A Wrong Surrogate for the CEO-Chapter 132: Loyalty cannot be bought...

"We’re getting married!" Lara exclaimed as soon as Kayla opened the door.

Kayla’s brows pulled into a frown. "You’re getting married?" she repeated.

Lada nodded, beaming and brimming with excitement.

"I don’t understand. You are already married. Why are you guys getting married again?" Kayla asked, confused.

Lara shook her head as she walked inside, closing the door behind her.

"Come on, Kayla. I expected you to get excited," she pouted.

Kayla wove her arms through Lara’s, and she smiled at her friend.

"I am happy for you, love. I am just...

confused."

Lara sighed as they plopped down on the couch. "It’s not a big deal, to be honest. Curtis wants us to have another wedding, he wants us to start all over again, put the past behind us. I agree with him. I think it will be fun, to have a second, real wedding this time."

Kayla’s expression became thoughtful. "That makes sense, I guess." Then her eyes strayed to stare at Lara’s ring less fingers.

"Where’s your ring though? You said he asked you to marry him, so where’s the proposal ring?" Kayla raised her eyebrows.

Lara sighed dramatically. "He hasn’t proposed officially yet. He just asked me. I told him I wasn’t going to say yes until he asks me properly."

Kayla nodded, her friend’s words making sense.

"You guys do whatever you want, as long as it makes you happy," she announced.

Lara beamed, and her excitement shone brightly in her eyes.

"Would you like to be my maid of honour?"

Kayla gasped. "Really?"

Lara rolled her eyes. "Of course, duh. Who else would be my maid of honour? You’re my best friend."

Kayla nudged her shoulders. "I am your only friend," she teased.

Lara snorted. "No you’re not."

Kayla folded her arms. "Prove it. Metion the other friends you have."

Lara didn’t hesitate before she responded. "Marcus."

Amused laughter’s slipped past Kayla’s lips. "Seriously? You’re going to let a guy be your maid of honour? Fine. Let him. I’ll love to see how that works out," she stated, her words firm and confident.

Kayla crossed her arms over her chest, her expression smug.

Lara pouted.

"You know I can’t do that."

"Then admit that I am your only friend."

"You’re my only female friend."

Kayla sneered playfully at Lara. "Fine. I’ll take that. And yes, I will be your maid of honour. Let Marcus be a bridesmaid."

Lara smacked her on the arm. "Don’t be ridiculous. He’s going to be a guest. A very honourable one at that."

Kayla laughed. "Of course. I was just kidding. And yes, I will be your maid of honour."

Lara squealed, too happy to tamp down her excitement.

"Good. I honestly cannot wait. I am so fucking excited."

Lara’s face was glowing, and her happiness was so infectious that it spread over to Kayla.

"Of course you are. I am too. You guys have gone through so much. I am so happy for you. And Curtis. That man really tried. A lot."

"Right? I feel so lucky to be with him. He is one of a kind."

Kayla nodded in agreement. "Grumpy and very scary when pissed, but yes, you’re right."

Lara laughed, and the conversation turned into other mundane, trivial things.

Lara glowed as she had fun with her friend, and her heart was filled with so much love and warmth that it is hard for her to imagine that something could ever go wrong again.

Not after everything she — they— had gone through. She deserved her happy ending, and she was already getting it.

Life could not be any better.

~~

Lazarus knocked once on the office door of Curtis’s office, and waited for his boss to ask him to come in.

Curtis however, was distracted. He was busy staring at different pictures of elegant, expensive wedding rings, trying to pick one for his wife.

When Lazarus knocked again though, Curtis’s laser focus was shattered.

"Come in," he said gruffly. Lazarus walked in and closed the door behind him.

"You called for me, sir," the bodyguard said firmly. Curtis placed down his phone and stared at his bodyguard for a long while.

Lazarus remained unmoving, and his expression didn’t flicker, didn’t even change from the neutral mask he had on.

"How many years have you been working for me, Lazarus?" Curtis asked. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"It’s been ten years, sir."

Surprise flickered across Curtis’s face. He knew Lazarus had been with him for so long, but Curtis had no idea that it had been that long.

And Lazarus had never, not once in the ten years, betrayed Curtis.

His loyalty had been unwavering, and at this point, Curtis knew that even if he asked Lazarus to kill someone for him, the bodyguard wouldn’t hesitate.

It wasn’t as though Curtis was going to ask him to do something like that though, he was just...so sure of Lazarus’s loyalty.

Which was why Curtis said his next words. "I would like to let you go. You’re free to leave my service as a bodyguard. I will pay you whatever amount of money you want," he offered.

Lazarus’s mask slipped. Shock slammed into him like a wave, and he took a surprised step back.

"You are firing me?" he asked.

Curtis shook his head. "No. Of course not. I am not firing you. I just want to let you go. You’ve been working with me for so long, and I feel like you should...do something else for a change. Travel the world. Probably get married and start a family."

Lazarus’s jaw tightened at Curtis’s words.

"I apologise, sir, but I don’t want to. I would rather stay with you. For a few more years, at least."

Curtis’s brows furrowed into a frown. "Why?"

"I am indebted to you, boss. And your safety is my utmost and biggest concern. I would love to keep being your bodyguard, please."

Curtis was floored. He didn’t know what to say. He had expected his bodyguard to accept his offer, and not reject it.

Yet here Lazarus was, unwilling to leave him.

"Lazarus..."

The bodyguard took a step back and gave Curtis a curt bow. "Please, Curtis," he said quietly.

Curtis stared at Lazarus for a long while before he eventually spoke.

"Fine. You can stay," he said.

As the door closed behind the bodyguard, Curtis made up his mind to double Lazarus’s salary, and make his life comfortable enough that he wouldn’t lack anything in his life.

That was the least Curtis could do to someone that was as loyal as Lazarus.

Loyalty, after all, can never be bought. Only earned.