Olivia looked at the woman with a serious expression and believed her words. Meanwhile, Nanci, hoarse from calling out, finally mustered the strength to leave the restroom, only to find the door locked from the outside. She continued to cry out, “Is anyone there? Please help…”
At this hour, everyone was busy, and no one passed by. Eventually, Nanci completely exhausted herself, her vision fading as she collapsed to the ground. In her last moment of consciousness, she called out, “Edward.”
At that moment, Edward was in a meeting when an inexplicable sense of unease washed over him. A nagging feeling told him that something was wrong with Nanci. He quickly spoke up, “Everyone, let’s rethink how we can improve things. I have something to attend to. We’ll continue this discussion next time!”
Leaving the others in confusion, he rushed out.
Issac followed closely behind, asking, “President, what’s wrong?”
“I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest. I have a feeling something has happened to Nanci. You need to help find her,” Edward replied urgently.
Issac dismissed his concern, saying, “President, we’re in our own company. Madam shouldn’t have gone missing. The security staff are trained. They wouldn’t let anyone suspicious in. Are you feeling stressed from work? I know a doctor who can help with that…”
Edward tugged at his tie, clearly irritated. “Stop with the nonsense and go find her! If anything happens to Nanci, you’ll have to deal with the consequences!”
Only then did Issac shut his mouth and rush to find Jacob and the others. Edward hurried back to his office, pulled out his phone, and called Nanci, only to hear the ringtone coming from the office itself.
He glanced around and spotted her phone on the sofa. Panic gripped him. Olivia wasn’t in the office either, and he feared something had happened to these two women.
Edward grabbed Nanci’s phone and headed to Issac’s office, stating seriously, “Nanci’s phone is in my office, and neither she nor my grandma is here. We need to check the security footage immediately. The last known sighting during my meeting was crucial.”
The three of them were stunned by the news, realizing that Nanci had truly gone missing from the company.
Maggie piped up, “Maybe Nanci went somewhere with Madam Clarkson and forgot her phone? Jacob and I will check the footage right away. Let’s not panic just yet. Issac, you should ask around to see when the last time anyone saw Nanci. Mr. Clarkson, you should wait in your office for news!”
Seeing them leave, Issac wanted to follow but Edward stopped him, saying, “I’ll go with you. You check that side. I’ll take this area.”
Issac began to loudly question the employees in the office, “Think back to when you last saw Madam. Also, who has seen her recently?” Everyone shook their heads, so he continued moving through the office, asking the same question to each person he encountered. The responses were all the same. They had only seen Nanci that morning when they arrived at the company, and after that, they had all immersed themselves in their work without paying attention to anything else.
Meanwhile, Olivia had been chatting with the woman for quite some time when she finally stood up. “My grandson should be finishing his meeting soon. Can you take me to his office? This company is quite large, and it was my granddaughter-in-law who had been guiding me. I forgot the way.”
Hearing that they were heading to the CEO’s office, the woman thought to herself that this was a perfect opportunity to make a good impression. She quickly smiled and said, “Of course! I’ll take you there, Madam Clarkson.”
“Grandma!”
As he walked, Edward suddenly heard his grandmother’s voice and rushed over, treating the woman next to Olivia as if she were invisible, not sparing her a glance.
He looked around but didn’t see the one person he was hoping to find. “Grandma, where’s Nanci? She should have been with you.”
Olivia explained, “I asked Nanci to show me around, but then she suddenly had a stomachache and went to the restroom. I was waiting for her outside the restroom when I met this kind young lady, who was worried I might tire out from standing, so she took me to a lounge to rest. When she went back to find Nanci, she told me Nanci had gone to the hospital alone. I was worried too! But the girl said Nanci asked me to wait here, or she would be upset, so I didn’t go looking for her.”
Only then did Edward take a closer look at the woman next to Olivia, who was displaying what she thought was a sweet smile. He merely nodded in acknowledgment.
At that moment, Jacob called.
“President, Madam was last seen near the restroom a few hundred meters from your current location. She hasn’t left the company. Two women were seen in that area. Maggie and I are heading over to check it out.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there too!”
