"Nothing. I should get back to work," she said while showing a faint smile."No... stay here for a while. You haven't chosen your engagement ring yet," he was reluctant to let her leave."Ryan was right. We're at work right now. I shouldn't spend too much time in your office. I'm distracting you. You said you need to prepare a lot of contracts before. Do it then."The man looked sullen instantly, yet he concurred with her. He pointed his hand on the computer screen again, asking her for the last time to choose her engagement ring, yet Kathleen just shook her head, still firmed with her opinion of not having one. She could hear him sigh slowly before she left the office room.Kathleen went to sit on her desk again. She took out her phone having the intention to call Liam. The things Ryan said to her before bothered her mind. That thing about why Rodney Shaw was still after her even though she had been outcasted by the Campbell family. She also wondered what Ryan meant when he said that
After ending the call with Liam, Kathleen returned to her desk with more trouble filling her head. She did not know what she should do. There was nothing she could do to protect Aaron without exposing her secret identity. The only thing she could do was to let it be and just hoped everything turned out exactly as planned.Since that day, Kathleen paid extra attention to the progress of the microchip launching event in fear that there would be some people who might ruin it. She kept in contact with Liam to ask about Nora, just in case that woman tried to plan a scheme against Aeroxx, but nothing. Liam knew nothing about Nora's plan. It seemed as if Nora didn't even have her eyes on the microchip project. That caused Kathleen to slowly had her guard down. She believed that Campbell was the most significant rival of Aeroxx so when Nora seemed uninterested in the microchip project, Kathleen thought the launching event would go smoothly as planned.On Thursday of the same week, as usual, K
Ryan laughed scornfully at him. He shook his head in dismay, looking at Aaron like that man was some kind of idiot."You know what... I don't care anymore. I was concerned too much about you but ever since you're with Kathy, you disregarded a lot of things, a lot of red flags. You ignored your friends and I don't even think you wanted to focus on Aeroxx anymore. Your main vision changed, you're chasing over something uncertain. You don't even know this woman for real. You ignored my advice when I told you to make a background check on her. You trusted her too much that I'm starting to think that you're blind." "No... You just said that because you still liked Kathy. You're just jealous of me," Aaron denied his bitter accusation."Jealous?" Ryan sneered.It was hard for him to swallow but it was the truth. Deep inside, he knew he was jealous of Aaron in so many ways. He never realized it before but after Kathleen chose Aaron over him, suddenly his eyes got opened. He began to desire o
"Great... then there's no problem to do it tomorrow," Ryan said and took a sip of his drink again."Are you sure the microchip project was done?" Nora went closer to him and whispered in his ear flirtatiously as if sending a double meaning to that question. He turned his face slowly to her and stared at her coldly that the woman instantly gulped in nervousness."That kind of trick won't work on me," he said and drank his whiskey in one go."And yes, it's done. I saw the final prototype myself. It's in Aeroxx secure lab," Ryan added later, pouring another whiskey into his glass.Nora slowly scooted away from him. She smirked at the man in irritation, wondering why he acted disgusted with her. Ryan took out a cigar from his pants pocket and searched for the lighter in his suit but he couldn't find it. Out of a sudden, a hand holding a lighted lighter came close to his face, trying to help him burn the tip of his cigar."I don't know why you hated me so much. As far as I remembered, I ne
"I just wanted to talk..." Rodney said while approaching her slowly. His hand was holding a handkerchief that was sprayed with some chloroform earlier, intended to be used on her so he could make her unconscious effortlessly."There's nothing to talk about," Kathleen replied boldly, maintaining her composure and getting ready in case they attacked her."I'm really sorry, honey. But you can't have dinner with Aaron tonight," he marched to her and quickly cupped her mouth. The woman fainted in mere seconds and he quickly shoved her into a black SUV that had its windows fully tinted. There were some people who saw what happened but then Rodney's men threatened them to stay quiet. Since it was a poor neighbourhood, the people stayed put and didn't do anything for fear they might get in trouble with an unknown powerful person."I got her," Rodney told Ryan through a phone call inside the SUV. The vehicle then drove straight to the abandoned factory that Nora mentioned before.Aaron looked
"Hello," Ryan answered the call languidly."Ryan, you got to help me," Aaron said in a panic. He couldn't control the trembling sound from his voice because right now he was really tense. Cold sweat began to appear on his forehead and his eyes were still staring at all the pictures inside the tiny box."Why? What happened?" Ryan asked, pretending to be clueless."It's Kathy. I think some people kidnapped her.""Kidnapped? Are you sure?""Of course, I am. They sent me some proof. Pictures of her unconscious and tied on a chair. There's a note... A note saying that I shouldn't call the police or else they would let Kathleen starve for a day."Ryan cupped his mouth, almost laughing. 'Make her starve for a day?' He felt ticklish inside. 'What kind of crap did Rodney write on the note? That didn't sound threatening at all,' he mocked that guy internally."Why are you silent?! Aren't you worried at all?! What should I do now?" Aaron got irritated when Ryan was not responding."I am. I am. O
The next morning, Aaron and Ryan came to the company early to have a meeting with the microchip engineering team. It was Saturday, so the building was empty and only security guards were there at the entrance. After discussing for over an hour, Snyder and his team concurred with Aaron's decision."We would try our best to persuade the kidnappers for another kind of ransom instead of giving the microchip data. Giving that project would only be our last resort in case they try to harm Kathleen in any way that might endanger her life," Aaron said his final words.The others nodded in agreement, although they were a bit disappointed that this unexpected situation happened out of the blue. It was just two weeks more before the launching event, so they really wished the matter could be settled without having to sacrifice the project that they had worked on for years.Ryan just stared at Aaron in silence. He did not intend to interrupt any of his plans to rescue Kathleen. The way he saw it,
Nora chuckled wickedly and moved her mouth closer to Kathleen's left ear."You see... daddy still makes all of us have dinner together every night. It would be such a shame if your mom suddenly fall sick for no reason. She won't notice it if I put some poison in her food every day, helping her die slowly each day..." Nora whispered darkly.Kathleen gritted her teeth in resentment. She slowly turned her head to look at Nora, having her lips shaking and her nose flaring in redness. She couldn't believe that Nora would go to that extent, using her mother to threaten her. Nora totally went too far this time."Now... if you really care about your mother and wish for her to live long, you better eat, bitch..." Nora smiled maliciously and offered Kathleen the dirty meat she just picked from the ground.Nora gaped her mouth, pretending to teach Kathleen how to eat. Her eyes showed malevolent intention. Kathleen had no choice. She reluctantly concurred with Nora to make sure of her mother's sa