At the same time, the explosive crack of thunder sounded overhead just as a purplish-white streak of lightning split the night sky in half, ominously igniting the darkness that fell over the land.
Tucked away in Bayside Residence, Sonia bolted upright in bed and gasped. Her heart felt constricted with panic, but she had no idea why.
To switch on the bedside lamp, she had to bring her hand up. After that, she massaged her temples and reached for the glass of water on her nightstand, then took a sip as she tried to calm herself down.
She was done drinking and was just about to place the glass back on the nightstand when her eyes widened in horror; the curtains had not been drawn over the French windows at the foot of her bed, and on the rain-splattered glass appeared a terrifying figment of what looked like a skull.
Am I imagining things? Sonia shut her eyes tight and opened them again, then looked up at the French windows once more.
This time, she was met with darkness, which was weakly illuminated by the neon lights of the nightscape that refracted off the glass. There was no skull at all.
“Phew.” She let out a huge sigh of relief and patted her chest to soothe her wildly-beating heart.
As it turned out, she had been imagining things after all. Of course I was. With the way modern society is progressing, I should be jaded enough to ignore all the nonsense about paranormal stuff. She shook her head and let out a self-
effacing laugh at her own rich imagination.
When Sonia arrived at work the next day, Daphne—who had been waiting at the former’s office doorway—bowed and greeted, “Good morning, President Reed.”
“Good morning. Why are you here waiting for me? Has something happened?” Sonia asked as she took out her card key and swiped it across the sensor on the door, then made her way into the office.
Daphne fell in step behind her. “I just got a call from Fuller Group. They want you to go over for a meeting; it’s about alternative energy collaboration.”
Sonia was pulling up her chair when she heard this and paused. “Is the meeting at Fuller Group?”
Daphne nodded earnestly. “Yes.”
The divot between Sonia’s brows went as quickly as it came. “Very well, then. What time is the meeting?”
In all honesty, she was reluctant to go over to Fuller Group, but Toby was the person in charge of the collaboration, and he called the shots when it came to the time and place for any relevant meetings. No one would dare speak up against his decisions unless they were prepared to lose out on the project. Sonia had fought tooth and nail to procure the partnership, so abandoning the project halfway was not an option, which meant she was left with no choice but to attend the meeting.
“It’s scheduled for 2.00PM,” Daphne answered dutifully.
Sonia took off her coat and sat down. “Got it. Is there anything else?” “Yes—Mr. Lee has left you a ticket this morning.” Daphne opened the folder she was carrying and produced a ticket, then handed it over to Sonia.
Taking it and reading the brief introduction on fashion inscribed upon it, Sonia couldn’t help but laugh while musing, “I can’t believe he actually gave me this.”
“He wanted to wait to give it to you personally, but he got a phone call and had to leave urgently,” Daphne explained.
Sonia kept the ticket in the drawer and said, “Maybe it was a work call. Speaking of which, you should get back to work now.”
Alright.” Daphne nodded once and left the office.
Presently, Daphne opened up her laptop and set herself to work. When lunchtime rolled around, she got a call from the police station and was informed that the investigation into the restaurant incident had been completed.
The police concluded that the whole thing had been an accident, and having checked through all the security footage, they were sure that no one sabotaged the crystal chandelier. As to why the chandelier had fallen in the first place, the investigation showed that it was purely due to a worn-out supporting chain.
While Sonia found the explanation to be lazy and unreliable, in the absence of rust and sabotage, she could come up with no other reason as to how the incident could have occurred in the first place.
Regardless of her dissatisfaction, she allowed the incident to come to an end and did not press further on the matter.
She hung up the phone and glanced at her bandaged arm, then heaved a sigh before carrying on eating her meal.
Afterward, she got into her car and drove over to Fuller Group all on her own.
Meanwhile, in the presidential office at Fuller Group, Toby’s gaze flickered over to the time displayed on the bottom right corner of his laptop screen and asked, “Has everyone arrived?”
Tom, who was standing to the side, immediately understood what Toby was asking and nodded. “I saw three of the collaborators on my way here, so I assume the rest of them ought to have arrived by now.”
Toby hummed curtly in response. “Let s go,
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