Leland Burns reminded himself that this time, he must gain the upper hand over Winifred Dawson. He wouldn’t give her any chance to resist. He resolved not to back down when he shouldn’t, no matter the circumstances.
Just like earlier that morning when he noticed the injuries on Winifred Dawson, he deliberately refrained from asking how she got hurt. As if showing a little more concern would make him seem cheap and unworthy.
Now, sending her the ointment afterward was already a breach of his own rules.
Without offering any explanation, Leland said, “I sent the ointment to you. Apply it now, and show me after you’re done.”
She couldn’t help but question his odd demand. “I’ll apply it properly…”
“I don’t trust your word.”
Left with no choice, Winifred rolled up her sleeves and pant legs and began to apply the ointment to her wounds. The medication he sent was effective-cool and soothing upon application, with a light, pleasant scent.
After applying it, she took two photos of the treated areas and sent them to Leland Burns.
When Leland opened the photos, he noticed the injuries were more severe than he’d imagined.
He tried not to let his concern show too obviously. “Take good care of those wounds. I don’t want you looking after my kids while injured. Also, don’t think I don’t know what’s going on in your head. If you’re planning to use this as an excuse to delay our agreement, let me tell you-whether you’re missing an arm or a leg, I’ll still drag you to my house. And trust me, I won’t have the patience I’m showing today to care about your feelings.”
He said it all on his own, leaving little room for her to reply. What could she say? She could only nod and agree. “I understand.”
Did the term “patience” even apply to Leland Burns?
Reading his string of messages, Winifred couldn’t help but feel a peculiar awkwardness in it all.
Fortunately, after her reply, Leland didn’t bother her further.
She glanced at the food she had thrown into the trash earlier, fearing that Leland might follow up with a demand for her to send a selfie of herself eating. Worse, she dreaded the possibility of him asking for a video call. But thankfully, none of those things happened.
The truth was, Leland had indeed considered video calling her. It would have saved a lot of trouble. But he knew Winifred hated video calls. Whether in person or on a screen, she wouldn’t show him a kind face these days.
While texting Winifred and ordering takeout for her, Leland was actually in the middle of a meeting. It was the first time his senior executives had seen the usually strict and serious Mr. Burns casually using his phone during such an important occasion-openly, with the phone resting on the table.
“Mr. Burns, what do you think of this project?”
Distracted by thoughts of Winifred, Leland couldn’t fully focus. He shifted his attention from her photos and said, “Go over the last part again.”
The room fell silent, disbelief written on every face. Not only had they witnessed their boss using his phone in a meeting, but they also saw him lose focus on work.
Still, they quickly composed themselves and resumed the discussion. This time, Leland didn’t let his attention waver again.
Meanwhile, Winifred had thrown away the takeout Leland sent and waited for nearly ten minutes before another order, this time from Garrison Reeves, arrived.
She ate quietly, though the food wasn’t as flavorful as the previous meal.
What she didn’t know was that the first meal wasn’t from a restaurant. It had been specially prepared by Leland’s private chef at his request.
Leland, an accomplished cook himself, had refined tastes and a discerning palate. He wasn’t any less picky than Winifred when it came to food, though his desires for it weren’t as strong.
For the sake of his two kids, however, he had hired a top-tier chef. Wherever he traveled, the chef went with him to ensure the children’s meals were always perfect.
The kids’ tastes mirrored Winifred’s exactly. Knowing this, and having cared for her for so many years, Leland was well aware of her preferences.
That afternoon, he had sent the chef a specific recipe and instructed him to prepare the meal and deliver it to Winifred.
What Leland didn’t know was that the painstakingly prepared meal was heartlessly tossed into the trash the moment Winifred realized it was from him.
After finishing his meeting, Leland made a phone call, instructing his team to ease the pressure on Garrison Reeves.
Following his orders, the business partners who had been relentlessly pressing Garrison suddenly relented, and the project’s progress became much smoother.
Garrison Reeves, however, couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. He wasn’t naive-he understood that the recent issues were the work of someone meddling behind the scenes.
The project in his hands was bound to make some people lose out and offend others. Being sabotaged was something he had anticipated when he decided to take it on.
Though he didn’t yet know who was pulling the strings, Garrison planned to investigate once the project was successfully underway and his schedule cleared.
For now, while progress seemed to be improving, Garrison remained cautious. He knew there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Something was definitely happening behind the scenes.