As his words faded, I arrived at my place.
I opened the door but didn’t invite him in. Standing at the entrance, I said, “Thank you for telling me all this, but it no longer matters to me. You should go back; I’ll take care of myself.”
A hint of hurt flashed in his eyes but quickly disappeared. He said, “Kiki, it’s because I hurt you that you don’t believe I love you. Time will prove everything.”
“I know you still love me, so please don’t give up on me so soon.”
With that, he walked into the small house next door. It turned out he had rented the place right beside mine.
Laurence, who had grown up with luxury and lived a high life, could actually endure this terrible environment and rent a small house here.
I closed the door, but his confident words, “I know you still love me,” still echoed in my ears.
He was always that confident, always so persistent.
The next day, George came by and said the boss had personally assigned him to supervise.
He complained with a wry smile, “Your messy love triangle has really put me in a tough spot. I won’t be able to go back for at least three months.”
Indeed, conservatively estimating, we would have to stay here for three months.
I took George to find a nearby rental and ran into Laurence carrying fish and vegetables.
I thought I was seeing things-Laurence actually went to the market.
He looked warily at George and pulled me close to him. “The food at the construction site is terrible. Since you already know I’m here, I’ll buy some groceries and cook for you.”
He really could cook. In the past, whenever I was upset, he would cheer me up by cooking.
I didn’t respond, but George chimed in, “Looks like we’re in for a treat today-our benefactor is cooking himself.”
Laurence shot him a cold glance and said, “Stay out of it; it’s not for you.”
“I’m cooking for my girlfriend.”
I said nothing and continued showing George the rental options.
After George rented a place nearby, we headed to the construction site together.
The site was very noisy. I stood among a group of workers, explaining that the rebar they brought didn’t meet standards and needed to be replaced.
They grumbled and complained, “A girl supervising us so strictly? We use this kind of rebar on other sites without any issues. She’s just making trouble; we can’t work like this.”
They threatened to strike.
I was furious. We were rushing to meet deadlines, yet they brought substandard materials and now wanted to strike.
I didn’t indulge them and said directly, “Materials must meet standards to be used in construction. This concerns safety and quality. If you’re unwilling to work under these conditions, fine-pay the penalty as per the contract, and I’ll find someone else.”
Hearing my firm stance and seeing me refer to the contract, they reluctantly agreed to take away the non-compliant rebar for replacement.
“Kiki, you handled that very well. I thought your expertise was only in negotiating projects; I didn’t expect you’d be so good at supervision too,” Laurence said as he approached with lunchboxes in hand.
My gaze went past him to see Lila struggling through the uneven ground in high heels behind him.
She exclaimed with each step until she finally reached us and added to Laurence’s words: “Good at what? I think she’s just making a fuss over nothing.”
“Laurence, why did you walk so fast? I couldn’t keep up and fell several times; my hands are all scraped,” she whined.
Watching her act coyly in front of him left me unfazed. I turned to head to another area for inspection.
Laurence ignored her and quickly followed me.