Instantly, Anthony stopped walking.
“Do you want to say something to me?” Chelsea asked. She didn’t seem to be asking him but rather forcing him to speak.
“Yes, I have something to ask you about,” he said briefly after a pause.
“You can ask me right now.”
Fixing his gaze on the girl in front of him, he didn’t know which of the many questions he wanted to ask should come first. What is your name? What brought you here? Why don’t you bring your ID card? Why did you decide to visit this small town? Are you a college student? How old are you? Is that necklace yours? Who gave it to you? He thought.
Eventually, Anthony decided to go with the most basic one, “What’s your name?”
Chelsea fixed her gaze on him, expecting him to ask another question. “Chelsea,” she finally replied.
“I mean, your real name. I gave you the name Chelsea. I just want to know…” Anthony didn’t finish his sentence because he couldn’t look Chelsea in the eyes anymore. “And how long do you intend to stay?” He asked once more.
“It depends on when you’re going to kick me out,” Shrugging, she answered.
Anthony shook his head and said helplessly, “No, I’m not kicking you out! Please ignore Franz. He’s just too vigilant. I’ll change the code tomorrow, so he won’t be able to get in.” He then looked Chelsea in the eyes and said, “You can stay in my house as long as you want if you don’t mind.”
After the conversation was over, Anthony started restocking the shelves. After finishing this work, he looked at his watch and said, “We can leave now. Nobody would be here tonight.”
Chelsea glanced at the wall clock, then shook her head. “It’s not yet time to switch shifts. Sally couldn’t come tonight. I promised to switch shifts with her.”
“That’s fine. I’ll tell the store manager. The manager didn’t intend to keep the store open in such bad weather, anyways.”
As they were leaving, it began to snow. Anthony wheeled his bike ahead, and Chelsea followed close behind.
“It’s snowing.” He said.
Chelsea asked, looking at the back of his car, “When did you put a back seat on your bike?”
“I put one on yesterday because I thought I could take you on my bike,” Anthony explained, scratching his brow.
“Let’s go,” Chelsea said, putting on her backpack and pulling on the back of her bike. She stared at Anthony quietly. She didn’t say anything, but her body language suggested she wanted Anthony to take her on his bike.
Knowing that, Anthony’s eyes glowed. “Come on, let’s go,” he said right away.
The street was spacious, with stores and restaurants on both sides. A few college students walked down the street, all wrapped in thick scarves and hats.
Anthony rode slowly because his bike was old. And Chelsea tugged tightly on his down jacket to prevent herself from falling. When she put on her hat, she felt warm. She smiled, as she had never smiled so happily for the past few days. This is the life I should be leading. It’s a little difficult, but everything is real, She thought.
The blizzard lasted all night. By midnight, the entire city had been blanketed in snow. When Anthony awoke the next morning, he noticed snow plows were working on the road.
Anthony called the store manager to tell him that he and Chelsea were taking time off. He then made breakfast for two and waited for Chelsea to get up.
“How about I take you to lunch today? I’ll introduce you to some of my friends. They’re all good people,” With a smile, Anthony said to the girl.
Chelsea took a seat at the table. “All right,” she said. And her eyes widened when she heard the news on the TV.
Seeing that, Anthony reached for the remote and attempted to change the channel, but she stopped him. “Where is this place?” she asked.
“That commercial development is being built on Fleet Street. Is there a problem?”
Meanwhile, news reporter was at the construction site, as seen on TV. “A construction project on Fleet Street collapsed last night at 2:10 am. The fire department is doing everything possible to search and rescue, and there have been no casualties. The Carousel Group owns the project, and the group’s leader visited the site this morning to assess the situation in person. We’ll keep tuned…”
Then the photographer focused his lens on a young woman in the distance. And the reporter approached her quickly and then pointed the microphone at her. However, the bodyguards stopped the reporters. And the woman used her hands to block the camera, saying, “Sorry, no comment.”
The bouncer knocked over the camera, causing the screen to go dark. The news screen returned to the indoor broadcast in the next second. The next second, the host said, “In order to gain profit, the Carousel Group has done something illegal. The head of the Group is not yet 18 years old, so we can’t judge whether he can take responsibility for this matter. But there is no doubt that the Carousel Group will be solely responsible for this matter.”
Shocked, Chelsea placed her fork firmly on the table.
“What’s wrong?” Anthony asked Chelsea in surprise.
Chelsea frowned and asked, “Where is Fleet Street? I’m going there.”
A large number of reporters had gathered at the site at this point. And Matthew’s bouncers stopped them from entering the perimeter. With his helmet on, Matthew stood at the construction site looking worried.
“What should we do now, Mr. Wright?” Maria walked carefully in her high heels through the snow. She looked worriedly at Matthew and said, “It’s a problem with the preliminary engineering, but I can’t reach the engineer responsible for that right now. We’ve obviously been set up.”
Matthew replied with a frown, “Tell the PR team to handle the news. Send me the surveillance video from around here, please.”
“I already asked them to find the video. But since the power was out last night, the cameras didn’t capture anything,” Maria said.
“Where are the people who are supposed to be guarding the site?” Matthew asked with a darkened face.
“They didn’t even come to work.”
“Who gave them the day off?”
Maria remained silent for a moment before responding, “It’s one of the engineers. But I can’t contact him right now.”
The entire management team is absent. Some have resigned, while others have simply run away. So, I have no idea which was to blame. And the Carousel Group has no choice but to take responsibility for it. After all, we didn’t tell the public what was wrong with the building when we took it over. The company’s engineering department has been debating whether to solve the problem or build a new building for quite a while. Unfortunately, the accident occurred before they could reach a final decision. What should I do?
Seeing that Maria appeared nervous and unsure of what to do, Matthew pulled his mind back to reality and signed, “Don’t worry about it, Maria. Let’s start with the PR. I’m sorry, but you need to return to headquarters for me.”
“Are you worried that the board will hold you accountable for it?”
“They’re definitely going to make a big deal out of it,” Matthew said. Yet, Maria couldn’t hear him because the wind was so loud.
Then the snow stopped falling. At the same time, a crowd had gathered outside the barrier fence surrounding the construction site. The reporters, who had nothing better to do, interviewed them and asked about their reactions to the accident.
The crowd all took the moral high ground. As a result, almost everyone blamed the Carousel Group.
“I heard that Carousel Group’s president is a fifteen-year-old boy. That’s insane! Can a fifteen-year-old really run a business? This rich kid must view his job as a game, which explains why he doesn’t care about other people’s lives.”
“Exactly! How could their parents do something like this?”
“Isn’t there any other talent in this company? Seriously, are his parents still alive?”
“What are you talking about? Why are you so mean to them?” Chelsea screamed. She had just arrived when she heard these hurtful words.
“What are you up to?” A man from the crowd asked her with a tight frown.
“I should be the one to ask you what you were up to!” Snarling, Chelsea was about to approach the man.
Seeing that things might get out of control, Anthony rushed over to stop Chelsea and protect her before he could park her bike. “Excuse me, please don’t take her words seriously,” he said to the crowd.
“Do you not care about other people’s lives, girl? Why are you defending him? Is it because you think he’s attractive?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.