Chapter 14
A female officer was tapping on the car window, looking worried as she stared at Amelia, who was doubled over clutching her stomach, cold sweat beading on her forehead.]]
“Ma’am? Ma’am, are you okay? What’s wrong?” The officer was getting frantic, urgently gesturing to her colleagues.
Amelia knew what this was. The baby. She’d already been showing signs of threatened miscarriage.
Between jumping around the parking garage to avoid that car, sprinting to her vehicle, and getting rammed by the attacker…]
Was she losing the baby? But she wasn’t ready for this. She wasn’t prepared. Suddenly, the thought of losing this child terrified her.
“Ma’am! Ma’am, can you hear me? Open the door!“]
The officer’s voice seemed to come from far away. Amelia’s vision was going black. She fought through the pain to unlock her door, then everything went dark.
Meanwhile, Harrison Industries was lit up like a Christmas tree.[]
Nathan was reviewing a project proposal in the main conference room. He’d been in back–to–back meetings all day, making final decisions on dozens of issues. From afternoon until now, he’d been grinding through paperwork, his expression growing darker by the hour.]
In the massive boardroom, nobody dared make a sound.[]
Nathan studied the report in front of him, his left hand tapping rhythmically on the table.]
“Who’s the project manager on this?” His voice was perfectly calm, which somehow made it more terrifying.[]
“That… that would be me, Mr. Harrison.” A middle–aged man stood up, sweating profusely.[]
Nathan glanced at him coldly. “Explain.“[
The guy wiped more sweat away. “Well, uh… see, what happened was…” He rambled for several minutes without actually explaining anything, making excuses, blaming external factors. Bottom line: he’d fucked up spectacularly.
“Enough.”
Nathan cut him off. The manager started trembling, eyes wide with terror.[]
“Mr. Harrison, please, just give me one more chance! I can fix this!“[]
Nathan’s frown deepened. His assistant Eddie Wang immediately understood.[]
“Mr. Chen,” Eddie said sharply, “you promised the moon when you pitched this project. Now you want to blame everyone else for your failure?”
“But I-” Chen tried to protest.]
“No more excuses!” Eddie snapped. “This project had Harrison Industries backing and unlimited resources. You still couldn’t deliver. What’s your excuse for that?”
Nathan slid a thick folder across the table.
“Embezzlement on this scale, for such a small project?” Nathan’s voice was ice–cold.[]
Chen’s face went white as he saw the evidence. He started stuttering, but Eddie was already waving security over.[]
The conference room doors opened and Harrison Industries‘ internal investigators marched in to escort Chen out.[]
“Mr. Harrison, please! I’m sorry! Please don’t do this…“]
1300
Chapter 14
As Chen’s desperate pleas faded down the hallway, the remaining executives sat in terrified silence. Nathan’s cold stare swept the room–the message was loud and clear.
“Meeting adjourned.”
Nathan strode out, Eddie following him back to the executive office. Nathan collapsed into his chair, rubbing his temples while Eddie ordered coffee from the assistants.
Nathan closed his eyes, mentally exhausted. He understood that a company Harrison Industries‘ size would inevitably have internal problems–that was just business reality. But for some reason, he’d been feeling especially drained these past few days.[]
Footsteps approached, and Nathan sensed someone placing a cup on his desk.
“Nathan, drink some water. It’s late–you need to take care of yourself. I added some jasmine tea for relaxation.“[]
For a split second, Nathan could swear he heard a familiar voice. But when he opened his eyes, it was just Eddie bowing respectfully.]
Looking down, he saw a cup of black coffee on his desk. Nathan frowned.[]
Not in the mood for coffee, sir?” Eddie noticed his reaction.]
Nathan wasn’t sure what he was feeling. The emotions were too complicated to sort through.]
“Usually Mrs. Harrison brings you herbal tea,” Eddie said apologetically. “I couldn’t find the blend she uses, and you looked tired, so…”
.“0
Right. Usually Amelia was here with him. Nathan closed his eyes, feeling his headache worsen.
“Should I call Mrs. Harrison to ask about the tea?” Eddie suggested cautiously.
“No need.“]]
Eddie nodded, and the office fell silent again. Dead quiet.]]
Nathan had never noticed how eerily quiet the office was. The silence was getting under his skin.[]
“What’s the deal with this month’s workload?” Nathan broke the silence.[]
“Are you referring to the volume of issues requiring your attention, sir?“]]
. “Yeah.”
“Well,” Eddie said quietly, “usually smaller matters–like today’s embezzlement situation–would be handled by Mrs. Harrison first. Only the major decisions would reach your desk, so…”
Nathan opened his eyes and looked at Eddie, who immediately understood his meaning and said awkwardly, “My apologies, sir. I should have managed things better.”
Nathan didn’t blame him, just shook his head.]
“Where’s the Wang Industries contract?“]
Eddie’s head dropped lower. “Sorry, Mr. Harrison. The team hasn’t finished reviewing it yet.”
Nathan sighed and waved Eddie away. His assistant practically fled the office in relief.[]
Nathan stared at the closed door. He knew the divorce filing had been sudden–many of Amelia’s responsibilities hadn’t been properly transitioned yet.]
The office was dead quiet except for the soft ticking of the wall clock. The air smelled of bitter coffee, and the rising steam made Nathan’s headache worse.
He picked up his phone and checked the text he’d sent Amelia about coming to family dinner this weekend. Still no response.[]
Remembering how flatly she’d refused when he’d called earlier–was she still throwing a tantrum?
Chapter 14
Just as Nathan was staring at his phone, someone knocked on the office door. He looked up to see Vivian’s smiling face.
“Hey there,” Vivian said cheerfully as she walked in. “Thought I’d keep you company.“[]
Nathan pocketed his phone and nodded. Vivian discreetly glanced at his phone, then sat down looking troubled.]
“What’s wrong?” Nathan noticed her mood shift.
“Did Amelia contact you today?” Vivian asked hesitantly.
Nathan looked at her, waiting for more.
“I posted a video this afternoon announcing my ‘Voice of Heaven‘ appearance.” Vivian watched his expression carefully. “I just wanted to… walk in her footsteps for a little while. But some of the online comments got pretty harsh…“[]
She hesitated, looking uncomfortable. “I was wondering if she came after you about it?”
Nathan frowned. This afternoon? He’d been in meetings all day, hadn’t checked social media at all.[]
He glanced at the clock–9:15 PM.]
“There’s something else…” Vivian paused. “When I left the studio at 8:45, I felt like someone was following me. Just now when I parked downstairs, I realized paparazzi have been tracking me since I left work.”
Vivian pulled out her phone and handed it to Nathan. The screen showed photos of her journey from her floral studio to Harrison Industries.]
The caption read: #VivianHope Frequenting HarrisonBuilding #Public Relationship]
The comments below were full of people mocking Amelia’s impending divorce.
“I’m so sorry, Nathan. I didn’t mean for this to happen.“[
Nathan waved it off. Once the cooling–off period ended, he and Vivian would go public anyway.]]
But Amelia…
Suddenly, Nathan’s phone started buzzing frantically. The clock on the wall showed 9:20 PM.]
Nathan picked up his phone and saw “Amelia” flashing on the screen.[]
