer any chance of turning things around, the leader could only accept his fate despite his resentment. Even if that person came out with the truth right now, it probably wouldn’t make things any better.
At the same time, Heather was enjoying her solo vacation far away in Iceland. Since Matthias had left, she depended on herself and walked out of her misery. It even reminded her of that time in Antarctica.
Unknowingly, it had been a day since he had left. Heather tossed and turned at night, but she couldn’t fall asleep. His face kept appearing in her mind from time to time, and she would be hit by a pang of guilt when she thought of the despair in his eyes.
He hadn’t left any messages for Heather, and her phone was quiet as though it had been turned off; it seemed like she had lost everything overnight.
Before this, she would chat with Myra until late at night. After all, there was nothing they didn’t talk about. Heather was able to relax with Myra around, but now that her relationship with the latter had turned out this way, paired with her falling out with Matthias in just a few days, Heather had no one else. She didn’t know if she could return to Bradfort City before New Year’s Day. Right now, she didn’t want to return to that ineffable place.
It was where her home was; it was where Robert, Myra, Matthias, and even Leon were. In addition to these people that she cared about, there were also traps waiting for her. She felt like a cheetah being hunted by a cunning hunter who was just waiting for her to fall into his traps.
If Caleb wasn’t the one setting her up, who else could it be? Could it be that there was a mysterious force even Heather didn’t know about? She would think about this whenever she settled down.
Caleb was coming on strong. Although he fitted the image of the mastermind behind everything, her intuition was constantly whispering to her that there was a hidden force in Bradfort City.
Nonetheless, she couldn’t think of anyone else. Heather wondered how this person was able to hide their presence so well. If she couldn’t figure this out, she wouldn’t know how to handle the problem.
As the hours went by, Heather pulled out the vintage-style pocket watch she had bought for a cheap price earlier that day. She typically refrained from buying stuff at flea markets, but this morning, she bought this pocket watch without thinking much about it.
She held the object to her ear as she listened to the sound of time passing. In fact, she wanted to make herself fall asleep to the sound of the watch ticking. In the warm room, she almost forgot about the icy weather outside.
The snowfall had been going on for such a long time, and it felt like it was never going to stop. With the light of her cellphone, she carefully studied the pocket watch. After a long time, there was still no sign of sleep, and the chaos in her mind was about to force her into a breakdown.
She wondered what time it was at Bradfort City, and she wondered what Matthias was doing. Out of nowhere, an unread message popped up on the screen. She opened up Messenger with a hint of anticipation, thinking it was Matthias who had texted her.
“It’s Leon,” she said to herself somewhat ruefully.
‘Why didn’t you come back with Matthias, Heather?’ Leon was rather surprised when he heard about this, so he immediately sent a message to her.
‘He can’t be away from the Locke Group for too long.’ She gave a random excuse.
Undoubtedly, Leon wasn’t a person who was easy to fool. He immediately replied, ‘Did you fall out with him again?’ After all, they clashed with each other so often that Leon had gotten used to it.
‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ Talking about Matthias with Leon was the last thing she wanted to do right now.
Leon somewhat regretfully looked at his phone, for it seemed like there wouldn’t be any gossip. Heather knew that Leon was concerned about her, but she didn’t want to talk about these things.
‘Come back soon, Heather!’ Leon felt bored without her in Bradfort City, not knowing who else he should hang out with.
Recently, he had been so busy with his own affairs that he didn’t even have time to pick up girls. By the time he finished settling all of his affairs, Heather had gone to Iceland to his surprise.
As such, Leon was unable to find someone to talk to. In fact, he was rather lonely. He thought about going to see Paige, but he abandoned the idea in the end. As he thought about what she had told him, as well as the things he himself had privately found out, Leon hesitated. He didn’t know whether he should go after Paige.
After going through something like that, Leon didn’t know if Paige would accept a new relationship—the most difficult women to pick up were the ones who were heartbroken, after all. On top of that, he couldn’t guarantee that the relationship with Paige would work out. He didn’t want her to experience despair once again.
At the moment, he was indecisive; he couldn’t be devoted to just one person. Back then, he had spent all his persistence on Heather, so it would be impossible for him to be loyal to another person for a while. In other words, he was afraid he couldn’t handle a relationship with Paige. Although he felt something for her, he hesitated to pursue her. At a time like this, he really wanted to chat with Heather since she could probably give him some help.
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