Chapter 280
Layla felt a wave of hostility behind her and turned around.
Fanny stood in front of her with a strange expression on her face.
The reason for her strange expression was that Fanny was forcefully controlling her anger, causing her facial muscles to tense up. Her face twitched awkwardly.
"Congratulations," Fanny sarcastically said.
The whole office was filled with a sour and tense atmosphere. No one said a word.
"Thank you." Layla smiled.
"You're so happy, aren't you?" Fanny couldn't help but ask.
"It's okay. We are all employees of Brightness Design Group, and we should all work hard for the company."
"Oh, so you are implicating that the rest of us are not working hard, and only you are putting in all your effort? I guess you can have whatever you want since you closed a big project. We can only agree with you, right?"
"We are all just doing our jobs."
"You're really modest. It's not just a job for you, right? You've made quite a show since you joined the company. You'll probably reach my position soon. After all, it took me three months to close a deal that you effortlessly closed in just two days."
Layla thought to herself, 'If you can't close a deal, then shut up. Do you have the right to provoke someone who can close deals?'
But she didn't want to cause any conflicts and simply said, "We're all working for the company. I just want to do my part and work hard. I haven't thought much about anything else."
The more she said this, the more disgusted Fanny felt toward her hypocrisy. Fanny believed that Layla was clearly driven by self-interest, yet she still wanted to appear selfless. It was so disgusting.
She leaned toward Layla's ear and gnashed her teeth, saying, "You got lucky this time. If you didn't have any talent, there's no way you could continue working at Brightness Design Group."
With that, she gave Layla a warning look before turning away.
In the evening, Levi held a celebration banquet, and Layla didn't want to participate, but as the main character, she had no choice but to attend.
She didn't drink. She left shortly after nine o'clock and didn't join the others in singing.
She walked aimlessly along the street. As she continued walking, she realized she had unknowingly arrived at the place where Owen had the accident.
The bloody scene of Owen lying in a pool of blood flashed before her eyes.
Layla's heart squeezed with pain once again.
"Owen..." Her eyes turned red.
Countless times, she had hoped this was just a nightmare and that Owen would still be alive when she woke up. He would still care for her, even though his tone might sound harsh.
"Hey, Layla.
"Layla, are you stupid?
"If you were not my sister, I wouldn't care about you."
A thick curtain of snowflakes cascaded from the night sky.
"Wow, it's snowing."
"The first snow of the year."
"The first snowfall. So romantic."
"The weather forecast didn't say it would snow today. How strange."
Passersby stopped to catch the snowflakes.
The snow fell heavily, swirling all around. Layla reached out and caught a snowflake.
"Owen, is this your way of greeting me?"
Layla drifted off.
A black Bentley stopped in front of Layla. A sophisticated and elegant man opened the back door, allowing some snowflakes to drift inside.
Layla got into the car silently, and even after getting in, she remained calm and quiet.
Samuel looked at her multiple times. She was wrapped in a white scarf. Half of her chin was tucked inside the scarf, making her small face even smaller.
She had gotten thinner again.
Samuel couldn't help but feel heartache.
He wanted to tightly embrace her.
He had the impulse but always lacked the courage to act on it.
A long time passed; it felt like a century.
"You helped me with the Sheeran Group's project," Layla stated without a question.
Everything went smoothly. She was personally received by the CEO, and the contract was signed smoothly. Everything happened too quickly, and she could only follow the other party's process. It wasn't until after signing the contract and returning to check the information that she found out the Sheeran Group's CEO was Joseph.
She didn't believe in good luck.
"I'm sorry." Samuel feared her anger.
Layla smiled bitterly. "I still can't escape from you."
"I promise that won't happen again," Samuel quickly pledged.
"In two months, when I receive my salary, I will leave Avalenia."
"Where are you going?" Samuel grew anxious.
"To a place without you."
Samuel's heart ached. The pain spread within him.
"Layla, can't we start over again? I loved you. I loved you so much, it hurts."
Layla's eyes showed no emotion. "Didn't you say time would fade everything away? That includes this painful feeling. You will meet someone else, fall in love with her, and forget me."
"In my whole life, I will only love you," Samuel swore.
Layla looked out the window. "It doesn't matter to me anymore. In my eyes, we have long ended.
"The accident happened right there. I will never forget his death. I can never forget. Being with you reminds me of my deep sins, and I can never be liberated. Only by separating from you can I start a new life.
"Samuel, if you truly care for me, then I beg you, let me start over."
Samuel's eyes dimmed. After his hope was taken away, disappointment was the only thing left in his eyes.
He had never thought of giving up on her. He tried to keep his distance and fought for her until just now when she begged him when she wanted to start over.
Was he too stubborn? Was he too selfish?
"Set me free..."
The snow outside was getting heavier.
The car stopped outside the apartment building.
The ground was already covered with a thick layer of snow.
The car was silent.
"Is this what you want?" Samuel asked with difficulty, his voice dry.
"Yeah."
"Alright, I'll set you free."
At that moment, Layla's heart felt as if it had been untied, relieved. At the same time, she also felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
In the end, they ended up like this. People who shouldn't be together would end up apart even if they tried their best. The outcome wouldn't change whatever they did. If they had separated earlier, they could have ended their pain sooner.
"Thank you." Layla opened the door, got out of the car, and disappeared in the wind and snow.
Tears gradually welled up in Samuel's eyes.
"Mommy, it's snowing!
"Such big snowflakes, it's so beautiful!"
Oliver wiped the window. He leaned against the window and looked outside with excitement. "Wow! It's so beautiful!"
"Yeah. It's beautiful."
"Mommy, I want to go out and see the snow. Well, you're probably worried I'll catch a cold, so you won't let me go out," Oliver soliloquized, but with a hint of disappointment.
"Do you want to go?"
"I do!" Oliver immediately looked up, his big eyes sparkling. "Can... can I go?"
"You can, but you need to wear more clothes."
"No problem." Oliver couldn't wait and jumped off the sofa.
Susan dressed Oliver in a thick blue down jacket, with a yellow hat adorned with little ducks and a matching scarf. They held hands and walked out of the hospital. Snowflakes fell on them.
Oliver excitedly ran around in the snow. "Mommy, can we build a snowman tomorrow?"
"Sure."
"I also want to have a snowball fight with other kids."
"Yeah."
"Mommy, I love you so much!"
Watching his joyful figure running, Susan felt a mix of happiness and sadness engulfing her. Why did the heavens make a three-year-old child bear all of this? He was still so little.
Thinking about this, Susan couldn't help but feel upset and wanted to cry.
The vibration from her phone snapped her to reality.