Chapter 408 Guarding Against Norman


    Maria was surprised to see who was standing outside the door. "Lawrence? When did youe


    back?"


    Hearing her words, Ethan, who was standing by Lawrence''s side, stopped smiling. "Maria, don''t you


    see me? I even brought you a bunch of flowers."


    Maria smiled and took the gorgeous bouquet of lilies from his arms. "Of course I see you. Please


    come in," she said, stepping aside to make way for them while leaning down to inhale the fresh


    aroma of the flowers she was holding.


    The two men entered the apartment and nced around appreciatively. But as soon as Ethan saw


    the man sitting calmly on the sofa, he stiffened and strode over. "Norman Shen? Is that really you?"


    With a faint smile, Norman said, "Mr. Nan, you have great eyesight!" ''Or maybe I should call him Mr.


    Mu.''


    Ethan was rendered speechless. How did this have anything to do with his eyesight? He was not


    blind; of course he could see such arge man sitting on the sofa.


    While he was scoffing to himself, Lawrence and Norman nodded to each other in silent greeting.


    Ethan had always been a talkative man. ncing at the woman who was pouring two sses of


    water forthem, he asked, "Maria, it''s sote. Why is Norman here? The two of you were all alone.


    Does James know about this?"


    Before Maria could answer his question, Norman smirked and said, "Mr. Nan, if a man and a


    woman are alone at such ate hour, what else do you think the reason could be?"


    Ethan snorted. He didn''t believe what Norman implied at all. "Do you really think I can be tricked so


    easily?"


    Maria shrugged, handed the two men who had just arrived a ss of water each, and asked, "Do


    you guys want to y mahjong? We have four people here."


    None of the men knew how to reply to that.


    Taking the ss of water from her, Lawrence cleared his throat and changed the subject. "How are


    you? I heard that you were injured."


    "It was just a small injury, no big deal. How did you hear about it?" Maria asked, widening her eyes


    in surprise. The news had spread so quickly!


    "James called me. I happened to be in H City tonight, so I dropped by," Lawrence exined, taking


    a sip of water. In order to avoid any questionable or inappropriate situations, he had specially called


    Ethan toe with him, but he hadn''t expected that Norman would already be here.


    "Oh! Thank you." Although Maria was confused as to why James had informed Lawrence about her


    injury, she didn''t ask.


    "Do you need any help? I might be free tomorrow," Lawrence said.


    Maria looked at him seriously and said, "Well, there is one thing I really need your help with."


    "Shoot," Lawrence replied, a little taken aback. Why had she suddenly be so solemn?


    "Do you still remember that you''re a married man?"


    "Of course," Lawrence replied without thinking. How could he forget such a thing?


    Ethan snorted and chimed in, "I doubt it. His grandmother called me recently to ask if I knew where


    he was and what he was doing. Not only hasn''t he gone home for a long time, but he hasn''t stayed


    in touch with his family, either."


    Norman just hung back and watched their conversation with an amused smile.


    Maria was so annoyed that she wanted to punch Lawrence. "You already have a wife. Pay more


    attention to her instead of concerning yourself with other people''s affairs. Especially don''t interfere


    in women''s affairs. If you have so much spare time that you can offer to help me, you''d better go


    home and work on giving your grandmother a great-grandchild."


    Lawrence''s jaw dropped open in shock. Is this what he got in return foring all the way here to


    check on her?


    "Maria is right. Listen to her!" Ethan said as he picked up an apple from the fruit tray and took a bite.


    "Okay. Since you''re fine, I''ll leave now," Lawrence said tly. In fact, he hadn''t nned on going


    home tonight, but after hearing Maria''s words, he thought that he should at least go and show his


    face once.


    Ethan nced at Norman, who seemed to be rooted to the sofa, and hesitated whether to leave


    with Lawrence or not. Lawrence was the one who had given him a ride here. If he didn''t go along


    with him now, he would have to find his own way back hometer.


    But if he did leave with Lawrence, then Norman would be alone with Maria.


    Taking another bite of the apple, he decided that he couldn''t leave. Since James wasn''t in H City, he


    had to be a good friend and guard against Norman.


