Worried that something was going on with Ava, Niamh hurried over.
As soon as she saw Niamh, Ava hugged her tightly. Her voice trembled as she said, “Niamh, the reason I asked you to come is for me to say goodbye to you.”
“Goodbye?” Niamh quickly let go of her. She saw how red Ava’s eyes looked, as if she was holding back her tears. “Ava, why do you want to say goodbye to me? Where are you going?”
“I’m moving to Y Country,” Ava answered simply.
“Moving to Y Country? Why? Is it for work?” Niamh squeezed Ava’s hand and was reluctant to let go of her.
Ava shook her head and did not explain. She just looked at Niamh with tears and red eyes. “Niamh, you’re my bestest friend in Glendale. I wish I never had to leave you, but my flight is tomorrow. Everything happened too fast, so I didn’t have time to get you anything. But I have this.”
Niamh looked at the object that Ava handed over. It was a photo of the two of them on the day they graduated from college.
The two girls in the photo had the same fresh-faced beautiful smiles. The happiness that both of them felt that day was as if it just happened yesterday, but in a blink of an eye, it had been seven or eight years.
“Niamh, did you realize who else is in this picture?”
When Ava suddenly asked that, Niamh looked down and found a familiar face among the crowd in the upper left corner of the photo.
“When I was sorting out all my things today, I found this photo. Before this, I didn’t believe that Kendrick loved you for real. But Niamh, I believe it now.”
From Ava’s tone, Niamh could hear that she really had let go of her hatred for Kendrick.
As Niamh’s best friend over the years, Ava always hated Kendrick.
Even though Niamh no longer resented Kendrick for what he did to her at the beginning, Ava always hated him. Ava thought that Niamh did not deserve such treatment and resented him for Niamh.
At that moment, however, she no longer resented him.
That was because she saw Kendrick’s true heart for Niamh.
However, it felt as if everything was too late.
Niamh and Ryan were married. She was already Ryan’s wife.
“Sigh…”
Ava looked at the river in front of them and sighed with a smile.
“Niamh, I finally understand how you felt back then. Even if you were tortured by the man you loved, you were still happy.”
Niamh read in between the lines of Ava’s words and asked, “Ava, did something happen between you and Dan?”
“If something happened between us, perhaps I wouldn’t be leaving, but it’s a shame…” Ava closed her eyes and thought about what happened after she got drunk that night. “Niamh, it turns out that alcohol makes you do stupid things with other people.”
“Ava? Did you and Dan…”
“No, it wasn’t Dan.” Ava lowered her eyes in a lonesome manner, turned around, and hugged Niamh again. “Niamh, stay happy and don’t miss me too much. When I get married, I want Jack and Lillian to be my flower girl and boy.”
Although Niamh did not know why Ava had to leave in such a hurry, and added to the fact that she did not explain fully what happened on the night she got drunk, Niamh could tell that it was something to do with Daniel.
However, since Ava did not want to say, Niamh did not prod further.
She accompanied Ava around the neighborhood until she got a call from Karen, saying that the baby woke up crying. Niamh had no choice but to go back.
After she went back and coaxed the little baby back to sleep, Niamh looked at the photo in her hand in a daze.
It was the graduation photo of her and Ava, but Kendrick was inside the frame as well.
Kendrick was their senior who had already graduated, so he should not have been at the graduation ceremony—but he was.
In the photo, he was looking at her with a warm look in his eyes.
He really liked her at that time.
However, so what?
It was already over.
Niamh put the photo in the drawer, looked at the little baby lying beside her, and closed her eyes tiredly.
…
It was late into the night, but the lights were still on in Kendrick’s office.
Lana was still lying in the hospital at the moment, so he had to make good use of the time to plan tomorrow’s affairs.
By the time he finished his work, it was almost early in the morning.
His body was a little tired, but when he looked at the family portrait, it felt as if his body was fully charged again.
“Nia.”
He whispered Niamh’s name, stroked her face in the photo, and could not help but cough out loudly.
He quickly took a painkiller, but he still could not stop the bloody taste coming from deep in his throat.
Kendrick wiped the blood from his lips with a tissue and glanced at the bloodstain. It was a deep brown and did not look like normal fresh blood.
Besides that, there was a stabbing pain in his heart, and his fingers were trembling involuntarily.
Once the poison developed by Adam entered the final stage, not only would it torture the person’s body, but it would also test the person’s psychology harshly.
Kendrick spent the night in the bedroom at the office.
As soon as he got up the next day, he received a call from Lana.
