Chapter 325
Chloe Reynolds spotted Russel Dawson, and her face instantly turned as pale as a ghost
Russel sure as hell wasn’t going to be thrilled about her looking for me.
“Ms. Reynolds, I got stuff to do. You guys carry on.” I dodged Chloe and left with a poker face.
I was so over dealing with these two. Both of them had previously plotted against me.
My feelings for Russel were all over the place now, from trust to regret, to the current state of estrangement and suspicion. It seemed like we were drifting further apart.
“I get it,” Chloe responded in a whisper, not daring to face Russel. She left even faster than me, heading for the exit.
When she passed by Russel, she paused slightly. But Russel didn’t even glance at her, his eyes were on me the whole time.
I felt uneasy, and his gaze was suffocating.
“Sorry.” He suddenly spoke as I passed by him, “She shouldn’t have come to see you and caused you trouble; it won’t happen again.”
“Russel, you gotta take your life decisions more seriously, don’t be so casual about it.” I stopped, thought for a moment, then decided to give him a piece of advice
I was unsure if Chloe heard, but it didn’t matter. My advice to Russel wasn’t about Chloe: I just wanted them to stop bothering me.
I didn’t want Russel’s past actions to affect me again, he was already showing signs of regression. I just wanted to distance myself from him.
Russel stared at me intensely. I avoided his gaze and quickly left.
Just as I got in my car, I received a text from Russel saying, “Neil Whitmore can help you, and so can I. Whether it’s dealing with Ethan Foster or Bonnie Tueley, just give me a chance,”
The message freaked me out. Did Russel know about my plans with Neil?
His relationship with Bonnie was a complicated mix of friend and foe. If I pissed him off, would he tip off Bonnie and Ethan Foster?
There was this extremely important document, and the only way to get it was to get close to Ethan Foster. It contained a lot of evidence of his illegal activities, including stuff about my father and Oscar Morse.
-I didn’t reply. Instead, I blocked Russel. Any explanation would make me seem guilty.
I got home to find my mom sitting in the living room, looking a bit thinner than before but otherwise fine, just like always. She smiled at me and asked, “Surprised to see me downstairs today?”
“Mom, you’re amazing!” I ran over to her excitedly, hugging her arm, “You’ll be back to your old self in no time!”
“Yeah, but where’s your dad? I had Hannah call him, but he didn’t pick up.”
Every time I thought about this, it gave me a headache. My mom’s recovery was going well. I couldn’t tell her the sad truth, it might upset her, which wouldn’t be good for her health.
Hannah Morse looked at me nervously.
“Mom, Dad’s actually on a trip overseas. He was worned sick about you; I didn’t want him to worry himself sick, so I let him go on a trip with some friends. He might be hard to reach because of the time difference, but don’t worry, he’ll be back soon.” I tried to come up with a reasonable excuse to comfort her.
If everything went according to plan with Neil, and if we could speed things up, my dad should be able to get out of jail.
Mom seemed skeptical, but seeing how serious I was, she eventually nodded, “Alright, I got it.”
Before bed, I gave Neil a call. I wasn’t in a rush before my mom started pushing, but now I felt the pressure.
Neil had been at Sterling Estates for a while now, and Bonnie had been clinging to him, so it was risky for him to come back.
“Ive made considerable progress with Ethan Foster, Neil reassured me, “Ill wrap things up as soon as I can. You’ve signed a contract
with FarHorizon Group, try to penetrate their organization, and keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”
‘Right, Russel came to my company today. I feel like he might be onto something. If he spills the beans to Ethan Foster and Bonnie, we’re screwed” I worried.
But Neil wasn’t concerned as he said, “He won’t spill as long as he still has feelings for you.”
Neil was certain, but there was a hint of seriousness in his tone. The mention of Russel clearly irked him.
Actually, he had a point. If Russel still had feelings for me, he wouldn’t betray me. If he did, we’d be enemies.
After hearing Neil’s words, I felt a bit relieved. I was about to hang up and rest when Neil asked, “Miss me?”
“A bit.” I admitted, regardless of the reason, I did miss him.
“Just a bit?” Neil’s tone changed, and he sounded obviously upset, “After all I’ve done for you, you only miss me a bit. Irene Finch, do you have another man?”
I was at a loss for words and took a moment to collect my thoughts before responding, “Neil, are you being overly sensitive?”
There was silence on the other end of the line. After a while, Neil threatened, “If you really fall for another guy, you know what will happen.”
Of course, I knew. If Neil found out I betrayed him, both I and the other guy would be in deep trouble.
“Alright, alright, I got it, I won’t do that,” I soothed Neil like a child.
“Then give me a kiss.” Neil’s request took me by surprise. What had gotten into him to make such a request?
I was going to turn him down, but considering Neil’s temper, I was afraid he’d blow a gasket over this trifle, so I played along and kissed him over the phone.
It seemed Neil was pretty chuffed. His voice even softened up a bit as he said, “Good girl, get some shut-eye.”
“Night,” I said, feeling kinda awkward. I’ve known Neil for years, but this was a first for me. Even when I was head over heels for him, I never did this, afraid he’d be put off.
After hanging up, my face felt like it was on fire. I quickly splashed some cold water on it to cool down.
My heart was racing, making me jittery. I thought I’d solve the problem and then make myself scarce, so why was my heart wavering?
