Filed to story: Mia Bowen and Timothy Barrett Novel
“Correct. Small companies like yours offer only slavery contracts. Don’t humiliate yourself in public.” Mia could easily tell what kind of game they were playing.
Although they claimed that they were an entertainment company, many people were forced to sign a slavery contract and become employees slaving away regardless of their fame in order to bring in as much profit as possible for the company.
The other party assumed that Mia worked for Lane Group and ran away, and so did the others.
After all, no one came second before Lane Group.
Now that they were alone, Mia teased him, “I’m surprised by your popularity. Not even your pitiful looks can hide your unspoken charm.” Timothy was indeed charming. Mia admitted that.
Wrinkles creased over his shirt and there were bloodstains dried over his shoulders.
As a neat freak, he would always maintain his hygiene. It was her first time seeing him in such a haggard state.
Her gaze landed on the wound on his shoulder. It seemed to be bandaged. “I thought you didn’t have money. Who gave you the bandage?”
“A nurse.”
Her brows arched. “You sure are popular, huh? Even the nurse treated you for free.”
He was silent for a moment. “They were afraid that I might die in the hospital and bring trouble.”
Romance was definitely not his cup of tea.
It was obvious that the nurse had noticed his good looks and decided to tend to his wound for free. Yet, he didn’t accept her feelings.
Mia blurted, “Long story short, I did that not because of you. Also, you have to return to Bern City as soon as possible. Return to your position as the president of Barrett Group and find out which idiot decided to collaborate with the Bowen family.”
The Bowens had been spreading rumors about their impending collaboration with the Barrett Group. There were people who believed in it too.
“I said, I won’t leave until I see Ginger well and healthy,” Timothy insisted.
“Timothy Barrett, you used to be smart. Since when did you become a stubborn bull? We can have a video call after your return to Bern City,” Mia retorted.
“No. I want to see her in person in the hospital.”
Timothy stared at Mia. “Why are you so worried about me meeting our child?”
His answer angered her. “Timothy Barrett, if I hadn’t taken you in as my bodyguard, you wouldn’t even have the chance to come close to my child. Let alone see her. I wouldn’t even let you have a video call with her. Stop crossing the line.”
As soon as she finished, a man chimed in, “Mia Lane, why did you hurt my mother? You should’ve just come for me!”
Mia looked back only to find Lewis coming over with braces. He looked furious.
“The Bowens are literally everywhere,” she thought to herself.
She sized him up. “You have the guts to confront me in person. And you’re wondering why I hurt your mother? Let me talk some sense into you here. She told people to surround me in the restroom and hit me till I suffered a concussion.”
He barked, “That’s because your bodyguard hit me first. She went up to you to settle the score.”
“And because your mother hit me, my brothers are going to deal with her. It’s fair, don’t you think so?” she retorted.
Using his family as his backer? She could do the same too.
Lewis was almost convinced by her words.
He gritted his teeth. “But my mother is still in the emergency room. The doctor even told me that her life was in danger! She had a lot of stitches because she was hit on the head.”
Mia spread her arms nonchalantly. “Why are you telling me this? I didn’t do it. Look for the right person who did it.”
“I know your family did it.” Lewis then shifted his gaze to Timothy. “This bodyguard was the one who hit me, wasn’t he? Nice to see him here. I’ve been looking all over for him. I’m going to teach him a lesson today. Boys, show him how it feels to be toothless!”
Mia couldn’t believe her ears. “Lewis, do you really not know him?” Lewis seemed unbothered by Mia’s question. “Do I have to know who a poor bodyguard is? It’s time for him to remember who I am. I’m the one who’ll beat him up until he loses all his teeth and becomes disabled. I will let him know what hell feels like.”
“I’m impressed by your guts.” Mia clapped her hands.
He mocked, “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Barrett Group is going to clinch a contract with us tomorrow. Then, we’ll confront your family together and hog your companies. When that happens, you won’t even have the chance to warm my bed.”
Mia’s expression turned grim when she heard that.
Before she could retort, Timothy stepped forward and shielded her. With a rigid expression, he questioned, “Barrett Group is going to collaborate with your family to confront the Lane family?”
“Yup. Heard of Barrett Group? It’s owned by the richest family in Bern City. Once we work together, I’ll make sure to make you fall from grace. And her too!”
Timothy retorted coldly, “Who from Barrett Group wants to collaborate with you? Give me the name and position.” He wondered who had the guts to do such a thing.
“Why so many questions? You’re just a penniless bodyguard. This is a game between the rich. Someone poor like you wouldn’t know anything about it. Stop acting as if you’re the president of Barrett Group.”