After the woman was discharged from the hospital, her emotions swelled up and she high-spiritedly told Kendrick that she wanted to follow along to close the deal.
The truth was that Kendrick initially wanted to think of a reason to get Lana to attend as well. The show would not be able to go on without her.
Lana went back to the villa first and picked out a dress that she thought was the most beautiful dress she owned.
Fabian had just called Niamh and was about to go over to see Lillian. As soon as he left his room, he saw Lana approaching energetically.
“Why are you dressed like a streetwalker? Where are you going?” Fabian said bluntly, which made Lana feel as if she had just been splashed with a bucket of cold water.
Lana glared at Fabian. “Didn’t you guys complain about me holding back the Stygian Johnson Gang and causing the company to lose a hundred million dollars? Well, this is me going to earn that hundred million dollars back!”
Fabian doubted her. “Wow, Lana, are you really going to do it?”
“Why? Am I supposed to wait for you to do it?” Lana fired back and sneered at Fabian, “Actually, Fabian, the most useless sibling among the three of us is you. What have you done? All you do is eat out, have fun, and enjoy your life. What have you amounted to besides that? Have you ever made a deal for us? Do you even know how to close a deal? If it weren’t for me and Yorick, you would’ve starved to death!”
“Lana, how can you say that to Fab?” Yorick interrupted, dissatisfied. “Fab is still young. It’s for his own good that he doesn’t get involved with the company for now. How can you say that as his big sis?”
“Well you’re my big brother, but what have you ever done for me?” Lana gritted her teeth angrily, but then, she smiled confidently. “Don’t worry, I’ll be making a deal with Kendrick later that will make us a profit of more than a hundred million bucks! Just wait and see!”
Lana walked to the door confidently and changed into the perfect high heels that matched her dress. It seemed as if she had completely forgotten that she was pregnant. She got two bodyguards to carry a box, and together, they set off. Inside the box was illegal firearms.
After taking the painkiller, Kendrick arrived at Central Square at the appointed time.
As soon as he arrived, he saw Lana happily running toward him with her high heels. It felt as if the bleeding yesterday was no big deal to her.
Lana looked at Kendrick who was in a business suit. Her eyes were filled with obsessiveness. “Kendrick, you look even more attractive today than yesterday. I can’t believe a man like you is so attracted to me. I really think that I love you even more now.”
Lana was full of praise, but her tone then turned serious. “The client will arrive early. Let’s go to the private dining area to wait.”
Kendrick’s long fingers adjusted his cuffs and his tie clip that was adorned with sapphires. He grinned as he looked at Lana. “It’s time for business.”
“Yeah.” Lana looked like a little woman as she followed Kendrick into the designated private dining area.
After a while, the client who had made the appointment also arrived.
He was a fat middle-aged man who looked like he never had to lift a finger in his life. He brought four bodyguards with him. The man seemed to be very interested in Lana. After checking the goods brought by Lana’s men without paying much attention, he was ready to sign the contract.
Kendrick looked at him calmly. When he saw that both Lana and the man had signed the contracts, the corners of his lips lifted into a smile. He moved his hand to his ear and gently pressed the Bluetooth headset he had on.
As soon as he pressed it, one of the fat man’s bodyguards suddenly walked up to him and pointed at Kendrick’s tie clip. “He has a miniature spycam on his body and may have taken pictures of the transaction just now!”
When Lana heard the bodyguard, she looked at Kendrick who had a cold expression on his face. “What nonsense are you talking about? This is my boyfriend. He wouldn’t take pictures of something like this.”
Although the fat man liked Lana very much, he was even more concerned about whether Kendrick really had a spycam on his body, so he walked over and asked, “Take off your tie clip and let my people check if there really is a spycam. This is a huge business transaction. I don’t want to make a mistake either.”
“Mr. Howie, don’t you trust me? This is my boyfriend. He and I are on the same team. Why would he betray himself by leaving dangerous traces for people to get us?” Lana defended Kendrick. When she saw that they still looked suspicious, Lana walked to Kendrick. “Kendrick, can you take off the tie clip and show them how wrong they are?”
When she said that, Kendrick stood up slowly. Lana curled her lips up in satisfaction and waited for Kendrick to take off the tie clip. However, Kendrick only looked at her coldly. “No, there’s no need to take the tie clip off. They’re right. There’s a mini spycam on it.”
“…” Lana was dumbfounded. “J-Kendrick? Why are you recording this?”
Kendrick raised his cold eyebrows as a delighted smile flashed across his eyes. “To capture the culprit in the act and serve as evidence in court, of course.”
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.