Chapter 141

Chapter 141
Leo's nose flared open and his hand clenched into a fist. “Mind what you say to me, Laura.”

“Or what? You think I would cower in front of you or something? Well news flash idiot; you're nothing more than a speck of dust. How pathetic.”

Suddenly, Leo grabbed on to Laura's hand in a tight grip which caused a slight sense of pain to run through her. Before anything could happen, Nathan didn't waste them in pushing Leo away with so much force that he had almost fallen to the ground.

“Don't be stupid, Leo.” Nathan said with no ounce of remorse or pity. “I told you this would only come back to backfire on you, didn't I? So you better not dare lay your fingers on her again. Or else…”

“Or else what?” Leo asked bitterly as he stared at the two of them. “What do you really think you're capable of doing to me that I haven't already done to you, you pathetic dog.”

“Why don't you try me and see.” 

The two cousins glared at each other as a heavy atmosphere filled up the space around them. As Leo intended to take a step forward, Laura stopped him in his tracks.

“Take another step and at your own penury.” Her voice had now seized from everything known of emotion. It was void and empty and so was the look in her eyes. “Also, I'd advise you to expect a letter from my team soon. Our partnership is over from the very moment.”

“What? You can't do that.” Leo's voice was hard 

“You didn't build Harding Enterprise with me, Leo. So I don't think you have the right to tell me what I can and cannot do.”

With that, she moved to pull her suitcase but Nathan beat her to it.

“It's fine, I got it.”

She passed him a small smile before turning her attention back to Leo who looked like he was about to murder someone soon.

“I'd be taking my leave now. You both can enjoy your time with each other. Especially for the sake of the baby.”

Without wasting much time, Laura began to take her leave and Nathan followed right behind her.

“Laura!” He called out to her but she didn't even glance back even once, until she was now completely out of the four walls of the mansion.

The moment the door locked behind Laura inside Nathan's car, she felt herself release a heavy breath as her eyes were tightly shut. She had gathered up a lot of her strength to achieve what had just happened a few minutes earlier. She thought she would be unable to confront him, especially while staring deeply into his eyes. But, she found the urge to push further rushed in as each and every memory of what Leo had put her through flashed before her eyes.

She took in deep breaths, trying to release the tension that formed in her shoulders and her chest. Suddenly, she felt warm hands covering hers that were on her thigh which caused her to open her eyes slowly.

“Take a few moments to take it all in.” Nathan said as he patted slowly on her hand. “You were amazing back there.”

Laura's lips broke into a smile. “You think so?” Finally, she looked back at him

Nathan nodded. “Of course. I had the chance to be at the front row seat to that kind of experience. It doesn't happen for everyone.” He said which earned him a small chuckle from her and he felt his heart soften at the sound of it. “But really, you were incredible.”

Laura shrugged. “I just did what I felt was the right thing to do.” She said as she moved to lean back into her chair. “I don't even know which of the two options would've been harder: confronting him or deciding to walk away silently without any fight.” She said as she turned her head back to him. “Honestly, I'd admit the second option is indeed tempting.”

Nathan chuckled which was accompanied by a nod. “Well, it may seem that way.” He told her. “But that way, you'd never actually heal from what's eating you up, and that would cause a hole that's going to be hard to fix later on.” He said. Then he placed his hand on top of her head and gently caressed it slowly. “You did really well.”

She didn't know why but she felt extremely good with that single statement of his and a smile brightened up her face

Then she placed her hand on top of his hand. "I don't think I would have done it if you weren't here. Thank you."

The two of them shared a brief moment of silence, just listening to each of their breaths that filled up the car space and their eyes exchanging and receiving signals that their mouths could not.  Finally, Nathan withdrew his hand away to start the car.

"What do you say about having lunch before heading back home?" He asked

"That sounds great." She said with a nod. "But where are we going?"

Nathan shrugged as he started the car. "Like I said, it's all you, Laura. Just say the word and we'll be there in probably less than 40 minutes unless you decide to eat out of town."

Laura's lips twisted as if she was thinking about something. "You know, that's not actually a bad idea." She said with a wide smile. "The drinks out of town are more relaxing than the ones they serve here. Especially after a break up situation."

Nathan chucked as the engine roared. "Alright, should we do that?"

"Is it alright with you?"

"If you're game, then so am I."

Laura's smile widened before pulling on her seat belt. "I guess we have a long gone drive ahead of us."

With that, the car went in reverse before driving away from there and Laura felt herself leaving everything having to do with Leo behind her.

Hours later, Laura had already gulped down her third bottle in a row, but she could still feel her consciousness intact, and Nathan found that part of her quite interesting. Their afternoon lunch had extended towards the time of evening, and none of the two people seemed to mind.

"To be frank, I really didn't know you drank liquor as hard as this." Nathan said as she smiled at her.

Laura on the other hand scoffed.  "What were you thinking then? That I only drank wine?"

Nathan nodded. "You can say that. I just thought that since you work so much and you can't afford to have some much harder liquor in your system."

Laura smiled as she nodded.  "Well, you're not wrong on that note." She said, taking another sip of the harsh liquor which slid down her throat and burned her throat on its way down. "You know,  things only taste better after you've left a difficult situation." She placed the cup back down. "The truth is...I never actually used to drink this,”

Nathan placed his glass down and listened to her as she spoke.

"My first time drinking things like this was after my divorce with Leo." She admitted. "My brother insisted I had a try and I did. It was harsh at first,very hard I must," Her words were accompanied with a chuckle. "But I got used to it eventually. Although I rarely take it due to the nature of my business."

Nathan stayed silent as she spoke.  He had just come to realize how much he actually enjoyed listening to her whenever she spoke about herself or something regarding her. If it were up to him, he wouldn't mind spending the whole evening listening to her.

Then he sat up straight in his seat. "I have a question I've been really curious about." Nathan said

She lifted her gaze up to him. "About me?" He nodded.  "Alright. What's the curiosity about? " She tilted her head to the side.

Nathan exhaled softly, like he was weighing his words, hoping not to ask the wrong question. "Why didn't you reveal yourself as Harding in the first place?" He laid the question out and Laura stared at him. "You could have just told everyone that you were from such a wealthy family and probably would have earned their favor. But why didn't you?”

Laura smiled at his question before picking up her bottle. "This question deserves a drink for you." She said as she poured a little of the bottle content I to Nathan's cup which earned her a chuckle. Finally placing it down, she pushed the cup towards him.

"Are you trying to get me drunk so I won't remember this night?" He said jokingly as he took the cup.

Laura smiled before shaking her head. "Quite the opposite actually." She heaved a deep breath. "So where do I start from..."