“Mr. Larson, we’ll get this project, I guarantee it. You’re such a visionary for coming to Barnes for development. Your suggestion
at the meeting just now was revolutionary!”
As the shareholders filed out of the meeting room, they kept flattering Ethan.
Ethan smiled courteously but said nothing. He got his private phone back from the assistant and checked it for messages.
The next second, his expression darkened.
“Why didn’t you tell me someone had sent me a message?” he asked his assistant in a low voice.
The assistant was so frightened that he stammered, “Well, Mr. Larson, you never check your phone during such significant
meetings. You told me never to bother you with texts or calls.”
Ethan reread the text from Janet and frowned. The shareholders from the meeting just now exchanged glances when they saw
Ethan’s dramatic change in disposition. What could’ve happened? Did stock prices plummet? Ethan tried dialing Janet’s number,
but he couldn’t get through.
“Move tonight’s meeting to tomorrow.” With an icy cold expression, Ethan grabbed his suit jacket and stormed out of the building.
Almost every single time he left Janet alone, something bad happened to her.
This made him seriously consider bringing her with him wherever he went. She was an adult for crying out loud. Why couldn’t
she take care of herself? Skydiving was an extreme sport. Besides, given their current situation, neither of them were safe. The
Lester family was out to kill them. 1
Ethan closed the car door. He didn’t know which club Janet had gone to, so he asked the driver to head to the northern Suburbs
first. Most parachute clubs in
Barnes were located there.
He leaned against the window and rested his forehead on his hand. He blamed himself for not reading the message in time. If he
had seen it earlier, he wouldn’t have allowed Janet to go. Two hours had passed since Janet texted him. Ethan tried calling her
again, but to no avail. Just as he was about to give up, the call suddenly connected and he heard a woman crying on the other
end of the line.
“Who’s this? Where’s Janet?” Ethan narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He could instantly tell that this voice didn’t belong to his
wife. Janet wouldn’t cry like that.
“This is... Lila,” the woman said in between sobs. Her pitiful crying only annoyed Ethan. “Give the phone to Janet,” he said coldly.
“No... Janet... Janet isn’t here. She...” Lila was too choked with sobs to complete a single sentence.
“I’m... Sorry. I’m just so scared...” Ethan’s patience soon wore thin. He raised his voice and shouted, “What happened?”
His angry voice struck fear in Lila’s heart. She promptly stopped crying and said, “Janet... Her parachute malfunctioned. Oh, my
God! I don’t know what to do... I just...”
Ethan’s heart sank when he heard this. Anxious to get more details, “Tell me everything. Now.”
“We... She... I don’t know... It happened so fast. This is all my fault. oh, God! This is all my fault...” Lila seemed to be scared out
of her wits. She couldn’t stop crying nor could she speak coherently. Ethan rubbed his temples and took a deep breath.
“Stop crying, will you?” Why was this woman so useless? She was wasting his precious time. It seemed that Lila didn’t
understand what he was asking. She just kept sobbing into the receiver. Ethan tried asking her again, but no matter what he
couldn’t get any useful information out of her. He was so angry that he hung up the phone directly. Then he dialed his assistant’s
number. His tone was bone-chillingly cold.
“Check all the parachute clubs in Barnes quickly and find out which one Mrs. Larson went to.”
The assistant was quite efficient. Minutes later, he called Ethan back and reported, “Mr. Larson, there are only two parachute
clubs open for business today in Barnes, and one of them was full this morning. The club you are looking for should be
Mountaintop Parachute Club. They received two female customers earlier this afternoon.”
Ethan gave the driver the instructions and the luxury car sped on the expressway towards the Mountaintop Parachute Club.