THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS-Chapter 440: On A Mission

"That’s why... that’s why I’ve never allowed any woman come near me or had anything to do with the ones that were bold enough to come close and would always use you as my shield," he finished flatly.

Something exploded in Lauren’s brain and her eyebrows instantly shot up. "You... you mean you’ve been... celibate all these years?"

"Hard as it may sound, yes! Every other woman repulsed me. I’ve practically killed any form of emotion for any other woman... Except for you, of course."

"And I was doing a good job at living a carefree life, or so I thought, again, untill today ... to see her here, as your friend, so close after all these years... it threw me off, Lauren."

"When I saw her with you today, it was both nostalgic and exciting. I’ve never felt that sudden leap in my being the way I did when I confirmed she was the one."

Lauren’s expression softened, but she kept her resolve. "But you can’t just waltz back into her life, George, and expect things to be fine. It’s expected that she’s built walls, and she’s got every right to keep you out. So if you really care about her, stop messing with her emotions. Be honest with her or stay away from her."

George looked down, silent for a moment, as if absorbing her words. When he spoke again, his voice was quieter. "I have no plans of messing with her, Lauren. But seeing her again and knowing that we didn’t officially end things between us... it’s like we’re being given a second chance. And I don’t know if she has forgive me, just like I’ve forgiven her since she also didn’t do the right thing by us, but... I need to try."

Lauren studied him closely and saw a vulnerability in her cousin that she wasn’t used to. "You need to figure out if you really want to be with her or you’re doing this just to ease your own guilt, George. She has also gone through a lot from what I saw today and leading her on wouldn’t be a good thing to do if at the end be of the day, you’re not ready to settle down with her."

George met her gaze steadily. "I know. And that’s why I won’t push her. But I also won’t pretend like she’s just a stranger, although I can tell that’s what she wants."

Lauren sighed, rubbing her temple. "Well, if you really mean that, I guess I can’t stop you. But don’t expect me to pick up the pieces if this backfires. Ariel’s my friend, and I won’t let her get hurt, not even by you... again."

George nodded, understanding the unspoken warning in her words. "Do you honestly think I’d hurt her, Ren?" He asked quietly.

"I don’t expect you to."

"Thank you for believing in me, Ren. I knew I could count on you, especially in the days to come," he said with a knowing smile.

"May I remind you that ’in the days to come,’ I’ll already be a married woman living happily in my husband’s house and wouldn’t have time for the nonsense you have always subjected me to in the past?" she replied dryly.

"But it’s your friend we’re talking about here, remember?"

"My honeymoon is non-negotiable, not even for my friends," Lauren threw back heartlessly, although she had already made up her mind to do her best to get the two back together.

"We’ll see about that," George could only say as he got up to live. "Anyways, thanks for tonight," he added.

"Wait, that reminds me," Lauren said suddenly. "If you care about Ariel that much, what was that whole charade you pulled with me?"

"I was on a mission."

"Mission? What mission?"

"Do you remember the first time I came to see you at Empress Brews, you asked me how I found you?"

"Mm-hmm, you said something about finding me even if I ran to the ends of the earth."

"You never cease to amaze me with your sharp memory, Ren. That was months ago, and you still remember it word for word."

"Stop with the flattery and get to the point," Lauren snapped, though she appreciated George’s compliments.

"Killian was the one who gave me your address," George confessed.

"I see. Continue."

"He didn’t just give me your number but gave it to me on the condition that I carry out a mission for him.

"Which is?"

"It was just one mission initially, but it later extended to two and many more as I saw how things were going."

"You can start with mission number one," Lauren snapped impatiently.

"When he realized that Steffan had lost part of his memory and didn’t remember you, and seeing the way you were suffering because of that, Killian asked me to make Steffan so jealous that it will knock him out of that ridiculous amnesia and realize what an incredible woman you were, compared to that white faced witch that was always by his side."

"You can’t be serious, are you?" Lauren asked in disbelief. And here she was feeling guilty that she was using George all along.

"A hundred and one percent serious."

"So you didn’t come because you missed me and I hated to see me desperately like you made me believe. What did my brother promise you in return?"

"Does he need to promise me something to look out for my favorite cousin?"

"George!" Lauren shouted, not believing him one bit.

"Let’s say we reached an agreement over something," George said. If he told Lauren that Killian had helped him solve a major security threat to his company, it would expose Killian’s job as a top government secret service agent. The less people knew what Killian was actually into, the safer for everyone.

"I see, keeping secrets, are we?"

George knew that look and was not ready to enter Lauren’s bad book. The last one cost him two percent shares from his company, although he had intended giving her something substantial. He had to quickly come up with something.

"Alright," he groaned helplessly. "He helped me with a little issue in my company. You know he’s quite good with computers."

"So you didn’t want to reveal how incompetent your staff are," Lauren taunted as she accepted the explanation which seemed plausible. "And the second?"

"The second, was more of a follow up on the first. It was to make sure you were doing the right thing by staying by Steffan’s side. We needed to see how deep rooted your love for him was."

"And what if I had fallen for your nonsense?"

"I knew you wouldn’t. But don’t you think I deserve some accolades? I was so good that at some point, Killian thought I’d really fallen in love with you, Cuz. Though that would not have been difficult if I’d wanted to. You’re so lovable and ..."

"Goodnight already," Lauren cut in, sensing that George was about to veer into another one of his long-winded compliments. "I need as much beauty sleep as I can get these days, to look my absolute best on my wedding day."

"Good plan, just don’t sleep so much that you can’t fit into your wedding dress after those nights of beauty sleep."

"You’d better leave now before I ask Ariel never to forgive you."

"Good night, Ren," George said with a grin as he hurried out of the house.