Olivia asked, “What’s happening, Edward?”
“Grandma, let her take you to my office first. You wait there while I go find Nanci.”
Feeling uneasy, Olivia grabbed Edward’s arm. “Isn’t Nanci in the hospital? Where are you going to find her? Did something happen? I want to go with you!”
Edward relented and said, “Alright, let’s go together.”
He then turned to the woman and added, “You can head back now. Thank you for looking after my grandmother. I’ll make sure to speak to Issac about a raise for you.”
The woman’s thoughts were racing as she heard Edward was going to look for Nanci. Panic began to set in as she watched their retreating figures, realizing she couldn’t keep her secret much longer. She cursed herself for letting her emotions dictate her actions, forgetting that this was his company, where he would surely find everything.
Thinking quickly, she sought out Ada, hoping for a stroke of luck. If they could synchronize their stories, perhaps suspicion would not fall on her.
Ada had just finished a document when she saw the woman return. “You’re back! Are you hungry? Want to grab lunch together?”
The woman nodded, saying, “Sure.” Then she led Ada to a secluded corner. Ada was startled. “What are you doing? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t be scared. It’s just there’s something I want to talk to you. Listen carefully to what I’m about to say, okay?”
Ada looked bewildered as the woman continued, “Mrs. Clarkson is missing. It seems like she was near the restroom we just visited, so we might become suspects. We’ve all worked hard to get where we are. You don’t want your career to be ruined, right?”
Ada frowned, “But we did nothing bad, didn’t we? What’s there to fear? We were just passing by.”
Suddenly, Ada recalled the woman’s strange behavior that morning and gasped, “You didn’t do something to Mrs. Clarkson, did you? Why would you do that? She didn’t offend you!”
The woman wanted to explain, but fear had caused her to lose her composure. She suddenly fell to her knees, pleading, “Please, Ada, help me just this once! I promise I’ll never do anything this foolish again. If I lose this job, I really don’t know where else I can go. You’re my only friend…”
Ada felt torn. She had considered the woman a good friend and hadn’t expected she would do something so outrageous. She hesitated and asked, “What’s her condition? Is she hurt?”
The woman shook her head. “I don’t know anything. I only locked her in the restroom, and that’s it! I didn’t hurt her at all!”
Ada sighed, “What do you want me to do? I’ll do what I can. Whether Mr. Clarkson believes it or not is his problem. I can only help you with this.”
The woman grabbed her hand, grateful. “Thank you, Ada. I owe you big time! If you ever need anything, I’ll always be there for you! We need to stick to our story. If anyone asks, we will say we were just passing by the restroom and didn’t see anything unusual. As long as we don’t admit to anything, we should be fine. Don’t panic. Do it for me…”
Ada pulled her up, saying, “Alright, let’s go eat first. We’ll deal with whatever happens later. For now, let’s just pray she’s okay. Otherwise, this could get really complicated.”
Unbeknownst to them, someone on the stairs above had recorded every word they had just spoken.
Meanwhile, Edward was anxiously approaching the restroom, only to find the ladies’ restroom had a “Cleaning In Progress” sign on the door. He felt something was off and called out, “Nanci, are you in there? Please respond.”
No one answered. Olivia said, “We were just here, and no one is responding. Maybe she’s not in there. Should we check somewhere else?”
Edward stared at the door intently and finally stepped forward. “I believe she’s inside. Grandma, step back a bit. I’ll check first. If she’s not here, we can look elsewhere.”
Olivia stepped back, and Edward removed the mop, hurrying to open the door. What greeted him was the sight of Nanci collapsing on the floor.
Seeing this, Olivia exclaimed, “Oh no! How did Nanci end up here, lying on the ground? Edward, hurry up. Take her to the hospital!”
Edward looked at her, his heart aching, and quickly lifted Nanci into his arms. “Grandma, please wait in the office for me. I’ll take her to the hospital. Just wait for my news.”
Olivia knew her legs weren’t strong enough to keep up, so she didn’t insist on going to the hospital. She simply said, “Okay, I’ll wait for your news right here. Please be quick!”