Chapter 19

The suburban villa was surrounded by nothing but trees—no other scenery to speak of. Ryan Miller was starting to regret his decision. Was he out of his mind? Just to spite Evan Miller, he’d thrown himself out into this desolate place to brood.

He walked back to his room, grabbed his pants, and rummaged through the pockets, only to realize his cigarette pack was already empty—he had no idea when that had happened.

Ryan Miller wasn’t addicted to smoking, but right now he really wanted one. So he casually threw on some clothes, planning to get cigarettes from his car.

His room was at the very end of the hallway, and the doorway was slightly recessed. If he opened the door quietly, it was hard for anyone to notice. As soon as he pulled the door open, he heard people talking outside.

“It wasn’t convenient to say this in public just now…” It was Evan Miller’s voice. “Matthew Clark, how did you and Ryan Miller meet?”

Ryan Miller stopped in his tracks and glanced toward the source of the voices.

Matthew Clark and Evan Miller were standing at the edge of the stairs, their backs to him. Ryan Miller couldn’t see their expressions.

Matthew Clark said, “I told you, he’s my junior at school.”

“I know he’s your junior. But you two never even interacted back then.” Evan Miller said, “I get it now—did Ryan Miller go looking for trouble with you? That bastard’s always like that, constantly trying to make my life difficult. He saw you’re my friend, so he wanted to take it out on you…”

“Evan Miller.” Matthew Clark cut him off. “My family may have fallen on hard times, but it’s not that bad. You’re overthinking it. And… ‘bastard’ isn’t a nice word.”

“I know, I’m just worried he’ll keep pestering you. Also, you’d better not get too close to him—it’ll lower your status. Didn’t you see how those uncles looked at you when you sat with him just now?” Evan Miller took a deep breath. “I rarely insult people like this, but those two words really do fit Ryan Miller. You should know, he’s the son of my dad and some woman outside…”

“You don’t need to tell me about your family affairs.” Matthew Clark sounded like he was smiling, his voice floating in the air, neither warm nor cold. “I’m not really interested.”

At that moment, voices drifted up from downstairs—it sounded like Gregory Miller had invited some guests to the living room for a discussion.

Matthew Clark glanced at the people downstairs. It was supposed to be break time, and he really didn’t want to socialize anymore. So he nodded, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go rest.”

“Wait.” Evan Miller called after him. “Want to play some golf together tomorrow?”

Matthew Clark smiled. “We’ll see.”

Back in his room, Matthew Clark took off his suit jacket, picked up his phone, and sent a message to his new boss.