Chapter 424

Chapter 424

Hearing footsteps, the figure turned around, revealing a blurry outline.

Lewis pinched his aching temples and, after a moment, recognized the person. "Garrett?"

"Yeah, what are you doing here?"

"Needed to sober up."

Garrett made an exaggeratedly sad face. "So you didn't come looking for me."

Lewis rolled his eyes. "With so many places in the Windsor Mansion, it’s easier to call you than search room by room."

Garrett paused, then laughed, waving his phone, which was soaked and non-functional, in front of Lewis. "You mean this?"

The cool breeze helped clear some of the alcohol haze.

Lewis stared at the now-useless phone, feeling a mix of emotions. He suspected Garrett was only pretending to be sober. In the entire Windsor family, aside from the staff, he was probably the only one who was actually clear-headed.

Garrett chuckled, knowing exactly what Lewis was thinking, thanks to their lifelong friendship.

After laughing enough, Garrett tossed the phone to Lewis. "See if Leroy can recover the data."

"You had important data and still threw it in the drink?"

Lewis held the dead phone with disdain, frowning.

"Who said I threw it?"

Garrett sighed. "Simon did it. I just turned to talk to Penelope for a second, and he managed to ruin my phone."

Lewis was silent. He suddenly understood why Garrett wanted him to get Leroy to fix the phone. It was the classic case of an uncle cleaning up his nephew's mess.

Fortunately, it wasn’t his first time doing this, so he was quite adept at it.

Handing the phone to the butler, Lewis noticed Garrett had more to say, so he asked the butler to take the staff away.

A soft click and the faint smell of smoke drifted over. A warm lighter was tossed into his hands.

Garrett asked, "Want a smoke?"

Lewis shook his head. "Aria's pregnant. I don't want to make her uncomfortable."

Garrett paused, then cursed softly, stubbing out his own cigarette. How could he have forgotten that?

"Alright, enough with the long face. What do you need?"

"I need your help."

Lewis raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Riddick needs help?"

"Cut the crap, I'm serious." Garrett's expression turned serious. "You know the situation on the coast better than I do. It's a mess. I have to go, but I don't want to spend all my time there. So I thought, why not tackle it from both the political and business angles? Clean it up in six months."

Lewis paused, looking at Garrett. "Love's power?"

Garrett laughed, admitting it. No one wants to be separated from their wife for six months. If it were Lewis, he'd probably be even more ruthless.

"Alright, I'll talk to Marcus tomorrow."

"You don't like Marcus," Garrett said, surprised and touched. He patted Lewis's shoulder. "You don't have to do this for me."

Lewis brushed off Garrett's hand, his words cold. "Who said I'm doing it for you?"

Garrett was silent for a moment, then saw Lewis slowly smile. "I just want Marcus around to watch Aria and me being happy."

Garrett shook his head. Men and their damn competitiveness.

With that settled, Garrett nodded. "If you think it's fine, then it's fine."

After all, he wouldn't be in Imperial City. If Marcus made any moves, it would be Lewis's problem.

The next morning, Garrett packed lightly and quietly boarded a plane. By the time the hungover crowd woke up, Garrett was long gone.

Simon covered his face, pretending to cry. "How could he just leave like that? So heartless..."

Lewis, sipping coffee and reading the news, couldn't help but retort. "He left to avoid you dunking his phone in water again."

Simon snapped his head up. "That's slander!"

Lewis didn't respond, just glanced at the table. The dead phone and lingering smell of alcohol told the story of what happened last night.

Faint memories surfaced, making Simon look away guiltily. Yeah, that did happen.

Lewis noted Simon's change in demeanor and snorted. He knew it.

Aria came down the stairs, seeing the two bickering early in the morning. She couldn't help but laugh. "What's going on?"

"Seeing if Garrett's phone can be saved."

Looking at the phone, Aria, who hadn't been part of the earlier conversation, gave Simon a puzzled look.

Simon was silent. What was that supposed to mean?

His intense emotions were obvious, and Aria quickly looked away, pretending nothing happened. "Leroy's handling it?"

"Yeah, Leroy's on it."

After some small talk, Aria lazily leaned on the couch, poking Lewis's stomach.

Lewis sighed, putting down his news. "What do you want?"

"I want to visit Becky."

Since the Gravel project took off, Becky, a major partner with Windsor and Russell Group, had been extremely busy. Her small studio had gained a lot of recognition and was swamped with work.

Simon sighed. "I haven't seen her in days."

His forlorn look was almost tangible, hanging in the air between Lewis and Aria.

Lewis pulled Aria closer, his tone indifferent. "You can video call her."

Simon's look grew even more pitiful. His dear girlfriend was so busy with work that even video calls and chats were rare.

"Forget it. Talking to you is pointless. I have work to do."

"Heading back to Sylvanor?"

Simon nodded without looking back. Aria was puzzled. "It's almost New Year's. Why go to Sylvanor now?"

Even if expanding business was important, it could wait a couple of weeks, right?

Simon smirked. "I found out some goods are linked to Sons of God. Can't miss this chance."