Abbott strode into the office, followed closely by Dolores. Matthew was engaged in a phone conversation, gesturing for them to remain quiet as they entered.
Although Dolores was anxious to know what had transpired, she understood the need to be patient for now.
After several minutes, Matthew hung up the phone and motioned for Dolores to come forward. “Come here.”
Dolores walked over to the desk, wiping her sweaty palms on her clothes.
“Give me your phone,” Matthew requested, reaching out to her.
“What?” Dolores’ eyes widened. Wasn’t he going to explain what had happened? Why did he want her phone?
Confusion overwhelmed Dolores. What was going on?
Abbott stood silently by the window, gazing at the sky while silently praying, “God, Helen White, please come back as soon as possible. If you’re not here soon, I’m afraid Dolores Flores will capture Mr. Nelson’s attention.”
Matthew raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with annoyance. “Don’t you want to give it to me?”
“No, no, I’m sorry,” Dolores hastily retrieved her phone from her bag and handed it to Matthew. “It’s not locked.”
Matthew took the phone, unlocked it, and opened the contacts. He entered his own phone number, staring at the screen for a moment before swiftly typing “Mr. Nelson” into the name column. “Dolores always addressed me in this way, after all.” He dialed the number he had just saved, and his phone on the desk lit up and vibrated.
Dolores glanced between Abbott and Matthew, still trying to grasp their intentions. “What the hell just happened? Hey, say something!” Dolores couldn’t stand being ignored.
Matthew handed the phone back to her. “This way, I can reach you whenever I need to in the future.”
When he had tried to contact Dolores that afternoon, he was surprised to realize that he didn’t have her phone number. Even more surprising was the unexplainable sense of unhappiness it had caused him.
Dolores didn’t take the phone. She stared at Matthew, silently questioning: So, it seemed Abbott was so eager to find me, and it turns out Matthew just wanted my phone number?
Matthew placed the phone on the desk and let out a heavy sigh. “Please, prepare yourself.”
Before Dolores could comprehend what Matthew meant, the large videoconferencing screen in front of her illuminated, and a high-definition video began playing immediately.
A pregnant woman stood on the top floor of the Flores Group office building, seemingly contemplating jumping.
Police vehicles, reporters, and a crowd of onlookers gathered below, creating chaos. Screams and expressions of concern echoed through the video. Dolores could feel the intensity of the situation through the screen.
She turned to Abbott, her voice trembling. “What… what’s happening?”
“That woman purchased a house from your father’s company. Like many others, an accident occurred during the building’s construction, causing it to collapse. Naturally, she no longer wants the house. However, according to the contract, once a house is purchased, it cannot be returned. Now, she’s standing on the top floor, threatening suicide to force your father to refund her money.”
Dolores gasped, staggering back. “Is she really going to jump from the building?”
Money may be important, but life was even more precious. Especially considering she was pregnant-her choices now extended beyond her own life.
“Who knows? Perhaps it’s just an attempt to pressure your father into refunding the money. But you know your father. If he returns her money, and if other buyers’ resort to similar tactics, using potential suicide as leverage, he knows the company won’t be able to raise enough funds, given its current condition, to refund them all,” Abbott stated coldly, making it clear it wasn’t his concern.
Dolores felt the urge to intervene but was unsure of what to do. “Can we do anything to help?”
Abbott stared at her icily. “NO!”
The situation had reached a critical point, and the Flores Group was teetering on the brink. No one would be willing to invest in a company plagued by recurring collapses. If the company didn’t take swift action to resolve the situation and restore its reputation, bankruptcy would be inevitable, and the judicial department would intervene, auctioning off the company’s assets. It was a dire predicament.
“I have to go there right away,” Dolores declared, rushing out of the office.
Matthew furrowed his brow and stood up, following Dolores.
“Abbott, gather some men.”
The scene would be chaotic, and Matthew didn’t want Dolores to get hurt due to her haste and lack of preparation.
Before Abbott had a chance to respond, Matthew exited the room. Abbott, left alone, felt a mix of confusion and anger. Was the person who had just left the office really the composed and arrogant Matthew Nelson? Had he truly not cared much about Helen White?
Abbott grew restless at the thought of Dolores being unfit to be Matthew’s partner. He realized he needed to warn Matthew and address the situation, in case irreparable damage occurred in the future.
