Laura had lost everything–her job at Vetro Club, the tenuous hold she once had on Dominic, and now, her sense of security crumbled to dust beneath her feet. The future stretched out bleak and uncertain. She was searching, desperately, for another position, but the harsh reality gnawed at her: no job offered the fat paychecks like Vetro Club did. And her voice -once a tool, a weapon even–had been cruelly ravaged by the brutal punishments inflicted by Preston and Dominic. It had grown hoarse, raw, and unpleasant, a fractured shadow of what it had been.
All these losses coiled inside her, thrumming with bitter resentment and wild fury. And yet, surrender refused to speak. She refused to vanish quietly into the night..
“You can’t get rid of me,” she declared, her chin lifted, eyes burning with defiance.
was a word she
Georgia merely nodded, unreadable. Without a word, she lifted her phone and dialed Charlotte’s number. Her voice was steady, calm, but each word carried cold steel. “Charlotte, please pass a message to Mr. Hill for me. Tell him I want to take back my plea. I no longer wish for him to spare Laura’s life. Whatever price it costs, I’m willing to pay.”
The moment those words left her lips, Laura’s face drained of color, her breath caught in panic. “Georgia, no!” she begged.
Georgia did not end the call. Her eyes flicked toward Laura, sharp and clear, and she said deliberately to Charlotte, “Wait a moment.
Then she turned back to Laura, voice slow and deliberate. “Now, do you understand what I said earlier?”
Laura’s skin was pale, her gaze darting nervously to the phone clutched in Georgia’s hand. She nodded, but her reluctance was plain.
Georgia’s tone softened but remained firm, leaving no room for interruption. “Charlotte, I’m sorry for what I said just now. Actually, I haven’t made up my mind. Mr. Hill doesn’t need to know, not yet.”
She faced Laura again, eyes cold and unflinching. “You and I are nothing more than colleagues and roommates. I owe you nothing–not a favor, not an apology. Have yo Chapter Unlocked. Enjoy Reading the start, I owed you nothing. Whether I help you or not is entirely my choice.”
Laura opened her mouth to retort but found herself silenced, embarrassed, stripped of words.
Georgia pressed on, voice steady and unforgiving. “I owe you nothing. Absolutely nothing. Do you really think I want to plead for you?”
Once, Laura had thought Georgia naïve, a pushover easily manipulated. But now she saw how wrong she had been. Georgia wasn’t weak, nor foolish. She had a temper and a spine, sharp and unyielding.
Laura’s jealousy had poisoned her judgment–at first it was conflict, then envy of Georgia’s hold on Dominic. Had Georgia been Charlotte or any other exceptional woman, Laura might have respected her instead of resenting her.
There is often a thin, dangerous line between admiration and envy.
After a brief silence, Laura pressed on, venom lacing her words. “That doesn’t change the fact you’re a hypocrite. If you didn’t want to help, why did you even plead for me? Just to look kind in front of Mr–Hill, right?”
Georgia didn’t dignify that with a response. She merely said, “Go. Leave me alone.”
With that, she shut the door firmly in Laura’s face.
“Wait!” The door slammed open again, and Georgia frowned sharply.
Laura’s glare was fierce as she spoke, voice laced with accusation. “Fine. Since you say so, I believe you pleaded for me in front of Mr. Hill. But why didn’t you ask him to drop this whole mess? Why didn’t you fight to save me for good?”
Georgia paused, caught off guard by the question. Silence stretched between them, thick and heavy.
Finally, she spoke, voice flat and unwavering. “I don’t care if you die of illness. I don’t care if a car kills you, I don’t care if you offend Mr. Hill again and it costs you your life. But this time? This time, I’m tied to what happened to you, and I won’t owe anyone her life twice.”
Her eyes locked on Laura’s, calm and cold as ice. “No matter who tries to hurt me–stranger or friend–if their life is
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Chapter 80
connected to me, I’ll always plead for them.”
Georgia’s tone sharpened further. “In other words, if I had completely stayed out of your way the day you crossed Mr. Hill, I swear I would never have lifted a finger for you. Not a word, not even if it cost me nothing.”
With deliberate finality, Georgia pushed Laura out the door,
Laura stood there dazed, the door clicking shut behind her like a verdict.
Her ears buzzed, overwhelmed not by Georgia’s blunt words or disdain, but by the icy finality of that last sentence.
What kind of person could be so indifferent?
Memories of Georgia flooded Laura’s mind in an instant. Suddenly, the reason Georgia had been willing to crawl on the ground like a dog became horrifyingly clear: Georgia simply did not give a damn about herself.
As Laura walked away, still reeling, hatred simmered beneath the surface. Dominic had tormented her for Georgia’s sake, and that twisted bond only fueled the fire.
‘Does it matter if Georgia’s pitiful or playing a part? The truth is she’s capable of anything for money. Everyone at Vetro Club knows it. Dominic has no idea what she’s done–or who she really is. If he found out, he’d wake up to the truth.”
Determined, Laura vowed to show Dominic Georgia’s true colors, no matter what it took.
As she reached the stairs, a tall figure blocked her path.
“Why… ore you still here?” Laura asked, surprise mixing with suspicion.
Larkin leaned against the wall, arms crossed, a lazy smile playing on his lips. “I accidentally left my phone in your coat
pocket.”
Before she could protest, he reached in and pulled out a phone–not hers.
“What… when… how?” Laura’s voice faltered, confusion twisting her face.
“I told you–accidentally left it there,” Larkin replied smoothly.
Liar, Laura thought fiercely but swallowed the word. She couldn’t afford to antagonize him–not after already crossing Preston. The sight of wealthy men now stirred only nerves.
Of course, the phone hadn’t “accidentally” slipped into her pocket, Larkin had slipped by her on the stairs, remembered her as the woman from Georgia’s word, and with practiced ease, dropped his phone into her coat.
“Oh, and thank you for the first–hand information,” he added casually.
On the phone screen, the recording Interface blinked–proof that he had gotten exactly what he wanted.
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