Phone

Chapter 38

Today, I had to go to the office. No matter what, I needed to fix the company’s situation, which had been a mess since my accident.

Derrick and Bradley had wanted to take over the company. Because of them, the company’s situation became chaotic, and our stock prices started declining. Somehow, a lot of company money ended up in Bradley’s account. He even deceived the financial manager.

Bradley was still missing. No one knew where he was. The police were still looking for him.

“Good morning, Ms. Johnson.”

“Welcome back, Ms. Johnson.”

“It’s good to see you well, Ms. Johnson.”

The employees were surprised to see me. One by one, they greeted me warmly.

Today, I gathered all the managers for a meeting. We must start hard work immediately if we did not want the company to go bankrupt.

This company was the only legacy from my family. I had to protect and grow it. It was a responsibility I had accepted.

I tried contacting Albert several times, but his phone was always unreachable. I really needed him at that moment. I sent him a message, hoping he would read it someday.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!”

“Ms. Johnson, I need to fix the air conditioning in this room.” John, the security guard, came in with a

technician.

“I have a lot of work to do, John,” I said.

But the air conditioning in my room indeed wasn’t working very well.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to leave the room. Please continue your work,” John said.

“Alright. Go ahead, start the work!” I said to the technician and continued with my piled–up tasks.

The technician, who was wearing a hat and glasses, nodded..

“Ma’am, I’m going for lunch,” John suddenly excused himself. I didn’t realize it was already lunchtime. I had better order some food online. Ugh. Bradley usually took care of these for me. He was very reliable in that way. I missed having him around.

If he had expressed his desires earlier, I might have promoted him to a higher position in the company. I would have also given him a scholarship to further his education in order to support his new position.

However it was too late now. Bradley had chosen the wrong path. He had committed crimes to achieve his goals.

The technician was still busy with his work.

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“If you want to have lunch, go ahead and take a break,” I suggested.

The technician did not answer. He suddenly walked toward the door… and locked it. What did he want?

“Hey, what are you doing? Why did you lock the door?” exclaimed in worry.

Still facing the door, the man slowly removed his hat and glasses.

I gasped when the man turned around.

“Ah!”

The man started approaching me with a sinister smile. I prayed to God once more to help me.

I took a few steps back. I couldn’t believe this man was pretending to be a technician. How did John get fooled too? Or was the security guard on it with him?

“Where do you think you’re going? Why are you so scared of me now?” he said with that same sinister

smile.

“Bradley, why would you want to kill me? Why did you destroy our long–standing friendship?” My voice trembled with fear. I did not know why Bradley looked so terrifying now. His expression clearly showed anger and hatred.

“To hell with friendship! Only you and Albert enjoyed that friendship. I was just an accessory to you. I was only ever included when you needed me,” Bradley shouted.

“That’s not true. Albert and I never meant it that way. You are my best friend, Brad.”

Bam!

I jumped when Bradley slammed the table hard.

“Shut up! You just used me all this time. You never cared about what I wanted. You always belittled me.”

For a moment, he fell silent. Then he sat on the floor with his knees up. He spoke in a quieter voice. “Sarah, you never understood my feelings. You married a loser like Derrick. After the divorce, you still didn’t care about all the attention I gave you. Instead, you got closer to Albert.”

“I–I never thought you had such feelings, Brad. I’m sorry… I’m so sorry,” I said.

“I’ve always seen you as more than just a friend.”

I couldn’t hold back my tears. Bradley’s confession made me feel so guilty.

“If you had been honest with me from the beginning, maybe none of this would have happened, Bradley,” I said in tears.

Suddenly, I heard someone knocking loudly on the door. This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“Ms. Johnson… Ms. Johnson! Are you okay there?”

It sounded like John. Maybe he didn’t know the technician was Bradley.

Bradley seemed to panic. He quickly stood up and retrieved something from his pocket.

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“Ahhh!” I gasped when Bradley suddenly pointed a gun at me.

“Bradley, please think this through. What are you doing? Please don’t!” My body trembled

“Shut up!

“Tell everyone outside not to get in my way. Don’t even think about calling the police if you don’t want to die here!”

In all our years of friendship, I had never seen Bradley this aggressive.

Still under the threat of the gun, I slowly called John with the office phone. Stuttering, I relayed Bradley’s orders.

“Move!” Bradley roughly pushed me from behind. Trembling, I slowly walked ahead of him, while he followed, still pointing the gun at my head.

I carefully opened the door. My heart was racing. Would I make it out alive? What if Bradley suddenly shot me?

Gillian. My daughter’s sweet face kept flashing in my mind. I prayed so hard that God would protect me. When the door opened, I was surprised to find the office empty. Where did everyone go? What were they planning?

“Move! You’re so slow,” Bradley shouted, pushing me from behind.

“Ouch!” Still weak, I stumbled to the floor. Pain surged through my head again.

“Hey, get up!” Bradley shouted again.

Unsteadily, I tried to stand up.

“You’re wasting my time. Move faster, you idiot!” Bradley kept cursing and pushing me to walk faster.

My vision blurred as I approached the elevator. But Bradley kept a tight grip on my arm to keep me standing.

“Brad, my head hurts so much,” I murmured.

“Stop pretending to be sick. Move! If you stop, I’ll shoot you!” he threatened again.

When the elevator door opened, I couldn’t take it anymore. My body was weak, and my head hurt so much.

Bang! Bang!

Suddenly, I heard gunshots. What was going on?

Everything went black. I didn’t know what happened next.