Amelia was scared to her bones that James had been shot, and he was probably dying.“911, please my man was just shot. Please come over right now. We’re at the lone street after St. Thompson’s street. Please hurry up! Someone’s dying.” Amelia spoke quickly, crying like a baby.“Please be calm, ma’am. We’re on our way.” The woman assured her, and Amelia hung up the call.She was about to go out of the car to check on James, but before she could unbuckle her seat belt, she heard a knock on the car window.With fear, she slowly looked towards the window and to her dreaded thought, it was one of the men in black suit. He was smiling menacingly at her, then he signaled to her to wind down.Amelia was too scared to wind down as she didn’t know what he would do to her, but James was still out there, and she was worried about him.Recalling that she had reached out to 911, she felt a bit assured that they would come for them soon, and before these goons would do anything to them, they would ha
Charles rose to his feet abruptly, almost choking on his saliva. He looked at the message again, and even had to rub his eyes to be certain that he was seeing right.“What's wrong?” Vera asked, looking concerned.Charles had to show Vera his phone to be certain it wasn't his eyes playing some tricks on him.Vera gasped in shock.“Is…is this real? Let's call James immediately.” She said hurriedly.Charles quickly went to his call logs and then dialed James’ number. He began to wonder for how long had he been in their custody and how James must have felt he didn't care enough to reach out to him, during his vacation.Suddenly, the call was answered, and Charles put it on speaker.“James, are you okay?” He asked, out of concern.“No, he's not. And if you do not comply with the boss' rules, you will no longer hear from your so-called ally.” The male voice threatened.“Then tell me what damn rules are you speaking about!” Charles yelled out loud in anger and frustration.“If you are ready t
Charles stared at the message for a long time, before it faded away. System upgrade processing? What if something unpleasant happened, due to the system upgrade?Systems he knew, always had to shut down after an upgrade, so they could reboot. What if he fell out of consciousness, and it happened at the wrong time?That would be a disaster. He swallowed, and decided to do whatever he had to do, and be done with it all, before anything like his fears happened. Charles took in the size of the warehouse once more. He could not help feeling unprepared, as he knew the tech bugs had failed. Could the people he was about to meet be the ones behind it? For what reason would they want to threaten him with James?Charles wanted to take a step closer to the warehouse, but found himself hesitating— of course, he knew he was going to have to enter it eventually, but his brain needed to analyze and guess what could probably be waiting for him in there.It was the only way to feel better about the
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