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“Oh, no, no. I’m just surprised. Thanks for telling me, Ms. Fisher. I’ll go back to my work.” When Natalie came to her senses, she smiled sheepishly and excused herself.
Truth be told, she wasn’t happy per se. She just felt confused. In her eyes, the cooperation wasn’t that crucial, so why did Garrett need to interfere?
Seeing that she was about to leave, Tiffany raised her eyebrows and seemed to have read her mind. “I didn’t think that Mr. Harding would get involved in this matter. You two seem to be… on good terms. Did you know him before you joined the company?”
So, it turned out that it wasn’t just Natalie who felt that something was off.
“Oh, no. Actually, I’ve only met Mr. Harding twice.” Natalie shook her head and waved her hands dismissively.
When she got back to her desk, she couldn’t seem to concentrate on her work.
It was really unorthodox—unreasonable even—for a deputy CEO like Garrett to keep standing up for her.
Things didn’t happen for no reason in this world.
Could it be that Garrett was interested in her just like Ike?
“Quinn, why the long face? Did Fisher give you an earful?” A colleague sitting next to Natalie poked her arm with a pen.
“Huh? Oh, no. I just have a stomachache… Gerda, would you know if Mr. Harding has a girlfriend?” Natalie whispered in her colleague’s ear.
Gerda knew everything that went on in the company, since she was the most gossipy one and was always kept in the loop.
“Well, I guess you could say that. Mr. Harding might be very good to us employees, but I can’t say I respect his private life. You know how rich men are with open relationships. He probably has a girlfriend, but most likely has more than one. At least, that’s what those gossip magazines say,” Gerda whispered back, her eyes twinkling with interest. “Why? Do you have a crush on him? Oh, my dear, this kind of man doesn’t suit you.”
“No! I mean, I was just curious. You’re overthinking.” Natalie adamantly shook her head. She was a married woman after all.
She was just worried that she’d be sexually harassed again, like what had happened with Ike back then.
After mulling it over, Natalie decided she needed to get to the bottom of this.
If it turned out that Garrett liked her, she’d have no choice but to leave the Larson Group.
After all, she couldn’t afford to offend someone as powerful as Garrett.
She plucked up the courage and sent him a private message through the work chat group.
“Mr. Harding, are you free to talk? There was something I wanted to ask you.”
“Of course. What is it, Quinn?” Garrett replied in a friendly tone.
For some reason, Natalie got goose bumps when she read his reply. She quickly gathered her design drawings and went up to the thirty-first floor.
From such a height, the scenery down was breathtaking. One could easily see the entirety of the city from the floor-to-ceiling windows. There were two meeting rooms and two offices on this floor. The door to the largest room was covered by a white curtain. A sign that said “Brandon Larson” in grand, gold lettering hung outside the door. As she walked past it, Natalie heard a faint, low voice from inside.
Finally, she made it to Garrett’s door. She raised her hand and knocked politely.
“Come in,” Garrett’s voice sounded promptly.
“Good morning, Mr. Harding.”
When Garrett saw her come in, he immediately stood up and smiled. “Quinn! Welcome. Come and take a seat. What can I do for you?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Natalie sat down stiffly. “Mr. Harding, I heard that my design was re-adopted by the Color Company. Thank you for your help.”
“No need to thank me. It was no big deal.” Garrett waved his hand dismissively then proceeded to pour piping hot tea into a cup.
Unbeknownst to Natalie, it was her husband who pulled the strings. This matter actually had nothing to do with Garrett.
“Hmm, there is one more thing I wanted to talk to you about…”
“What’s up? You can talk to me about anything.” Seeing how uneasy she looked, Garrett tried to coax it out of her gently.
Closing her eyes, Natalie plucked up her courage and finally blurted, “Mr. Harding, do you have a crush on me?”
“What?” Garrett was scared out of his wits.
His hands trembled, and the teacup fell to the floor. He sprang up from the sofa and peeked out of the room to see if Sebastian was outside.
Then, he looked at Natalie and shook his head vehemently, “No, I absolutely do not have a crush on you. Don’t talk nonsense! I did everything for the company. And for Mr. Larson!”
“Well… Mr. Harding, it was just a casual question. I…” Startled by his reaction, Natalie quickly stood up too. “Are you okay, Mr. Harding?”
Garrett quickly stepped back to keep a safe distance from her as if she were a dreadful monster. Sweat beaded his forehead.
“I’m fine. Don’t come near me. Stay away! Although only the two of us are in this room, there’s a third pair of eyes watching us.”
With that, he opened the door and stormed out of the room. He didn’t dare to stay in the same room with Natalie anymore.
Garrett completely forgot that this was his own office.
Natalie frowned, her eyes still fixed on the door, dumbfounded by his reaction.
She had thought about it a lot before coming here but didn’t expect Garrett would react this way.
Even if her guess was wrong, he should have either yelled at her or laughed at her for being stupid. But he was strangely scared, which seemed to confuse Natalie.
‘What did he mean? Is there something scary and horrible about me?’
she wondered, rubbing her hair. Not knowing what else to do, Natalie let out a weary sigh and walked out of the office in confusion.
She couldn’t understand what was going on.
After Garrett left his office, he rushed out to see Sebastian.
“Did she come to your office? I thought I heard her voice now.” Sebastian asked in his usual magnetic voice. The sunlight cast a soft glow on his body, outlining his features. His face looked stern.
Garrett looked at Sebastian, who was wearing a suit, leaning against the black leather sofa, reading the documents. A shiver ran down his spine.
“Buddy, I have to tell you something.”
Sebastian was aware of everything happening in the company. Therefore, Garrett felt he’d rather tell the truth before he found out himself.
Garrett took off his glasses and rubbed his eyebrows, choosing his words.
Sebastian stopped reading, and his sharp gaze fell on Garrett. “Well?”
“Your wife just came in and asked me if I had a crush on her,” Garrett hissed through his teeth, clenching his fists as if someone was going to kill him.
Sebastian’s face darkened in an instant. He leaned against the sofa and studied Garrett’s face. “What did you do to her?”
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