Abbott stood silently at the window, looking at the sky while praying in his heart, ‘god, Helen White, please come back as soon as possible. If you’re not here soon, I’m afraid Loredana Flores will snatch Mr. Mendelsohn.’
Cormac raised his brows and asked in an unhappy tone. “You don’t want to give it to me?”
“No, no, sorry,” Loredana said, hurriedly getting her phone out of her bag and handing it to Cormac. “It’s not locked.”
Cormac took the phone and unlocked the phone. He then opened the contacts and entered his phone number. Staring at the screen for a long moment, he abruptly moved his fingers to type ‘Mr. Mendelsohn’
into the name column. ‘Loredana always addressed him in this way, after all.’ He then dialed the number he saved and his phone sitting on his desk lit up and vibrated.
Loredana shifted her gaze between Abbott and Cormac, still trying to understand what they were doing.
“What the hell just happened? Hey, say something!” Loredana hated being ignored.
Cormac handed the phone back to her. “This is so I can find you any time I need to in the future.”
When he tried to contact Loredana that afternoon, it shocked him to discover he didn’t have her phone number. The worst part was that he was extremely and inexplicably unhappy to discover that.
Loredana didn’t take the phone. She stared at him as if she was questioning: So Abbott was so eager to find me, and it turns out to be because Cormac wanted my phone number?
Cormac put the phone on the desk and sighed heavily. “Please, prepare yourself.”
Before Loredana understood what Cormac meant, the large screen in front of her Cormac used for videoconferencing lit up and a high-definition video started immediately.
A pregnant woman was standing on the top floor of the Flores Group office building, looking as if she wanted to jump.
Police vehicles, reporters, and dozens of onlookers stood below, creating a large crowd. Screams and cries of concern came across the video. Loredana could feel the chaos of the scene through the screen.
She turned stiffly to look at Abbott. “What… what’s going on?”
“That woman bought a house from your father’s company. Of course, like many others, there was an accident during the construction of the building and the whole thing collapsed. Naturally, she doesn’t want the house anymore but, according to the contract, once you buy the house it cannot be returned.
So, now she’s standing on the top floor and is planning to commit suicide, trying to force your dad to return her money.”
Loredana gasped and staggered back. “She… Is she really going to jump from the building?”
Even if money was imperative, life was far more important. Not to mention that she was clearly pregnant. Her choices were no longer just about her life.
“Who knows? Perhaps this is just an attempt to force your dad to return the money. However, you also know how your father is. If he returns her money, and if the other buyers follow suit and use potential suicide to threaten him, he knows he can’t raise enough money based on his company’s condition to refund all of them,” Abbott said coldly, making it clear it was none of his business.
Loredana wanted to do something but didn’t know what. “Is there anything we can do to help?”
Abbott stared at her coldly. “NO!”
The situation had deteriorated to the present state and the Flores Group was approaching the point of no return. No one would be willing to buy a building constructed by the company with chronic collapsing incidents. If the company didn’t do anything soon to resolve the situation and repair its reputation, the
Flores Group would have to announce bankruptcy and the judicial department would intervene and auction the company’s assets. It was a strong case.
“I have to get over there, now,” Loredana said as she ran out of the office.
Cormac knitted his brow and stood up to follow Loredana.
“Abbott, bring some men.”
The scene would be a mess, and Cormac didn’t want Loredana to get hurt because of her haste and lack of preparation.
Before Abbot had a chance to respond, Cormac left the room. Abbott, who was the only one left, was confused and enraged by the whole scene that had played out in front of him. Was the person who left the office really the graceful and arrogant Cormac Mendelsohn? He hadn’t cared that much about Helen
White, right?
Abbott grew agitated when he thought about Loredana not being qualified to be Cormac’s lover. He realized he needed to warn Cormac and bring up the situation to him in case something irreparable happened in the future.
Outside the office building of WY Group, Loredana was waiting for a cab bouncing from foot to foot.
Cormac, who had retrieved his car, pulled up to the curb next to her. “Let me give you a ride.”
