Out of Control: Into Your Everything-Chapter 40: No Permission
Manager Lynch suddenly fell silent, not knowing how to respond.
Julian Ford: "If someone dies inside, can you bear the responsibility?"
Manager Lynch: "I..."
Julian Ford: "If word gets out that Veridian doesn’t care about its employees’ lives, can you handle the reputational damage and the economic loss?"
Manager Lynch: "This..."
Julian Ford: "Still want to wait until tomorrow?"
Manager Lynch: "I’ll go find them now."
In just five minutes, Manager Lynch prepared raincoats, flashlights, and other supplies, and gathered the male colleagues who could help. Just as they were about to set off, they heard Julian Ford’s calm voice: "Hold on."
Manager Lynch: "President Ford, do you have any other instructions?"
Julian Ford: "Go with the group working with Scarlett Shaw to find them."
"Yes!"
Manager Lynch then called out Chloe Grant. Chloe’s face was as dark as coal, ready to explode, but when she saw Julian Ford, she didn’t dare show any complaints.
After they departed.
Julian Ford stepped into the elevator.
Aaron Carson followed him in, about to press the button for the twenty-fifth floor when Julian Ford’s indifferent voice sounded: "Basement 1." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
Aaron Carson was slightly taken aback, then pressed the button for Basement 1.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Julian Ford walked ahead of him, got straight into the driver’s seat of the business car, and drove off, not giving Aaron Carson any chance to get in.
The car left the hotel, and the windshield and windows were quickly drenched with pouring rain.
The cheerful ringtone of a mobile phone could be heard amidst the sound of rain.
Scarlett Shaw’s phone vibrated in Julian Ford’s coat pocket.
He held the steering wheel with one hand, took out the phone, and glanced at the caller ID.
It was a local unknown number.
Julian Ford swiped to answer.
"Assistant Carson."
On the phone, Scarlett Shaw’s clean and clear voice reached Julian Ford’s ears. The sound of rain outside was gentle, and the woman’s voice carried a sense of crisp dryness despite the distant distance.
Scarlett Shaw mentioned a specific address and politely asked, "Could you please come pick me up?"
...
Scarlett Shaw waited for a full minute, but didn’t hear Aaron Carson’s voice.
At the moment, she was at the reception desk of a motor inn, using someone else’s phone, and felt apologetic about staying on the call too long, so she hung up and sat on a small stool waiting for Aaron Carson.
But Scarlett Shaw never expected that Julian Ford would be the one to come.
Julian Ford, wearing an expensive coat, got out of the business car, opened a black umbrella, and entered the motor inn in the winter night’s rain.
The reception area was small, and he immediately spotted Scarlett Shaw sitting on the small stool, hugging her knees and staring at the floor patterns in a daze.
She was soaked from the rain, her hair nearly dripping, with several strands stuck to her clean face, looking very much like a drenched cat.
The kind inn owner had given Scarlett Shaw a clean towel, which she draped over her shoulders for warmth.
Scarlett Shaw raised her head slowly when a pair of slightly wet men’s leather shoes came into view.
Her gaze collided with Julian Ford’s dark eyes.
Her first reaction in her eyes was surprise, "President Ford, why are you here?"
Julian Ford looked down at her calmly and said, "What, not Aaron Carson. You’re disappointed, but I can leave now."
"..."
Indeed, it’s still the Julian Ford she’s always known.
Scarlett Shaw touched her nose and said, "Anyone’s fine, as long as it’s someone to take me back to the hotel."
Julian Ford’s eyes deepened.
Scarlett Shaw stood up from the small stool. The stool was quite low, so sitting on it was no different from squatting. Plus, navigating without a map in the woods was so time-consuming that her legs were numb and she stumbled slightly.
Her waist was gently steadied by Julian Ford’s hand.
Almost without thinking, Scarlett Shaw immediately created distance.
Julian Ford’s expression cooled, "Daring to avoid me now?"
Scarlett Shaw: "You told me to get lost."
Despite her day filled with challenges and setbacks, one thing is clear: she remembers vividly being chased away by him the night before last. Perhaps this peculiar and unhealthy relationship between her and Julian Ford is truly over?
Julian Ford slightly smirked, but didn’t argue with her at this moment, only said calmly, "Get in the car."
Scarlett Shaw sat in the passenger seat.
Her clothes were soaked, the dampness seeping into her bones. Julian Ford glanced at her and turned on the heater.
A distant flash of lightning lit up the pitch-black sky, followed closely by thunderclaps. Scarlett Shaw hugged her arms, her fingers pale and tinged with blue, shivering more than she did outside a moment ago.
Julian Ford: "Afraid of thunder?"
Scarlett Shaw pressed her lips, "Not as much as before."
Julian Ford glanced at her indifferently, "Any reason for that?"
Scarlett Shaw’s cold, bloodless lips moved a bit but quickly closed again. Julian Ford narrowed his eyes, "I’m asking you a question."
Scarlett Shaw: "Didn’t you say before that the two of us don’t have the privilege to share childhood stories?"
Julian Ford’s lips slightly curved, a meaningful chill flashed in his eyes, "Looks like this jungle adventure wasn’t in vain. You’ve gotten braver, even learned to infer from what I said."
Scarlett Shaw thought to herself, isn’t that all thanks to you, being ordered around every day, and then coldly told to leave afterward? How could she not hold a grudge?
Of course, Scarlett Shaw holds grudges, but Julian Ford is even more vengeful.
On the way back to the hotel, neither of them spoke another word to each other, but Scarlett Shaw clearly felt the temperature of the car heater drop.
Not just a little, but quite a bit.
She shivered her arms, couldn’t bear the chill anymore, "President Ford, can you turn on the air conditioning?"
Julian Ford was focused on driving, and still looked ahead, "The bolder you get, the lower your intelligence?"
Scarlett Shaw: ?
Julian Ford acted as if he couldn’t be bothered to respond to her.
"..."
Scarlett Shaw dared not speak up, internally cursing Ford the Skinner once more. But within a few minutes, noticing the fog on the car windows, the anger in her heart dissipated.
The car heater had been running too long, and given the outside weather, it was indeed easy for fog to form and obstruct driving vision.
The rain seemed too heavy, the accumulating water on the road made travel almost impossible, and Julian Ford’s driving speed gradually slowed down. He scanned the street side and pulled the car over in front of a decently upscale hotel.
"Get out."
Julian Ford was sparing with his words, and having said that, he proceeded into the hotel first.
Scarlett Shaw quickly followed, and as she reached the hotel front desk, she heard Julian Ford request a room with a king-sized bed using the local language.
Scarlett Shaw instinctively asked, "President Ford, where am I staying?"
Julian Ford paused as he took the room card and eyed her, "Don’t even know your own status or what you should be doing?"
Scarlett Shaw sniffed, "You already told me to get lost, shouldn’t I just roll away smoothly?"
What’s the point of clinging on, only to be humiliated?
Julian Ford slightly smirked, "If you want a room of your own, get one yourself."
Scarlett Shaw was dumbfounded.
Her phone was still with him, and she didn’t have a penny to her name. If she had money, she would have gotten a room at the motor inn earlier instead of giving him this chance to come all this way to upset her.
Thinking of this, Scarlett Shaw followed Julian Ford into the elevator and asked, "President Ford, can I have my phone back?"
Julian Ford: "Making others pick up what you leave behind, what were you doing before?"
Already chased away by your single word!
Scarlett Shaw said nothing.
She typically wasn’t good at arguing with Julian Ford, and feeling unwell today, trying to talk back was like self-damage — a complete waste, and at no charge.
