Chapter 36 She’s Missing
Candice’s expression shifted slightly.
She suppressed the irritation in her heart and calmly asked, “Why did you lock the door? Is the question I just asked…” She paused and glanced around the room. “…a confidential matter?”
Edward quickly smiled and replied, “No, no, Miss Hale, don’t misunderstand. Director Yang didn’t mean anything by locking the door. It’s just that…well, this matter isn’t really appropriate to discuss publicly.”
“Oh? Sounds like there’s more to the story.”
“Yes. Miss Hale, there’s something you might not know. The two people you mentioned were actually among the first group of workers at this factory. They’re a married couple. Later on, they were involved in a workplace accident, which left them disabled and unable to work. At the time, in order to keep things from escalating, we negotiated compensation with them. Interestingly, the couple proposed to continue receiving a salary for fifteen years despite their condition.”
That’s quite the tale.
Candice pursed her lips and stayed silent for a few seconds. She frowned slightly and pretended to buy it. Then she followed up, playing along, “Then why didn’t you report this to headquarters?”
“Oh, office people don’t really understand how hard it is for the workers. If this had come to light, a bunch of people would’ve gotten into trouble. It’s not easy to find a job these days. Besides, whether we pay it all at once or over time–it’s all the same, really.”
“Director Duke, personally I can understand your reasoning, but officially, this is clearly against procedure. And besides, doing it this way has led the other employees to believe the place is haunted. That’s pretty disturbing, don’t you think?”
“Yes, yes, we know it’s not proper. That’s why we wanted to discuss it with you, Miss Hale. See if there’s any way to make an exception. This is just a trivial matter–we don’t want to bother the President with something so small. He’s managing a huge conglomerate; we’d really hate to add to his burdens.”
Candice acted like she was considering it.
After a while, she said, “All right, but I still need to meet this disabled couple to confirm their identities. If everything checks out, I won’t report it.”
Edward was caught off guard. “Sure. No problem.”
5 PM.
Charlie finished the summit and attended the organizer’s dinner.
He returned to the hotel around 8 PM.
There was still a video conference scheduled that night. As he rested briefly in his room and was just about to start, Jerry rushed
- in.
“Can… Ms. Hale still hasn’t come back. Her phone’s off.”
Charlie frowned deeply, his hand pausing on his laptop. “You didn’t contact her at all today?”
“No. We agreed she’d call if anything came up. I thought she returned to the hotel already.”
“Call the factory. Ask what’s going on.”
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“Yes, sir.”
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Jerry called immediately, but when he came back, he looked even more concerned. “They said she left the factory around 1 PM. She should’ve been back by now.”
Charlie’s expression darkened.
He canceled the video meeting, called the VP in charge of the factory, Nick, and rushed to the site. He also told the factory to check surveillance and start searching the area.
Jessica insisted on coming as well when she heard.
As Charlie and Jerry stepped out of the hotel, a man in a dark blue shirt with a fierce look approached with a group of others.
Charlie was checking the time and didn’t notice. Jerry did and jumped ahead to block the man–who looked like a walking threat -from getting too close.
“Mr. Jackson!”
The moment Charlie heard “Mr. Jackson,” he looked up.
The two men locked eyes in the dim evening light.
“Where’s my wife?” Kyle’s entire body was taut, like a lion intruding on another lion’s territory, brimming with aggression.
“She’s missing.”
Charlie said calmly.
He was slightly taller than Kyle, and his naturally downturned eyes remained indifferent and cold, as if looking at a dog, exuding an innate sense of superiority.
“What do you mean, missing?” Kyle clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.
Jerry, terrified that Mr. Jackson might start a fight at the hotel entrance, quickly stepped between them again.
He hurriedly explained, “Here’s the situation, Mr. Jackson. Ms. Hale applied for the position of our President’s personal secretary. This morning, she went to our subsidiary’s factory, but she hasn’t come back. We can’t reach her. We were just about to head there to investigate. That’s all there is.”
A secretary?
Charlie’s personal secretary?
That was more than enough to send Kyle’s blood pressure skyrocketing. Now add the fact that she went to the factory and never came back, and her phone couldn’t be reached–when all the pieces came together, his mind was about to explode.
Charlie’s car was already waiting. He didn’t say another word to Kyle and got in.
As Charlie’s car pulled away, Kyle’s followed closely behind.
Jerry glanced in the rearview mirror. “How the hell did Kyle find us? Jim clearly erased all her travel records.”
“If someone wants to find you badly enough, they will.”
Charlie wasn’t surprised. That wasn’t what mattered now.
What mattered was: where was Candice?
“What exactly did she find yesterday?” he asked.
Jerry finally explained what Candice had discovered the night before.
Charlie’s expression grew grim. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier this morning? If there’s really something shady going on, do
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you think they’d just let her walk away after she exposed it?”
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…Well I didn’t think it was that serious. She was just using the spection as an excuse to poke around a little. They didn’t know her real motive. Even if they did, would they really go so far as to detain her?”
“What if they already suspected something? What if she actually confronted them instead of quietly backing off?”
Considering how bold she played poker, she might actually be that gutsy.
Charlie rubbed his forehead, anxiety flickering in his eyes. Then he made a decision. “Spread the word. If there’s no news about Miss Hale within an hour, fire the entire factory and subsidiary management team.”
Jerry’s heart skipped a beat. “But what about justification? They’ll say you’re being unfair.”
Charlie’s tone was that of a cold, decisive king: “No justification. If they dare touch someone under my watch, they clearly don’t take me seriously.”
Jerry said nervously, “But we don’t have any proof yet that something happened to her at the factory.”
Charlie replied, “I trust my instincts.”
And right now, there was no other option. She came here with him he had to ensure her safety.
“Mm…!”
Candice’s hands were tied behind her back, her mouth sealed with tape. Everything was pitch black. She could hear the sound of waves nearby and smell the rotting dampness of wood.
Earlier that afternoon, at the factory, Edward told her someone would pick her up to meet the so–called disabled couple. Half an hour later, he said they were waiting at a nearby restaurant.
She figured it was broad daylight, and restauran
