“Well? Spit it out! Who sent you? Otherwise, you’ll end up like the two of them!”
Larry’s voice was dripping with a bone-deep chill as he placed his leg on the ruffian’s body.
“I-I don’t know anything! I only know that it was a woman! I don’t know anything else!” the ruffian blurted without even thinking about it.
After all, the sight of his two buddies howling on the ground struck such terror into him that his heart was about to pound out of his chest.
A woman?
After pondering for a moment, the answer came to Larry.
Disregarding the ruffians, he then rushed over to Joan. When he saw her shaken state, his heart shattered, and he pulled her into his arms lovingly.
“You’re fine now. I’m here, so everything is going to be okay.”
Larry stroked her back gently, and his voice was a soothing tenor.
Hugging him tightly, Joan sobbed softly. A sense of security engulfed her at his solid and warm embrace.
“Let’s go. I’ll walk you home,” Larry murmured.
Only then did Joan realize that she had been hugging him for some time, and she swiftly released her hold on him. When her hands were empty, she instinctively clutched the hem of her clothes with embarrassment written all over her face.
“Thank you.”
She didn’t quite know what to say, so in the end, the many things she wanted to say all condensed into a succinct expression of thanks.
“Nah,” Larry grunted in response. “Let’s go.”
Then, he took the lead and walked ahead of her.
When they arrived at Joan’s house, he stayed for a while. After ascertaining that she was fine, he told her to rest well before leaving.
As his car sped off, his face was blanketed with a layer of frost.
The entire night passed in silence. When Larry went to work the next morning, he headed straight for Gabriella’s office.
At that moment, Gabriella was spacing out as she contemplated how she should handle Larry’s confrontation. In fact, she had already known about everything that had happened last night itself.
Besides panic, she also felt a hint of regret.
Damn it all to hell! It was such a great opportunity to teach Joan Watts a lesson, but alas, my plan was ruined by Larry’s appearance!
“Gabriella Ward.”
Gabriella jumped at the sudden voice. When she saw who it was, she forced a smile.
“Oh, it’s you, Larry?”
She then promptly got up to entertain him.
“Last night, your best friend, Joan Watts, was ambushed by three ruffians in an alley.”
Larry cut straight to the chase without wasting any time.
“What? How did that happen?” Gabriella’s face paled upon hearing that. Then, she queried, “Is she okay?”
“You should know the answer to that better than anyone else, no?” Larry retorted in a terse voice.
“What are you saying? How would I know about that?” Gabriella put up a calm front as she said that. “You’ve got to believe me, Larry!”
“I’ve already gotten the answer to the entire matter. Are you still planning on lying to my face? Gabriella Ward, if you’ve got the guts to do something, you should also have the guts to admit to it! Don’t make me hate you.”
Gabriella’s pretentious expression repulsed Larry, so he didn’t give her any quarter.
Upon seeing that the matter was already out in the open and feigning innocence would only make him despise her all the more, Gabriella bit the bullet. “Yes, it was indeed my doing! I’ve investigated your past with her thoroughly, and it was she who ruthlessly left you back then. In that case, what right does she have to seek you out again now? She’s nothing more than a b*tch! I’m the one who truly loves you!”
“Shut up!”
It was glaringly obvious that Gabriella’s play to his emotions had zero effect on him.
“That is not a reason to hurt someone else. If it happens again, my company will have no use of you!”
After saying that, Larry left without a backward glance.
“This is all on you, Joan Watts! I’ll definitely get back at you for this!”
Intense hatred gleamed in Gabriella’s eyes when she saw him whirling around and leaving so resolutely.
Thereafter, Larry went to Opulent Designs. Despite having suffered a severe blow from the incident yesterday, Joan was adamant about coming to work.
She was working on the proposal when Larry arrived, and she hastily stood up at the sight of him entering her office.
“Y-You’re here,” Joan stammered.
“Yeah. How’s the proposal coming?”
Larry didn’t mention a single word about the incident last night as though nothing had ever happened.