    When Lawrence bid Maria goodbye and walked to the door of the apartment, he found that Ethan


    didn''t get up to follow him. Raising an eyebrow at the man who was busily eating an apple, he


    asked, "Aren''t youing?"


    Ethan shook his head and casually said, "It''s my first timeing to Maria''s apartment. I really like


    the vibe here! I think I want to stay a little longer. You can go home first!"


    Of course, the others knew what his intentions were.


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    Maria, in particr, was surprised, but she didn''t say anything.


    After Lawrence left, she closed the door and returned to the living room. Before she could say


    anything, Norman stood up abruptly and said, "Well, sleep early. I''ll leave, too." Now that he had


    gotten what he hade here for, he didn''t want to linger around and be watched closely.


    "Okay," Maria agreed.


    While putting on his shoes, Norman looked at the man who was still eating the apple and calmly


    asked, "Mr. Nan, are you leaving too? I can give you a ride."


    Hearing that, Ethan froze. Once Norman left, he would be the only man left alone with Maria, which


    meant that he would be the one beaten up by James. "Yeah, I''lle with you!" he said quickly,


    jumping up to his feet. He ran to the door and put on his shoes before hurriedly following Norman


    out, barely giving Maria a nce to bid her farewell.


    Maria watched helplessly as the two men left.


    Now that they were all gone, the apartment was quiet again. She cleaned up the living room, and


    then went to the bathroom to wash up.


    When Lawrence walked out of the apartment, he inadvertently nced at a man who was walking


    towards a car with a canvas bag slung over his shoulder.


    The man''s outfit looked out of ce in this high-end gatedmunity, so Lawrence continued to


    stare at him for a few seconds. But after seeing the man drive away, he got into his own car without


    thinking too much.


    Later, when Lawrence arrived at the Lu family''s house and walked in through the door, he found the


    house dark and quiet. His family must have already retired to bed for the night.


    Without turning on the lights, he walked up to the second floor.


    After walking down the corridor to his bedroom, he pushed the door open like he always did.


    The lights were on, but there was no one in the room. However, the sound of water running could


    be heard from the bathroom.


    Standing in the middle of the bedroom, Lawrence nced around at the room that had once


    belonged solely to him. Now, there were many women''s items in the room, as well as several potted


    nts.


    There was also a neatly-folded set of women''s pajamas and panties on the bed. He nced at


    them indifferently before looking away.


    Then, he walked over to the coat hanger while taking off his coat.


    A dark woman''s coat was already hanging there, emitting a faint fragrance. He knew whose coat it


    was.


    He hung his coat next to hers. Now that he was wearing only a white T-shirt on his upper body, his


    muscles were much more visible.


    Less than two minutester, the bathroom door swung open from the inside.


    A woman wrapped in a bath towel walked out casually. When she found that there was another


    person in the bedroom, her legs almost gave out in fear.


    Fortunately, Meagan held back her scream and threw her hand out, holding the door frame of the


    bathroom for support in time.


    When her eyes met his, she felt a chill breeze on her body. It was only then that she realized that


    she waspletely naked except for the bath towel.


    "Argh!" Finally, the scream that she had struggled to hold back escaped her throat.


    Even Lawrence was a little taken aback.


    In the quiet night, Meagan''s scream was loud enough for the whole floor, if not the whole house, to


    hear. Soon, there was the sound of footsteps approaching the bedroom door.


    The footsteps belonged to Elizabeth, who had been just about to go to bed when she heard the


    scream.


    Knocking on the door, she asked anxiously, "Meagan, what''s wrong? Meagan?"


    Lawrence finally tore his eyes from his wife and turned around to open the door. The old woman


    outside the door obviously hadn''t expected to see her grandson, because she jumped back a little,


    seeming to be startled. Even after she regained herposure, her shock was reced with


    confusion. "Lawrence, when did youe back?" "Just now."


    "Where is Meagan? Why did she scream?" Elizabeth asked, trying to pop her head inside to take a


    look.


    However, Lawrence, who was standing at the doorway, quickly blocked her view, not allowing her to


    seethe bedroom, let alone Meagan.


    "Just like you, she was surprised to see me. Go and sleep, Grandma," he exined briefly.