Garrett didn’t know what to say at this point.
He couldn’t tell Tracey who Laney really was, so he figured he should turn to Sebastian for help. But when he glanced around the table, he noticed that Sebastian and Natalie were nowhere to be found.
“Let’s not talk about this here. We should talk about this once we’re home, okay?” Garrett stood from his seat, grabbed Tracey’s hand, and was about to leave the restaurant
However, Tracey was riled up again. “Why can’t we talk here, huh? Are you afraid that your little mistress will find out the truth?”
She then glanced at Laney and growled, “You uneducated slut! Didn’t your parents teach you not to seduce someone else’s boyfriend?”
Even Garrett found Tracey’s words too harsh. He squeezed her hand and gently rebuked her.
“Tracey, play nice.”
Laney had always been an upstanding person, and she’d never been insulted like this. She stood up, wore a straight face, and said, “Miss, I am not seducing Mr. Harding here. We’re simply having a meal together. Besides, we weren’t on our own! Our other colleagues were with us earlier.”
Tracey glared at her and grunted, “Lie all you want; that’s not going to help!”
After saying that, she turned to Garrett and tugged on his sleeve.
“Garrett, since you say that there’s nothing going on between you two, fire her if you want me to believe you!”.
The latter shook his head, adjusted his glasses, and put on a stern face.
“I can’t just fire her! I don’t even have the authority to do that.”
This was something that he couldn’t decide by himself. He still had to discuss it with Sebastian first.
Now, Tracey was even angrier than before.
“You’re supposed to be in a high position in the Larson Group and you can’t even fire your own secretary? So, you really were lying just now, weren’t you?”
Right after she finished speaking, she overturned the table in anger.
Laney was quick to react. She darted backwards to avoid getting hit.
The tableware fell to the ground in an instant. The noise was so loud that it attracted the attention of the other guests dining here.
Now, everyone was staring at them.
Laney managed to duck away in time, however, Garrett wasn’t able to. He stood there in a complete daze as the food splattered all over his tailored suit.
He was usually very gentle and tolerant towards women, but when he saw Tracey throwing tantrums in public it was hard for him not to get angry.
Fortunately, he was a well-educated man and exhibited none of the anger he was feeling at the time.
“Tracey, people are dining here. Don’t embarrass yourself as well as ruin their night.”
After having said that, he went on to say in a calm voice, ‘I’ll never do anything that’s against moral codes. You can make a scene if you want but don’t do it in a public place. Let’s discuss some more about this after we get back, all right?”
Noticing that he appeared angry, Tracey became timid and didn’t say a word, Garrett grabbed hold of her hand and they proceeded to walk out of the restaurant together.
Before he left, Garrett turned to look back at Laney and apologized, “I need to head out now. Please let Sebastian and Natalie know that the restaurant damages and the meal will be on me.”
Afterward, he said after a moment of hesitation, “I’m sorry you had an unpleasant meal just now. I’ll make it up to you later.”
Watching his receding back, Laney didn’t say a word. It was not until Garrett was gone did she start to help the staff clean up the mess.
Laney kept her face devoid of expression, but she certainly felt stuffy in her chest. She didn’t do anything wrong, but today, she was treated like a mistress and a slut.
She played the role as Garrett’s secretary simply to stay close to Natalie and protect her. She never wanted to get involved in Garrett’s private life in the first place.
With that in mind, how could she sleep with him? But now, she was being called an ambitious slut who tried to sleep her way to the top, which was ridiculous.
Ten minutes later. Sebastian proceeded to walk out of the bathroom holding Natalie’s hand in his. Natalie walked slowly with her cheeks blushing and her lips swollen. After walking into the room and seeing that the waiters were cleaning up and that their table had been replaced by a new one, Sebastian furrowed his brows and asked, “Was there a fight just now?”
Looking at the oil stains all over the floor, Natalie quickly walked to Laney and asked her, “Were you hurt? You should have gone with me just now.”
Earlier, before Natalie could get a grasp on what was going on, she had been dragged into the bathroom by Sebastian… Laney forced out a smile and said, “It’s fine. I think the meal has already ended. Let’s head back.”
After coming back home, Laney mulled it over in her head for a while and sent a message to Sebastian. She didn’t want such misunderstandings to occur again in the future which was why she let Sebastian know in the message that she did not want to continue working as Garrett’s secretary anymore and asked him to find her another job with very little importance to do in the
Larson Group. Anyway, what she really was here for was to protect Natalie.
At night, after Natalie fell asleep, Sebastian got Laney’s message and decided to give Garrett a call.
“How are things right now?” This was the first time that Sebastian had ever gone out of his way to ask about Garrett’s private life.
This was only because Sebastian knew that he was the cause of the problem, so he thought he should bring it up.
“It’s fine. I have handled the maiter,” Garrett said in a calm and even tone.
“Since you’ve got it handled, I want to have a chat with you about Laney. She sent me a text, saying that she wanted me to find her another position. She was concerned that your girlfriend would make a scene about her being your secretary again and cause unnecessary trouble for you and the company. I thought I should discuss this matter with you first before I decide anything.”
Sebastian was silent for a few seconds before he said, “I agree with what Laney said. There shouldn’t be any more problems after we give her another job.”
Hearing this, Garrett appeared a bit excited.
“You can’t just go about things randomly. Tell her she has nothing to worry about. Tracey doesn’t have enough trust in me. I
have already broken up with her. Laney can continue working as my secretary. This job is the perfect undercover disguise for someone like her.”
When Sebastian had told Laney about Garrett’s words, it made her feel wholly uneasy and unsettled. Instead of feeling comforted, she was even more worried and restless than before.
On the next day, and as a consequence of their chat, she looked utterly listless when she went to work.
The instant Natalie laid eyes on her, she sensed that something was amiss.
“Are you still thinking about what happened between Garrett and his girlfriend yesterday?” Natalie asked tentatively, touching her arm gently. Laney didn’t feel like there was any need to hide anything.
“I feel so overcome by guilt. I was the reason for their breakup.”
For her entire employment as a bodyguard, she had never become entangled in any of her employers’ private affairs, let alone accused of being a slut. But Sebastian was her boss, and she had no option but to follow his instructions.
Natalie didn’t want to see her take all the blame for what had transpired between the couple. She peered around before she whispered in Laney’s ear, “To be honest, I think Mr. Harding is partly to blame. There was nothing between you two, and we all know that. But he has a reputation of being a player, so even if it wasn’t you, he would have been having a meal with another woman yesterday, and the same thing would have happened to that woman.”
When Laney heard this rationale, she nodded. Even if she tried not to think about it now, she would inadvertently do so when she met Garrett later.