Mia tilted her head. “Well, he could be.”
“What a joke. How could a penniless bodyguard be the president of Barrett Group? If he’s the president of Barrett Group, I’ll swallow the contract,” Lewis chided.
Timothy smirked. “That won’t be enough.”
Lewis rolled his eyes, “Oh lord, do you seriously think that you’re the president of Barrett Group? Enough already. You won’t be able to handle the consequences, dude.”
Mia quipped, “Don’t forget whose territory this is. If you cause trouble here, you are the one who won’t be able to handle the consequences.” With a wave from Peyton, a group of bodyguards swarmed over. When Lewis noticed that he was outnumbered, he got cold feet and wanted to chicken out. After all, he had already lost two teeth because of them.
He growled, “Just you wait! Once I sign the contract with the president of Barrett Group, I won’t let both of you get away with this.”
How would the Bowen family react when they find out that the bodyguard next to Mia was actually the president of Barrett Group? Mia looked forward to that day. Never in her life had she hoped for something like this to happen this much.
Although she wished to teach them a lesson herself, her family owned this hospital. If a fight broke out in the open hall on the first floor, it would surely tarnish the hospital’s reputation.
As a businesswoman, she didn’t want havoc to break out in her hospital.
Besides, there were many other ways to deal with the Bowens. According to Connor, Dominic had taken action on them too. Therefore, the Bowens couldn’t pose a threat to her.
Timothy watched as Lewis was being driven out of the place. Then, he turned to look at Mia. “Give me your phone.”
Timothy couldn’t stand how the idiotic Bowen family had spread rumors about collaborating with his company to go against the Lane family. His reputation was at stake.
Furthermore, he wanted to find out which manager of the subsidiary decided to collaborate with the Bowens.
Mia raised her head, her eyes on him. “Finally deciding to return to Bern City?”
That would be good news for her.
His eyes narrowed. “You’re overthinking my actions. I just want to make a call to settle the matter regarding the Bowens. Could you stand them making a fuss all the time?”
She took a deep breath. “Of course I don’t wish to see them spreading groundless rumors out there. That’s why I came up to you, asking you to return to Bern City as soon as possible to solve the problem. Otherwise, fools like the Bowens will spread rumors that’ll ruin your reputation. People might assume that your company only collaborates with fools like them.”
Timothy responded calmly, “It’ll take only a call from me to solve this problem. I don’t have to return to Bern City.”
Mia bit her lip. This man was surely not an easy opponent to deal with. “If you don’t return to Bern City, do you think I’ll lend you my phone?” He calmly replied, “Do you think I can’t borrow a phone from others?” Of course, he could do that.
He was a sly one.
Considering his circumstances, he surely could borrow a phone from anyone.
She countered, “Even if you successfully make a call, your men won’t be able to come to Nord City to see you. Not without my consent.”
“That doesn’t matter as long as they can go to the subsidiary to investigate the issue.”
“Why aren’t you going to solve it yourself? It’s causing a big impact.” “If they can’t even solve such a trivial problem, they should hand in their resignation letters.” Timothy’s tone was steely, completely fit for his position as the president.
He added, “Isn’t this what you want? To solve the matter regarding the Bowens.”
Mia took a deep breath. Needless to say, she wished for the Bowens to face the consequences they deserved.
However, this was the one chance for her to send him back to Bern City as soon as possible! That way, she and her kids wouldn’t need to stay under the radar to avoid getting caught by him.
“But the Bowens looked down upon you and scolded you. Shouldn’t you return to Bern City to teach them a lesson in person?” She didn’t give up.
“This is too trivial a matter for me to show up in person.”
Silence dawned upon her. It seemed like he wasn’t planning to leave the place.
Her eyes scrutinized his wound and his haggard appearance. Frankly speaking, she didn’t expect him to be able to put up with this situation this long.
She asked, “You’ll leave after you personally make sure that Ginger is healthy?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Fine, I’ll arrange a time so that you can meet her. After that, please leave immediately.”
His fingers slowly curled into fists. “Are you this desperate to get rid of me?”
Ginger wasn’t the only reason he kept pestering her shamelessly. Mia was one of the reasons too.
Timothy wanted to win Mia’s heart back so that she would stay by his side.
“We divorced four years ago, Mr. Barrett. Our relationship ended a long time ago. You have the right to meet your child, and I’ll give cooperation on that. You don’t have to stay in Nord City.”
The emotions churning in his eyes were indecipherable. In the end, he blurted, “Mia, can’t you give me another chance?”