Tempted Trapped and Too Late to Run novel Chapter 849

Scarlette started worrying the moment Carrie began talking—what if it was someone she knew? Out of everyone in her world, the only people that close to the government were the Warrens.

She never imagined it would actually be Richard. And he wasn’t just anybody—he was Nicholas’s close friend. Today was about to get complicated.

She took a step back, forcing herself to collect her thoughts.

Richard walked in, exchanged a few polite words with Carrie, and then looked right at Scarlette, giving her a slight nod.

Carrie looked confused. “You two know each other?”

Then it clicked for her—the connection between the Greenard family and the Warrens. Scarlette had been gone for years, but she’d grown up with the Greenards. It wasn’t that strange for her to know Richard.

Carrie tapped her own forehead, laughing at herself. “Honestly, my memory! Colin, you and Youqi must get along, right? Come on, everyone, let’s sit.”

Scarlette, who’d been holding it together until now, suddenly felt anxious.

Under the table, Morgan slipped his hand into hers and whispered, “Are you okay?”

She shook her head, reminding herself that Richard wasn’t the type to gossip. Even if he saw her here, he wouldn’t run off to tell Nicholas.

She let out a quiet breath and tried to focus on the people around her.

Carrie had been waiting for Richard—her VIP guest—so once he arrived, everyone moved to the dining table.

Carrie went over some of the key points about their upcoming collaboration.

Richard’s eyes lingered on Scarlette for just a heartbeat before he turned all his attention to Carrie, their conversation calm and businesslike.

Finally, Carrie raised her teacup. “Colin, you’re young, but you really know your stuff. No wonder the higher-ups trust you so much. To hand over everything to you—that’s impressive.”

Richard had just taken over all the overseas operations. Now, any ship passing through those waters had to go through him. It was a crazy amount of power and money.

If he didn’t have the full trust of the higher-ups, there was no way he could have pulled that off. Plenty of people were jealous.

But he never got involved in other people’s personal business. He gave a few polite compliments, then smoothly changed the subject.

With the work talk done, Carrie started chatting about more personal things.

“Youqi, you and Colin have run into each other quite a few times, right?”

Scarlette glanced at Richard. They’d met several times, but never really talked.

Out of that group, Richard and Dylan were the hardest to approach.

Dylan was all ice—he looked at everyone like they were just part of the scenery.

Richard was the opposite: impossible to figure out, always smiling, but the smile never changed, no matter who he was with.

There was always something dangerous behind that grin—a smile with sharp edges. No one dared get too close.