From Ashes of Scandals to His Embrace novel Chapter 368

In the end, Jack just sent Laurinda a bunch of dots, not even bothering to explain.

Laurinda set her phone down in front of Renata, and the two of them shared a look.

“Told you. Jack was always going to make a move like this. Honestly, it’s for the best. Vesper can’t keep dodging him forever.”

“Exactly. If Jack waited any longer, Vesper would be gone and all he’d have left is regret.”

Thinking about it, Laurinda found herself reminded of what happened with Sam and Cathleen, and how Earl had swooped in out of nowhere. She never saw that coming.

Earl really was the quiet type, but when he did something, it was always unexpected.

***

As Earl stepped out of the hospital room, he sneezed. He rubbed his nose, suddenly convinced someone must be talking about him.

The head nurse nearby offered him a tissue. He hesitated for a second, about to turn her down, but she spoke first.

“What’s this? You avoiding me so much you won’t even take a tissue now?”

Earl glanced at her, catching the smile on her face. He couldn’t help but smile back a little as he took the tissue and murmured, “Thanks.”

“No problem. I saw your announcement online. I know I made things awkward for you before. It won’t happen again. I just hope we can keep things professional.”

Earl nodded, his face unreadable, keeping his usual distance. “Looking forward to working together,” he replied before walking away.

The head nurse watched him go, feeling oddly relieved. Maybe he’d never really noticed her at all and she’d just been fooling herself this whole time.

When the plane landed, Renata woke her gently. Laurinda, still half-asleep, shrugged on her puffy jacket and followed Renata off the plane.

They’d barely set foot on the tarmac when gunshots sounded from the southwest corner. Laurinda’s eyebrows shot up as she muttered, “We just got here and things are already wild. Any idea what they’re fighting over?”

Renata looked in the direction of the noise and shook her head.

“No clue. I heard some of it’s lab supplies, but I don’t know which lab. Want to go see what’s happening?”

She was clearly tempted. Missing out on the action felt like missing out on something big.

Laurinda shot her a look. “You really want to go over there? Can’t you hear how chaotic it is? Bullets don’t care who you are. Are you trying to get yourself killed?”