The Burkhart Group announced bankruptcy.
At first, Mrs. Protich thought she was seeing things, but her ears were fine. The TV host was detailing the entire incident.
Mrs. Protich was confused. How could the Burkhart Group go bankrupt so suddenly? Just recently, Liam Burkhart had been so arrogant, even daring to kidnap someone in broad daylight. After being beaten and hospitalized with severe injuries, Mrs. Protich had been worried that Liam would retaliate against Winifred Dawson.
Winifred Dawson had gone on a trip, but Mrs. Protich couldn’t relax, fearing that Liam might find out and abduct Winifred again.
Every day, Winifred sent her a text message at exactly seven in the evening to let her know she was safe. Initially, she also called, and when Mrs. Protich replied to her texts, Winifred would respond. Recently, however, Winifred hadn’t been calling or replying to texts, which worried Mrs. Protich. But as long as she received that daily text from Winifred, she felt reassured that everything was fine.
When the news about the Burkhart family broke, Mrs. Protich’s first reaction was shock, followed by a feeling of schadenfreude. She held the remote and saw Liam Burkhart’s face flash on the screen.
In just half a month, Liam had changed drastically. When he had threatened Winifred Dawson in public, he looked full of energy and malice. Now, he resembled a sickly person on the brink of death, pale and dejected.
With the Burkhart family in trouble, Mrs. Protich felt relieved for Winifred Dawson. She no longer feared Liam’s retaliation or threats.
Liam had relied on his family’s wealth and power to act arrogantly. Without those resources, he wouldn’t dare to do anything anymore.
Feeling elated, Mrs. Protich hummed a tune as she thought about calling Winifred Dawson to share the good news.
But when she dialed the number, her smile froze as she heard the cold system message: “Sorry, the user you are trying to reach is busy. Please try again later…”
User is busy? Was it a signal issue on Winifred’s end?
Winifred had mentioned encountering poor signal areas during her travels. Though Mrs. Protich was prepared for this possibility, she still felt uneasy when her calls went unanswered.
She clutched her chest and reassured herself that nothing bad would happen.
At seven in the evening, as usual, Winifred sent her a message saying she was safe. Smiling as she read it word by word, Mrs. Protich tried calling again, hoping it would go through since Winifred had just texted her.
But once more, she heard the system message: “Sorry, the user you are trying to reach is busy…”
A sudden crack startled Mrs. Protich as she saw a glass cup on the coffee table split in two. Alarmed by what seemed like a bad omen, she cleaned up the broken glass and tried calling again but couldn’t get through.
Growing anxious, Mrs. Protich paced around the house with her hands clasped together. She didn’t want to think something bad had happened to Winifred but couldn’t shake off her worry.
Deciding it might be a phone issue, she planned to visit a mobile store for help but was interrupted by a call from her daughter.
“Lily Thompson? What’s up?”
“Mom, didn’t you say you stayed at a seaside house before? Is it still available? The owner left; can I go there?”
Winifred had told Mrs. Protich that if she got bored, she could stay at the seaside house and even bring her daughter along. Now that Lily wanted to visit during her summer break, it was possible but not convenient since Mrs. Protich needed to fix her phone.
“Lily Thompson, I’m busy right now. You can go tomorrow.”
“No way! I promised my friends I’d take them there today to show off.”
Mrs. Protich frowned: “Lily Thompson, that house isn’t ours; it’s my boss’s. She allowed us to stay for a few days but didn’t say you could bring others along.”
“She won’t know since she’s gone! We’ll just look around without touching anything.”
Her daughter’s vanity frustrated Mrs. Protich: “I said no!”
“Mom! Do you want me to embarrass myself in front of everyone?”
“I have things to do now and can’t discuss this further. Remember what I’ve taught you about self-respect and not coveting what’s not yours.”
“Mom-” Lily’s voice cracked with frustration before hanging up abruptly.
Her daughter’s attitude made Mrs. Protich wish Winifred Dawson were there with her.