Outside the WY Group office building, Dolores anxiously awaited a taxi, bouncing on her feet.
Matthew pulled up in his car, parking at the curb next to her. “Let me give you a ride.”
Dolores quickly glanced at him, then opened the door and got in without hesitation. “We need to go to the bank first.”
Dolores intended to withdraw her savings. Originally, she had planned to use the money to buy a house, but now she knew she had no other choice but to use it to save the life of the woman and her baby.
“How many people do you think you can save? If this woman receives money, more buyers will attempt the same approach. Can you handle it?” Matthew couldn’t fathom Dolores’ reasoning.
There were police officers present at the scene, and to Matthew, it seemed unlikely that the woman truly intended to jump from the building. He assumed she was using this method to pressure Randolph into returning the money.
“Is life less important than money in the eyes of businesspeople like you? That woman is pregnant, and if she dies, her child will die too. This is all my father’s fault, and whether I like it or not, I am his daughter…” Dolores trembled, her lips forming a helpless smile. “I know I can’t save him. But I don’t want to be accountable for his sins either.”
Matthew fixed his gaze on Dolores’ cheek. In the end, she showed compassion toward Randolph.
Despite Randolph’s abandonment and the pain, he had caused her, Dolores made the selfless decision to help him. It may have seemed irrational, but Matthew couldn’t help but be touched by her gesture.
“I’ll ask Abbott to bring the money there,” Matthew said, shifting the car into gear and simultaneously pressing the Bluetooth button to call Abbott. He requested that around two hundred thousand dollars be brought to the scene.
Dolores was surprised by Matthew’s willingness to assist. “Oh… Thank you. I’ll withdraw my funds when we return and repay you.”
Matthew kept his gaze fixed on the road ahead. “We’re a couple now, so you don’t need to be so formal with me.”
Dolores turned to look at him, but his emotions were well concealed, leaving her unable to discern anything from his expression. She slowly turned away and focused on the road once more.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the Flores Group. Though still some distance from the scene, Dolores could see a throng of people gathered.
Matthew parked the car by the curb.
“If you don’t return my money, I’ll jump. I swear I will,” the pregnant woman on the edge of the rooftop exclaimed, holding a flag with the words ‘RETURN MY MONEY’ written on it as she confronted the rescue personnel.
Even from the ground, it was clear that she was emotionally distraught. “I’ve used up all the money my parents saved to buy this house. And now, it’s revealed to be a faulty building that only collapses. I won’t accept this! Return the money I worked so hard for! Give me back my money!”
As the pregnant woman continued her rooftop protest, voices from the crowd joined in.
The woman’s mother-in-law wailed at the entrance of the Flores Group, desperately trying to reach her daughter-in-law. “Even if we lose the money, we can always earn it again.”
The woman cherished her grandchild deeply, her voice breaking from hours of crying.
But the pregnant woman turned a deaf ear to her mother-in-law’s words. Relying on the presence of her unborn child, she intended to force Randolph to refund her money.
Dolores pushed her way through the crowd, determined to make a difference. Matthew furrowed his brow, observing her petite figure navigate through the crowd, and then reluctantly followed suit.
Matthew cleared a path for Dolores, shielding her almost as if he were protecting her.
The rescue personnel, equipped with a loudspeaker, shouted up at the woman. “Come down first. We can negotiate, even regarding the money.”
The woman’s position on the rooftop made it difficult for the rescue personnel to physically intervene. Thus, their best option was to engage in negotiations while simultaneously exploring alternative methods of rescue.
Dolores approached the person holding the loudspeaker. “Can I try talking to her?”
The rescue personnel hesitated to hand the loudspeaker to a stranger. Who would be held accountable if a random person inadvertently encouraged the pregnant woman to jump?
“It’s useless to say anything else if you won’t return the money,” the woman declared resolutely.
After two hours of inactivity, the woman was drenched in sweat from the scorching sun, yet she remained unyielding.
“Please, trust me. I won’t provoke her,” Dolores pleaded.
The rescue personnel deliberated for a moment before reluctantly handing the loudspeaker to Dolores.
Just as Dolores grabbed the loudspeaker to inform the woman that she would refund her money, a piercing scream rent the air.