Chapter 101
A flicker of annoyance crossed Marina’s eyes, and her dislike for Lavern just grew stronger.
‘He always finds ways to make my life harder,‘ Marina thought.
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She rubbed her temples, pulled up Daron’s contact, typed out a quick message, and hit send.
Marina: [Mr. Zamora, if you’re worried I’ll get back together with Lavern once I’m back in Sicester, there’s really no need to worry about that.]
Nothing kills the vibe at work faster than a boss not trusting their team.
If Daron started doubting her just because of Lavern’s messages, her job would get way tougher.
After she sent the message, he didn’t reply.
Marina paused, then quickly typed out another
message.
Marina: [I take my work seriously, and I’d never let the Finley Group suffer just because of what happened between us.]
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Daron saw Marina’s message and was just about to reply when another one popped up.
His fingers paused mid–type, and the softness in his eyes vanished, replaced by a cold, distant look.
Marina’s explanation was all business, every word about work and nothing about him.
He stared at the chat for a long moment, then put his phone away without replying.
Marina kept her eyes glued to the “typing…” indicator at the top of her screen.
It was obvious Daron had seen her message.
She waited in silence, but after about five minutes, his reply still hadn’t come through.
Marina’s grip on her phone tightened.
‘How many words is Daron typing just to chew me out?‘ she wondered.
‘He can’t be that upset, can he?‘ Marina thought, “That was all Lavern. It has nothing to do with me.’
When the “typing…” bubble finally vanished, Marina still hadn’t gotten a reply from Daron.
She forced herself to wait a few more minutes, but
still–nothing.
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Even when the driver stopped outside Alyssa’s cottage in the suburbs, Marina’s phone was still silent–no reply from Daron.
Marina couldn’t figure him out. She thanked the driver and got out of the car.
Once inside, she kept checking her phone, unable to help herself.
Still nothing.
‘Daron’s got quite the temper,‘ Marina thought, letting out a quiet sigh.
She put her phone away, took a deep breath, and started tidying up the house.
She’d only been gone a few days, but with no one around to take care of the place, leaves were everywhere in the yard.
By the time she finished cleaning up everything, half an hour had already passed.
Just then, someone knocked at the door, not in any rush.
Marina walked over and asked casually, “Who is it?”
Lavern’s voice sounded pretty cheerful from outside. “Marina, it’s me.”
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Marina’s brows knitted, her hand halfway to the doorknob before she stopped and pulled it back.
“What do you want?” she said, her voice icy.
Lavern flinched at the chill in her voice, but he forced himself to stay patient and spoke in a gentle
tone.
“I’ve been searching for you everywhere, practically turned Sicester upside down. The moment I heard you were back at Alyssa’s place, I rushed over. Marina, please, open the door–can we just talk for a bit?”
Marina’s brows knitted. “Were you spying on me?”
Lavern protested, “No, I just wanted to be the first to know when you came back. Come on, Marina, can you open the door?”
Marina shot back, “No.”
Lavern was left speechless.
She shot him down cold, didn’t leave him a single chance–totally killed the vibe and shut the whole thing down.
Lavern took a deep breath, trying to keep the conversation going, but he couldn’t hide the worry in his tone.
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“Marina, where have you been these past few days?”
he asked.
Marina replied coldly, “What’s it to you?”
Lavern was totally shut down by her retort, the comeback dying in his throat–he just couldn’t get a word out.
“Marina, I know I made an unforgivable mistake…” Lavern said, his voice low and full of regret.
Marina shot back, “And you still have the nerve to come here asking for forgiveness? You’ve got some
nerve.”
Lavern had psyched himself up for this, knowing full well Marina wasn’t about to forgive him easily. But after getting rebuffed over and over by her frosty attitude, even he started to lose his cool.
“Do you really have to talk to me like that?” he asked, his voice tight.
Marina gave a cold snort, not softening one bit. “Think I’m being too nice? Then get lost.”
Lavern went quiet for a moment, lowered his voice, doing his best not to let Marina’s coldness get under
his skin.
“Look, even if it’s just for Ross Group, we can’t keep going at each other like this. I came here today for
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two things: first, to sort things out between us, and second, to talk about the shareholders‘ meeting tomorrow,” he said.
Marina’s gaze was flat and unfeeling.
“Whatever was between us is over. There’s nothing left to discuss. As for the company, I’ll deal with it tomorrow at work,” her voice was flat.
Lavern’s voice grew urgent. “Marina, how can you say there’s nothing left to talk about? Are you really set on breaking up for good? Come on, we’ve been together for seven years. I know you care about this relationship just as much as I do.”
Marina shot back, “Don’t insult me. I’m nothing like you.”
She was ready to let go.
More than ready.
“Marina, Shawna’s baby is gone, and my mom’s moved back to her hometown–she swears you’ll never have to see her again. Can’t we just go back to the way things used to be?” Lavern pleaded, his voice full of desperation.
Lavern was still rambling on when the door finally opened.
The instant he laid eyes on Marina, a glimmer of
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hope sparked in his gaze.
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His eyes grew red with emotion, making his words sound even more heartfelt.
Lavern said, his voice trembling, “Marina, I’ve missed you so much these days…”
But before he could even finish, he got a faceful of nasty water–Marina had dumped it right on him.
She moved so fast, Lavern was still talking when the filthy water splashed all over him, some even getting in his mouth.
The taste made him sick to his stomach, and Lavern started retching right then and there.
Marina slammed the gate shut, her voice coming through cold and flat.
“Say something disgusting like that again, and next time you’ll get a bucket of slop,” she said.
With that, she walked across the yard and headed back inside.
“Marina!” Lavern called out, his voice low and rough with humiliation.
The nasty taste in his mouth nearly made him gag again.
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Ana, the neighbor, had just come back from working in the fields, a manure bucket slung over her shoulder. Her disgust for Lavern was written all over her face.
The sight of that bucket instantly reminded Lavern of his last nasty run–in with her, and he hurriedly dodged out of her way.
Ana spat in his direction, not bothering to hide her contempt.
Lavern clenched his jaw, knowing he couldn’t shamelessly hang around any longer, so he turned and left.
Marina walked into the kitchen, started cooking herself some porridge, and checked her phone for the documents Robert had just sent over.
Ross Group had lost a ton of regular clients thanks to the whole wedding fiasco, and now all their finished goods were just piling up in the warehouse with nowhere to go. To make matters worse, all their old business partners were just sitting on the fence, so the factory was running out of raw materials and was on the verge of shutting down.
Lavern had pulled his money out of Wonder Group and thrown it into some other projects, but now those projects had run into paperwork issues and got put on ice for a review. He’d signed a contract that locked his investment in for a year, so all that
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money was completely tied up.
Marina read through the messages, her expression completely unfazed.
Lavern had been riding high for years, stepping on toes left and right. It was only a matter of time before other companies ganged up on him. Honestly, it was about time.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
