Chapter 241 Is He That Horrible?
Marlowe crashed until after 4 PM. The second she cracked her eyes open, a sharp pain hit her, and her face felt puffy, and now her eyes were swollen, too.
After a bit, she dragged herself to the bathroom to freshen up.
The moment she swung open the bedroom door, a thick cloud of nasty smoke smacked her in the face.
Marlowe wrinkled her nose, covered it with her hands, and headed for the living room.
Halfway there, she froze. When did Grant get back?
Grant was lounging on the sofa, rocking a white shirt and black trousers, his long legs crossed. One arm was draped over the sofa's edge, his muscles hidden under the shirt, and his profile was annoyingly perfect.
He had a cigarette in his other hand, took a deep drag, and slowly breathed the smoke out. It swirled around, making his stern face look all hazy.
Even though he looked all chill and relaxed, she could see a hint of loneliness and gloom in him, and her heart ached a bit. Abigail's death was truly a blow to him.
Marlowe slapped herself in her mind. 'What an idiot I am. I'm already in so much pain, why do I still feel sorry for him?'
Grant turned his head just in time to catch the self-mockery in her eyes and the sarcastic smile on her face. His heart felt like it got pricked by a needle.
This feeling made him super irritable, but he didn't hate it.
When Marlowe met his deep eyes, she shut down her emotions and turned into a robot.
Grant's brows furrowed, and he pressed his lips together.
"Awake?" he asked in a rare soft tone.
Marlowe was a bit taken aback, nodded, and headed for the kitchen. She was starving.
As she walked past him, she noticed the ashtray on the table, overflowing with cigarette butts. No wonder the room was so smoky. How much had he smoked? Was he smoking to deal with his worries about Michelle?
She turned and walked to the balcony, opened the door, and said calmly, "Mr. Scott, smoke outside from now on. Don't let your secondhand smoke mess with others."
Without waiting for his response, she went straight into the kitchen.
Surprisingly, Grant didn't blow up at her words. Instead, he put out the cigarette he hadn't finished.
Her calling him "Mr. Scott" felt so cold and distant, making him super uncomfortable.
Marlowe just whipped up a plate of spaghetti for herself.
She brought it to the dining table and ate while scrolling on her phone, totally ignoring Grant.
After eating and cleaning up, she was about to head back to her room when Grant stopped her in the living room. She looked up slightly at Grant standing in front of her.
They were a bit too close, and she instinctively took a few steps back, which made Grant narrow his eyes, a hint of something unclear in them. He was clearly not happy.
"Need something?" she asked.
Grant didn't really dig her indifferent, lifeless vibe.
But he had forgotten that this was what he had asked for.
Just when she thought he wouldn't speak, Grant's cold voice dropped as he asked, "Does your face still hurt?"
Marlowe stared at him, totally shocked. 'Is he actually worried about me?'
But instead of happiness, she just felt super uncomfortable.
Grant caught the shock in her eyes. He had never felt so tongue-tied. With Abigail, he never had to comfort her because she was always so chill and never got mad at him.
But right now, Marlowe made him feel totally lost. He had no clue how to comfort her.
Suddenly, Marlowe said in a cold, distant tone, "Thanks for your concern. I'm fine. If you don't need anything, I'll head back to my room."
Without waiting for his response, she quickly sidestepped him and bolted to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
Grant stood there in silence for a moment. 'Am I really that awful?'
Lila got back to Ridgewood from out of town around 6 PM.
Victoria had already filled her in about Marlowe on Facebook. When Lila arrived at the apartment, it was Grant who opened the door, which totally freaked her out.
Seeing Lila's face turn to fear at the sight of him, Grant wondered if he was really that scary.
"I didn't know you were here. I'll leave now," Lila said, turning to make a run for it.
Grant quickly grabbed her by the collar. Lila was yanked back by him. He let go, and she started coughing violently.
She clutched her throat, swallowed hard, and glared at Grant with bloodshot eyes. "Grant, are you trying to strangle me?"
Grant shot her a cold look. "Did you give me a chance to speak?"
Lila fell silent. It seemed she hadn't. She had just wanted to bolt.
She lowered her head and cautiously asked, "So, what do you want to say?"
"Am I that scary?" Grant asked, narrowing his eyes.
Lila was stunned. She thought she was hearing things. What kind of question was that from Grant?
She immediately lied, "Not scary at all."
But her trembling demeanor was totally unconvincing.
Grant narrowed his eyes and stared at her, his face darkening.
To Lila, he looked like a beast ready to pounce, while she was the prey too scared to run.
Under this pressure, she had to fend for herself. "Grant, actually, it's not that bad. Just don't keep a stern face."
Then she added, "It would be even better if you could smile."
Honestly, she had never seen Grant smile in her life, which was kinda embarrassing.
Grant pressed his lips together and finally said, "She's inside. You can go in." Then he grabbed his coat from the rack and left.
Lila stood there, watching Grant's departing figure.
There was about a month left until Christmas.
Lately, Alexander had been swamped with meetings and traveling to different branch offices.
In contrast, Victoria seemed way more relaxed. She was currently only managing Horizon Group, and with the Starry perfume brand and AromaVista fragrance brand both stable in the market, and Silver Screen Studios under Lila's management, she was thinking about stepping down from her position at Horizon Group.
Initially, she took over Horizon Group because it was Esme's company, and she wanted to protect it. Now that Horizon Group was back on track, she had no desire to keep managing it.
She did have someone in mind for the position, but she was afraid he wouldn't be up for it.
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