The incident at the club has me shaken, and Coraline fumes throughout our meeting. We don’t really get any work done as we sit around the table back at my office. She is adamant about pursuing him once again, and I try my best to change her mind.“Get a lawyer and take him to court,” I tell her, “You saw how demeaning he was. He brushed you off without even thinking. Do you honestly think that he would listen to you again?”“He has to. This is illegal!”“And he somehow managed to do it in the first place.” I point out, followed by a sigh. “Look, Coraline, I understand you not wanting to have law enforcement entangled in this. It will become much more complicated.”“I’ve never gotten a police record in my life,” Coraline whispers, “I just don’t want my name to be tarnished like that.”“There won’t be any tarnishing, because you’re not the criminal here. You’re the victim.” I soften my voice, “and no matter what happens, you’ll have my support. Zelt Tech got some pretty good lawyers. We

We managed to make it to the hospital to visit the victims within visitor hours. The employees were pretty shocked, and I couldn’t fault them for that. Gomez was still in the ER, but the doctors said that he was in a medically induced coma from which he would be waking up soon, to our immense relief. I promised the employees that they will be compensated for this damage, and their hospital bills will be charged by the company. They will also be getting paid leave for however long they needed to heal. The employees were thankful for this, which made me a bit uncomfortable. I was more than aware of the inhuman nature of corporate when it came to sick leaves and wages, but Zelt Tech wasn’t like them. Well, it might have been before, but not anymore. Not as long as I had a say in it.After visiting the victims of the shootout, I get a call from Coraline.“Hey, Coraline, what’s up?”“Jace. Are you at the hospital? Gerald said that he’ll take you to visit the victims of the shootout. My god

On Thursday, I do not have any lectures, which means that is a workday.I meet Coraline at Zelt Tech early in the morning, and we embark on our workday. Our schedule is tedious today, we need to visit external supplying stations, the factory, or chips all while working on paperwork, various reports, and attending meetings with the executive board. Executive meetings are not my favorite as I always feel like the dumbest person on the planet when I was in the company of others, more experienced and mature individuals, although I understand their necessity.I don’t feel as much of a fish out of the water as I did when I began this COO gig. Those early days were hard because I did not have the experience. I knew the theories, of course, but when it came to practice, I was basically a big baby. I did not have the opportunity to learn while being at the bottom of the corporate ladder and most people. I didn’t have the experience of working with my father from a young age.Coraline was a gre

I’ve never wanted to strangle someone so badly.By now the other nurses in the reception are also paying their attention to us, and most of them had varying expressions on their faces. Some looked pissed off while others looked sympathetic. But none of them came forward to rectify the nurse who was talking to me.Her name tag reads Clara.“Fine, then,” I growl, “I will pay for everything. Add all the charges to my account. I’ll give you all the information.”The nurse’s mouth quirks downwards, and she gives me a distasteful look. For a split second, I wonder what I must look like. Somehow, I’d lost my jacket, and the light blue shirt that I wore underneath was covered with blood and grime. My hands are covered with blood as well, drying in the temperature of the room. My hair is disheveled from the wind and running my fingers through it. My expression must be close to insane. I don’t even want to think about the state of my pants and shoes.I really need to take a shower to even gain

“Pat, I know how you feel about her conduct. Trust me, I am as pissed as you are, and I was the one on the receiving end of it,” I say as I sit across Patrick Wright’s office on the topmost floor of the Northwestern Clandestine Hospital, moments after the whole debacle downstairs, “but firing her over one such mistake is not right.”Coraline has been stabilized, and her bleeding was effectively ceased. She was not on the brink of danger anymore. A blood transfusion was being done as we speak.I give Gerald a call and tell him everything, but as I predicted he already knows and is on his way to the hospital. Coraline’s parents have been notified. They had been out of the city on what was a mini-vacation and were racing home. When I talk with them, they beg me to stay and help their daughter until they arrive. This is the second time this month that Coraline landed in a hospital with a threat to her life. I assure them of her safety to the best of my ability before ending the call. I ca