Winson drank and looked at Gwen with a smile. “I saw from the news about Bethan’s wedding and here, I saw you.”
Gwen felt spirited in a good mood having heard about Bethan’s wedding. She took a sip of her coffee. “Bethan and her husband had gone through a lot. I’m really happy for them to finally have their wedding again. They looked so happy together.”
Winson nodded upon hearing that. “I knew when we were in high school that you and Bethan would have a happy life in the future!”
After that, he looked at Gwen and carefully noticed her expression.
“I heard…you and Ben had a divorce…”
Gwen paused slightly hearing Winson mentioning Ben’s name. After a while, she curled up her lips and smiled, “Yeah. Since ages ago.”
After the divorce, she cried her heart out. She had attempted to kill herself numerous times. Yet, Luke was always there to stop her. It surprised Gwen that she did not feel sad when Ben’s name came out of her mouth after experiencing the relationship she had with Luke. What an idiot she thought she was when she wanted to end her life because of that jerk now.
“But you two were so good then, I thought…”
After a pause, he looked into Gwen’s eyes, “Then–do you have someone else now?”
“No.”
Gwen shook her head. “There was someone a while ago. But… She smiled bitterly, He passed away saving me.”
Winson widened his eyes to exclaim how surprised he was. For a very long time, neither of them said anything.
As Winson finished his cup of coffee, he hesitated and made up his mind. He said while taking out his phone, “Hey, I don’t have your contact number. Can I have it? I’m….single too.”
Gwen was dumbstruck. She was being nostalgic about the time they studied together and found it hard to reject him. Thus, she gave him her contact number. “Let’s stay in contact in the future.”
After exchanging phone numbers, they started to chat about some of the experiences they had. As time passed, the sky turned dark.
“Let me send you home,”
Winson frowned and suggested softly.
“It’s alright.”
Gwen smiled, “I can go back by myself. Plus I live quite far from here.”
That was not a reason for Winson to give up. “That’s why I should send you home. It’s dangerous for a woman to go home alone. What if you encounter a danger? I can protect you.”
Gwen paused. Before she could say anything, she saw a man dressed entirely in black standing on the street opposite the cafe.
She curled up her lips and said, “It’s fine. I have someone to protect me.”
Winson frowned and surveyed around. “Who is protecting you?”
Smiling at Gwen, he said, “Come on, old friend. I’m not a bad guy. You don’t have to be so wary of me.”
At that time, he walked over to Gwen’s side and extended his hand out to put on Gwen’s shoulder. “I just want to send you home, that’s all.”
Gwen frowned and moved her body to avoid his hand. A faint smile was still on her face. “It had been a long time since we met. I don’t feel good having to trouble you.”
Right after that, she waved her hand at him and hurried to leave.
Winson remained where he was and looked at Gwen dashing over to the next street. His eyes squinted. Suddenly, his phone rang.
“Are you sure that’s Gwen Larson?”
A male spoke coldly from the other side of the phone.
Winson frowned, “Yes, that’s her. We talked and I’ve her contact now.”
“That’s good.”
The man continued to talk coldly, ‘Think of a way to trick her back to Sea City.”
“I know.”
Winson squinted his eyes. The gentle feeling disappeared and all was left was coldness and cruelty in his eyes. “I’ll make her fall in love with me. Then I’m going to propose to her to use it as an excuse to bring her back to Sea City to meet my parent.”
The man on the phone chuckled, “Seducing her with your charm? But you need to remember not to have any feelings for her. Sooner or later, we are going to kill her. If she doesn’t die, I can never convince the others.’
“I surely won’t”
Winson sneered, “Did Luke really die because of her?”
“Yes.”
“Such a loyal man. But this woman doesn’t worth it.”
Winson curled up his lips. “Does that mean I’m almost at Luke’s level if I let her fall in love with me?”
The man on the phone chuckled.
When Gwen left the cafe, she walked directly toward the man dressed entirely in black.
The man was startled as he noticed Gwen was walking toward him. Subconsciously, he hid himself in the alley behind him to avoid letting Gwen see him.
Gwen had already seen him early. Yet, she had no plan to expose him. Walking past him acting like she did not know he was there and headed back home.
The man was relieved when Gwen finally walked past him. He came out from the alley and followed behind her with extra caution. Protecting her all the way back home.
A box of gifts was on the door handle when Gwen reached home. She saw it when she was going to unlock the door. With a frown, she looked at the gift. It was a piece of cake. Moreover, they were her favorites.
On the corner of the gift box lay a small card with handwritten words. [ Thank you.]
She frowned and picked up the small card.
This handwriting… Why did it look so familiar?
She furrowed her brow and looked to her back.
The man quickly hid in the corner of the hallway.
Gwen pursed her lips and continued to look at the card. Even after a long time staring at the card, she still failed to figure out when did she see the handwriting from.
In the end, she gave up and entered her home with the piece of cake. Before she could indulge in the cake, her phone rang.
It was a call from her father. “Gwen, where are you now? Don’t come back Sea City… Luke’s men are looking for you everywhere.”
Andy’s words shocked Gwen. “Why are they looking for me?”
Andy sighed helplessly, “Gwen, I don’t believe you don’t know the answer to that.
When Luke was still alive, many people in his gang had strongly expressed how much they disliked you. They always wanted Luke to dump you and leave you. They even said your presence was the reason Luke was losing his credibility and prestige…”
“After Luke died because of you, they didn’t do anything. Mostly because they wanted to wait a while and not do anything immediately after Luke’s death. Now… They are finally making their moves.”
Her father’s voice sounded like he had aged a lot within the day. “There are already two to three groups of people coming to the house looking for you … Due to Brettley’s power in Banyan City, they did not do anything to the company. I’m old and they always thought you and me have fallen out after your divorce with Ben… So they didn’t do anything to me too.”
“But seriously, I’m warning you. Don’t come back to Sea City. I’m old and I don’t have the power to protect you… Someone told me. They had reached an agreement. No matter who was the one who capture you and brought you back to the gang, the person could replace and take over Luke’s position…”
Gwen gasped. After a while, she answered, “Okay. I understand.”
Andy sighed again. “Take care of yourself. I won’t call you again to avoid exposing you. If they knew I have been contacting you, it will bring trouble to me. You…”
He paused before courage up what he was going to say. “Don’t contact me too. My only wish is for you to stay safe.”
“Okay,”
Gwen closed her eyes and sniffed, “You take care too. You’re not young anymore. Don’t hustle here and there. Live a good life with Aunt Gigi.”
Aunt Gigi was a caretaker Andy hired a year ago to take care of him and the household. Their ages were quite near. Gradually. They developed a feeling for each other and just got married not long ago.
That was the reason Gwen could feel at ease to leave Sea City to somewhere else knowing Aunt Gigi was there to take care of her father. Thinking about it now, without
Aunt Gigi, Gwen would return to Sea City to take care of her father. There was no saying what kind of life she would live or she would constantly be in danger.
“Okay,”
Andy sighed and hung up the phone.
Gwen continued to grasp her phone. The dial tone from the phone continued to beep.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.