Out of Control: Into Your Everything-Chapter 33: Too Late

Wasn’t this just an invitation to go to his room.

If they were in Capitoline, Scarlett Shaw would have come as soon as she was called.

Come to think of it, she and Julian Ford hadn’t even seen each other for the last time in over half a month—it really had been a while since they’d done that thing, too.

But right now, they were abroad, staying in the same hotel as their colleagues. If she went to his room and someone saw her, wasn’t she just walking herself straight into the fire pit?

Julian Ford was her boss. When he wanted to do something, all it took was a line from him—when had he ever cared what position she was in?

Scarlett Shaw struggled with it for a good while, then simply turned off her phone, closed her eyes, and didn’t open up the chat with Julian until she woke up the next morning, replying with a message:

- President Ford, I fell asleep last night and missed your message. I’m really sorry.

Scarlett’s mind was clear in the morning, and she thought through it—in the middle of the night, Julian was still calling her up. Clearly, he wouldn’t be staying at this hotel for long. If she was lucky, maybe Julian would go back to the country today—wouldn’t that mean she dodged a bullet?

Sure enough, after a whole day of training, Scarlett didn’t get a reply from Julian Ford.

Important people always have bad memories; she figured this big shot wouldn’t take such a little blip to heart, which meant she could get away with this whole thing.

She was just too clever.

Scarlett couldn’t help but praise herself in her heart.

That evening, Scarlett was in a great mood at dinner when Skyler Miller suddenly called.

"Scarlett, I just sent some information to your email. President Ford happens to be there for business talks, and he’ll need this data. Look over it in advance tonight—he’ll probably want to meet with you tomorrow. Don’t mess up."

"Okay, Skyler."

Scarlett responded crisply, but internally, a thousand ’fuck’ were galloping past.

Julian Ford was still at the hotel. All her scheming last night was wasted. With how sharp Julian was, he’d probably already seen right through her, and sooner or later would find some way to take it out of her hide.

But no matter how much Scarlett wanted to avoid Julian Ford, work was one thing she’d never dare to slack on. So as soon as she got back to her room, she opened her laptop and started studying the data materials.

Early the next morning, Scarlett got a notice from Aaron Carson to go to the hotel entrance immediately—they’d be leaving to meet a client in ten minutes.

Scarlett didn’t dare delay and hurried straight downstairs.

Aaron was standing alone by the car, clearly waiting for Julian Ford.

Scarlett was about to walk over and greet him when a deep blue sports car screeched to a stop at the hotel entrance. Ryan Ford got out, his eyes playful and mocking, not a smile reaching his gaze as he walked toward her.

Stopping in front of her, Ryan smirked and said in a low voice, "You thought that by finding yourself a backer to cover your grandmother’s medical costs, I’d be helpless against you?"

Scarlett ignored him.

She didn’t even let her expression change.

"Ryan, I have nothing to say to you now. If you cause any trouble, I’ll call the police."

Ryan scoffed. "Relax, I still want you to come back to me. How could I bear to see you get hurt?"

Scarlett frowned slightly, her eyes guarded.

"But I really didn’t expect you to be that capable. Guess sleeping around does make a difference." Ryan sneered. "Your body sure knows how to hook men. Scarlett, you’re even more shameless than I imagined."

Scarlett looked up at Ryan, calm and searching beneath the surface.

She spoke: "You never used to say things like this to me."

Ryan’s gaze tightened as he closed in on her. "You can’t stand it anymore?"

"There’s nothing I can’t stand."

Scarlett smiled lightly.

"If all your so-called tenderness to me in the past was fake, then breaking up with you just means losing someone who never loved me. It’s a relief, frankly."

"Of course, I won’t deny I ever really liked you."

"But Ryan, remember this: what goes around comes around. You treat me like this, sooner or later, you’ll get what’s coming to you."

As soon as the words fell, Ryan suddenly gripped her wrist, his palm trembling, gaze locked onto her with angry unwillingness. "Say that again."

Scarlett: "I have work to do. I don’t have the time or the patience to argue with you. Let me go."

Ryan was seething, wanting to drag her straight into the car.

But out of the corner of his eye, he saw Julian Ford had somehow walked right over to them.

His movements stalled, and his grip loosened gradually.

Scarlett seized the chance to break free from Ryan’s hand. Glancing up, she also caught sight of Julian. Without thinking, she hurried to his side, wanting nothing more than to get away from Ryan and his drama.

Julian Ford gave her a brief look. His eyes shifted and finally landed on Ryan.

His gaze was icy and heavy, and even if he didn’t speak, he radiated an oppressive force that was hard to bear.

Ryan was the first to speak. "Bro."

"Now you’re making a scene without even caring where you are."

Julian’s tone was flat, holding neither blame nor anger.

Yet, oddly enough, it was highly intimidating. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Ryan took a deep breath and said nothing more, but his attitude was clearly more subdued—a hint of grudging obedience in his posture.

Julian glanced at Scarlett again; she immediately got the cue and sensibly walked farther away, standing with Aaron Carson, respectfully waiting for him.

"If you don’t want her to find out what you did to her family, you’d better behave. She’s a lot smarter than you think."

When no one was around, Julian spoke calmly.

Ryan was surprised. "Bro, that’s rare. You’re actually praising someone?"

Julian shot him an indifferent look.

Ryan: "I’m just not willing. All these years, I never touched her. So why is it that right after breaking up with me, she can sleep with another man? Is she really just like her mother—"

"Why didn’t you touch her? What’s the real reason? Isn’t it because you found her disgusting?" Julian interrupted.

"That was before. Not anymore."

"Too late now."

Ryan’s jaw tightened, his eyes laced with both regret and hatred.

Julian: "There are lots of Veridian employees at the hotel. Gossip flies fast when you make such a public scene. If this blows back to the family, the only one who’ll suffer will be you."

Ryan clenched his fist and only relaxed after a long while.

"Got it."

Julian saw he’d listened at last and finally walked away.

...

The client Julian was meeting was a financial heavyweight on the local scene. Their company was world-renowned and a target for long-term partnership with Veridian.

They hadn’t lost much time at the hotel’s entrance, but unfortunately got caught in traffic. By the time they arrived, the client had already left.

The higher their status, the more they valued time.

Julian leaned against the car, lighting a cigarette, his emotions unreadable.

Scarlett felt guilty—even though Ryan was looking for trouble, in the end, it was a personal issue of hers messing with work.

Scarlett walked up to Julian and took the initiative:

"President Ford, I’m really sorry, it was my—"

"Problems are meant to be solved, not apologized for."

Julian said coolly.

Scarlett thought for a moment, then said, "Mr. Barlow has a great reputation in the industry—he’s a role model to a lot of senior professionals. I’m sure he left for other reasons. Maybe we should be proactive and reach out to him."

Aaron Carson walked over at that, about to speak, but was stopped by a look from Julian.

Julian flicked out his cigarette and turned his dark gaze on Scarlett. "You have three days."