Mr. Longman gave Charles a toothy grin, and Charles could feel his blood boiling. At that moment, he felt deep loathing for Mr. Longman.He had James, but had to take Amelia too?"You're going to kill two innocent people just for something as trivial as a business partnership?" Charles asked, sounding like he couldn't believe Mr. Longman."Maybe it's trivial to you,but it's not to me. No, Charles, you shouldn't see half of the picture, you should always try your best to see the big picture. That is what I always do, and it is why I am partnering with you." Mr. Longman replied, and Charles scoffed, dipping his hands into his pockets."Let's say I sign the contract with you...""Oh, a contract's not ready yet. I didn't think that far, but you can count on it happening soon." He replied."A contract's not ready? Reckless. What if I refuse to sign it when it is ready? Or let's say I sign it, only to break it and pay the severance fee later on?" Charles asked, but instead, Mr. Longman laugh
The next day, Charles was having breakfast when the doorbell rang, and Martha went to answer it. Vera came in looking worried and shocked. “Good morning…” she said hastily, before jumping to the main reason she had come as early as that. “Why didn't you pick your calls? I've been so worried. How did it go? Is James fine?” She asked, rapidly, and Charles sighed. “Well…”“Also, the date for the competition is out. It's in a week's time.” She informed him, before she forgot about it.“In a week's time?” Charles asked, and she nodded. “What about James? Is he here? Is he fine?” She asked, looking towards the stairs. “Actually. He's fine, but at the same time, he's not.” Charles replied, getting to his feet. “Okay, that sounds scary. What do you mean by that?” She asked, looking at him warily. “He's fine, meaning he's alive, but he's not fine because he's injured badly, and there's a big issue we have at hand.” Charles explained, and she inhaled deeply. “Where's he?” She asked, and
Charles stared at the message blankly. There was a way he could wiggle out of his current situation?He looked at James, who still looked a little guilty, then Amelia, who looked even more guilty about listening to James and trying to carry out his request. “I'll leave you to rest then.” He said, and walked away, but turned sharply at the door. “Don't try anything stupid, okay! You should stay just like that. I'll work on my plan.” He snapped, and James managed to nod, with a smile.Charles left the room, and went to his, locking the door behind him. Then he asked the system his question.“What do you mean by there's a way I can wiggle out of this?” He asked, “What do I have to do to get out of this situation?”The system replied almost immediately, giving him two tasks that seemed a little tedious. YOU CAN WIGGLE YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS BY FULFILLING THESE TWO TASKS.TASK ONE: RAISING HALF A MILLION DOLLARS, WITHOUT THE HELP OF THE SYSTEM, AND EXHAUSTING IT ON THE ONE IN A PARTICULAR
On his way home, Charles dropped by a store, and bought fresh fruits to give to James. His face seemed to be getting brighter, but most of the time, he was always asleep. It was probably due to the painkillers he had to use. When he got home, he met James sitting up, and talking to Amelia. He was smiling. That made Charles feel slightly better. "Hey." He said, dragging a chair to sit next to him. James smiled at the sudden informality, which Charles used to speak with him."Hi." He replied, playing along and Charles chuckled. "How's it been going?" He asked Amelia, and she smiled."He's been doing fine. I think he's getting better. At least, his arm doesn't bleed anymore." She replied, and Charles gave a sigh of relief. "Here. I got you some fruits." He said, taking out the fruits he had bought.He picked a knife and a tray off James bedside table, went to the bathroom, rinsed it, and returned to James' bedside. "These fruits look great." James said, with his eyes on a large ho
"Is he not picking?" James asked, looking terrified, and Charles continued to dial Longman's number frantically, in hopes that he might pick up the call, even though he knew it had to be deliberate that he wasn't picking up."Let me call him. He might pick it if it's from an unknown number." Amelia suggested, tapping her pockets furiously for her phone. She found it, and Charles went to her. He called out Longman's number, and she dialed it immediately; it began to ring.It was too hard to wait, with James' arm still beeping hard.Vera turned, and made towards the door."Where are you going?" Charles asked."To Longman's crazy office! How can I sit back?" She asked, with her nostrils flaring, but just as she was about to step out the door, the beeping slowed, and eventually came to a halt."Is it… is it fine now?" Vera asked, going towards Charles, and Amelia ran to him, crying, as she wrapped her arms around him. Then, Charles' phone rang. It was Longman."Son of a bitch!" Charles c
Charles stared at the message with a sigh, and recalled James, who was still in his bed. His arm was healing beautifully, but of course, he had to be careful. They didn't know how sensitive Longman's bomb was.Charles sighed, leaning back in his chair, and closed his eyes. "Is there anything troubling you?" Vera asked, finally looking up from her laptop."Just everything." Charles replied, with his eyes still closed. "I wish we could sue him." She said, with Longman in mind. "James who loves to go around, and do lots of things, is forced to stay in bed, where there are lesser risks of anything unfortunate happening. I can only imagine how hard it will be for him, and how boring, too. Everyone else goes to work, but he's stuck there." Vera lamented, staring into blank space. "I know, right. I'd have loved for him to walk around, but I'm scared of the bomb in his arm. What if he accidentally falls? Hits his arm on something? Those are absurd thoughts, but what can I say? They're bor
Charles wondered why he had to be faced with this kind of difficult situation. It was enough that he was going through things that could give one a migraine and now the system just had to be one of them.Charles placed his index finger on his philtrum while his thumb rested on his chin as he thought critically one who could be the best person to donate money to.“I guess I have no other choice than to pick before it’s too late.” He thought to himself, then turned to the nurse.“Alright, I know who I’m going to be making payment for. The man who has lung cancer can have my help.” Charles said to her and she nodded her head.“Please this way.” She gestured her hand to lead Charles to where he would make payments and documents he needed to sign.Charles had picked the man who was in his last stages of cancer because there was still a chance he could live beyond tomorrow, rather than the ones that it could turn out too late to save them.Thankfully, the man only had 500 million dollars le
Charles decided to go to bed, as it was getting late, and he had a journey the next day. He was worried about James, as it was obvious he was feeling lonely just as Vera had suggested.Indeed James liked to be everywhere, working, and doing his job. It must have been tiring for him to sit around on the bed all day. Even during the meal they had that evening, Charles had been scared, as he watched James move his arm continuously to feed himself. He knew bombs didn't just go off like that, but it was probably because James was someone he cherished, and didn't want to lose. Taking off his clothes, he walked into the shower, and stayed under the water for a long time. The water patted his head softly, warmly, and trickled down his back, and face. He had a lot on his mind, but thankfully, he had a little cause to be relieved, and the major reason for his relief was the fact that he had successfully completed the first task.After a long shower in which he had turned thoughts over and ov