Chapter 1894

It was getting late, and Marshall had to take his leave. Wenham asked him to stay a while longer out of courtesy and then called for a driver to take him home. Marshall politely declined, saying a colleague was coming to pick him up. Shortly after, they heard a car engine outside the house. His colleague had arrived. After bidding goodbye, Marshall got into the car. The driver was his new apprentice, a graduate who had just finished his studies half a year ago. He appeared very young but somewhat reserved. After greeting Marshall, he remained silent as he did not know what else to say. Marshall undid the button on his collar, stretched his neck, and looked at his phone. There were numerous missed calls and voicemails, mainly from his mother. Two WhatsApp messages were from Irene, a few work-related messages, and some New Year's greetings from various group chats. He opened the message from Irene. One read: [It's the New Year. Why can't you just enjoy it?] The other one said: [Y