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.
‘I’ll be back before the New Year’s.’ Heather had just made up her mind. She intended to return in time for the company’s opening, and she wasn’t going to go back on her word with the Saffords.
‘Did you figure anything out in Iceland?’ Leon asked.
‘I don’t know,’ she replied swiftly. She really did not know as she had never been so lost.
Leon was astonished upon reading her answer. After thinking for a long time, he then asked, ‘Can we video call each other?’ Leon wanted to talk to her directly since there were many things that he wanted to say but couldn’t express clearly through text.
‘Let’s just get on a voice call.’ Since she couldn’t sleep, she thought that she might as well talk to Leon.
Soon, her phone rang. Heather hesitated for a moment before she answered. Meanwhile, Leon’s impatient voice rang and he seemed to have a bunch of things he wanted to talk to her about.
“I miss you, Heather,” he said with a slight whine in his voice.
“Are you done settling your issues?” Heather knew him. Once she heard his words, she knew that he was loafing around again.
“Yeah.” He walked toward the couch with his phone in his ear, wanting to lie down and chat with her comfortably.
“Are things complicated with your family?” She had only occasionally heard him mention his family before, and she didn’t know much about them. If his family hadn’t come to Bradfort City, she might’ve never thought that his family was so beyond her imagination.
“You could say that!” Apart from the slight ache he felt in his back, he was getting comfortable lying on the couch.
“Why did they search for you in such a way?” She hadn’t spoken about the explosion in detail with him, so she was taking the opportunity to divert his attention.
After a moment, he responded, “Why are you suddenly talking about this matter?” He obviously didn’t want to talk about it at all. His family was his sore spot, and he simply didn’t want it to be brought up.
“You clearly told me last time that you would give me an explanation, so why are you reluctant to talk about it now?” She insisted that they talked about this matter properly.
“Heather, you’re making this difficult for me,” he said bitterly. He didn’t expect her to insist on it, and it made him feel awkward.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, I’ll just hang up!” Heather spoke with a slight hint of threat in her tone.
Just then, his eyebrows knitted tightly. Since she had asked, then he had nowhere to run. After thinking about it, he said, “Don’t hang up. I’ll tell you, but there’s one condition. After I explain it to you, you have to help me with something.” He hurriedly took the opportunity to negotiate.
Heather agreed at once. When she heard Leon’s tone, she instantly knew that he was distressed about his relationships again—she didn’t mind helping him out on this matter. In the past, he had sought her to talk about this, and she helped him to analyze his problems from a psychological perspective.
“I don’t know much about your family. If you don’t mind, can you tell me more?” Heather wanted to know about Leon’s family, and she didn’t rule out the possibility that the mysterious force was related to them.
“Heather, are you suspecting that my family has infiltrated Bradfort City and have been secretly manipulating certain things behind the scenes?” Leon knew her well too, for he saw through her at once.
Since she did not deny it, he knew that he had guessed correctly. After mulling it over, he said, “My family does have business dealings with the Moriarty Family, but we are in no way a pawn in their hands,” he said frankly.
It turned out that Heather was right all along—the power of Leon’s family was not to be underestimated. As things got more and more complicated, Heather began to suspect Leon.
“Why aren’t you talking, Heather? Are you doubting me?” Once again, he saw through her thoughts.
“No, I believe in our friendship.” Although she had only doubted him for a moment, she quickly dismissed the idea.
“Don’t worry, my family won’t get involved in your family strife.” He didn’t know what else to say to her, so he could only provide her with reassurance.
“Okay.” She trusted him. After all, he was the only person around her that she could trust.
“Okay, that’s enough of my explanation,” Leon said playfully.
When she heard this, Heather furrowed her eyebrows. She didn’t expect him to pull something like this, and it was a real pain in the neck; it seemed like he really didn’t want to talk too much about his family. Meanwhile, Heather wondered if she should ask the question that had been lingering in her mind.
“Should I take your silence as an agreement? Can we talk about me now?” Leon quickly asked, afraid that she would throw more questions at him.