Loredana gave him a quick glance, then pulled open the door and climbed in without hesitation. “We need to head to the bank first.”
Loredana wished to withdraw her savings. Originally, she planned to use the money to buy a house, but now she knew she had no other choice but to use it to save the life of the woman and her baby.
“How many people do you think you can save? If this woman gets money, more and more buyers are going to try this same approach. Can you afford it?” He couldn’t understand Loredana’ reasoning behind her thoughts.
There were policemen at the scene. And, at least to Cormac, it didn’t look like the woman really intended to jump from the building. He assumed she was only using that approach to force Garrett to return the money.
“Is life less important than money in the eyes of business people like you? That woman is pregnant and if she dies, then so does her child. This is all my father’s fault and, whether or not I like it, I am his daughter…” Loredana trembled and curled her lips into a helpless smile. “I know I can’t save him. But I don’t want to be responsible for his sins either.”
Cormac fixed his eyes on Loredana’ cheek. She was kind-hearted toward Garrett in the end.
Even if Garrett had abandoned her and hurt her, she still chose to help him. It was a senseless act, but Cormac was touched by it all the same.
“I will ask Abbott to bring money there.”
Cormac put the car in gear and pressed the Bluetooth button at the same time to call Abbott, asking him to bring around two hundred thousand to the scene.
Loredana hadn’t expected Cormac would be so willing to help. “Oh… Thank you. I will withdraw my fund when we head back and I’ll repay you.”
Cormac gazed at the road ahead. “We’re a couple now, you don’t need to be so courteous to me.”
Loredana turned to look at him, but he was good at hiding his emotions and she couldn’t glean anything from his expression. So she slowly turned away and focused on the road again.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the Flores Group. Although they were still a bit away from the scene, Loredana could see a sea of people.
Cormac parked the car by the curb.
“If you don’t return my money, I’ll jump. I swear I will.”
The pregnant woman, who was standing at the edge of the roof was holding a flag with ‘RETURN MY
MONEY’ written on it and was confronting the rescuer personnel face to face.
It was clear even from the ground that she was an emotional wreck. “I’ve spent all the money my parents saved to buy this house. But now, it turns out to be a faulty building that does nothing but collapse. I will by no means accept this! Return my hard-earned money! Return my money!”
As the pregnant woman was shouting from the roof, people on the chimed in.
The mother-in-law of the pregnant woman cried out loud at the entrance of the Flores Group, hoping to reach her daughter-in-law. “Even if the money is lost, we can always earn more.”
The woman cherished her grandchild very much and her voice broke from long periods of crying.
However, the pregnant woman turned a deaf ear to her mother-in-law’s words. Relying on the presence of her unborn child, she was going to force Garrett to return her money.
Loredana pushed herself into the crowd. Cormac frowned, seeing her petite figure wandering through the crowd, then bit his tongue and followed her.
Cormac pushed ahead and carved out a way for her, almost like he was protecting her.
The rescue personnel with a loudspeaker shouted up at the woman. “Get down here first. This is all negotiable, even if it’s about money.”
The location where the woman was standing wasn’t suitable for the rescue personnel to try and prevent her from hurting herself. Therefore, all most of them could do was try to negotiate with her while others were trying to find out other means to rescue her.
Loredana walked over to the person holding the loudspeaker. “Can I try talking to her?”
The rescue personnel didn’t dare to hand the loudspeaker over to a random person. Who would be held responsible if a random person encourages the pregnant woman to jump from the building?
“It’s useless to say anything else if you won’t return the money,” the woman said in a firm tone.
As nothing had happened for over two hours, the woman was soaked in sweat from the beating sun.
But she still refused to budge.
New Book: Beginning with a Daring Encounter
Celsie was tired of being labeled as an introvert, workaholic, and dull virgin by her friends. Determined to prove them wrong, she made a bet that she would do something daring on her 25th birthday. Now that the day had arrived, it was time to fulfill her promise. On her daring to-do list, there was one task: a one-night stand with someone.
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