CHAPTER 2

After washing his face, Michael came out of the restroom. With his face wet, he felt even more refreshed.

“Good afternoon, Sir...”

Michael stopped in his tracks when he heard the voice in his office. Even the hand holding the towel stopped what it was doing.

“Who are you?” he asked softly. The man was wearing a delivery uniform, so he was probably a delivery boy. What puzzled him was why the delivery boy brought the food inside his office himself instead of his secretary.

“I work at Z-Food, Sir. I brought the food you ordered,” the man said with a smile, revealing his slightly pointed canines’ teeth.

Michael walked towards the desk where the plastic bag with the restaurant's logo was placed.

“Wasn’t Ruby outside?” he asked, referring to his secretary.

The man shook his head. “No, Sir. But Sir Jam let me in.”

Michael nodded, then looked at the man. He stared at him as if it didn’t matter if the delivery boy noticed what he was doing. There was something about the guy that he couldn’t explain.

The man was tall, taller than him. He was thin, but not unattractively so. His hair was long, reaching his nape, straight and black. The man’s skin was also fair, making him look like someone who was wealthy or didn’t get much sun. His eyes were dark—

Michael’s brows furrowed because he was wrong. The man’s eyes weren’t black, but dark violet.

Was it possible? He shook his head. What was he thinking? Why was he bothering to study the delivery boy’s features?

Michael was about to say something when the door burst open, and Jam, his business partner and best friend, walked in.

“Mike, you have to see this. Faster!” Jam’s face showed signs of panic, so Michael quickly followed him out. He suddenly forgot about the man he was talking to.

He caught up with his friend outside the elevator, which only they, as bosses, were allowed to use.

“What’s happening, Jam?”

“You’ll find out later, outside.”

Michael’s brows furrowed at the response. But instead of asking questions, he chose to remain silent. He knew his friend. When Jam didn’t want to say something, he wouldn’t be able to pry it out of him.

As they stepped out of the elevator, his friend hurriedly headed towards the exit door again, and he followed. Although there were people at the front office, he decided not to pay attention to them. What mattered was following his friend, as it seemed like he was about to show him something important.

When he stepped out of the building, he was met with a crowd of people on the street, causing traffic congestion due to the number of onlookers.

To find out what was causing the commotion, he approached the crowd.

"Excuse me..." he said, trying to squeeze through the densely packed crowd. And his eyes widened in shock when he saw what everyone was gathered around! "Ruby!" he exclaimed, grabbing the arm of one of his employees. "What happened here?!"

"It was sudden, Sir Michael," the employee replied, scratching his head.

"What do you mean it was sudden?" The employee looked at him, seemingly weighing whether to share what he knew. "Damn it! Tell me!"

"Y-yes, Sir." The employee was taken aback by his outburst. "Ma'am Ruby came running out, screaming, Sir. She seemed out of her mind, and everyone was scared. Sir Jam was trying to ask her what happened, but she didn't seem to hear him. He even held her hand, but she struggled free and kept running. Then, out of nowhere, a truck came, and... it's kind of creepy, really, Sir..."

"And why is that?"

"There was no driver in the truck that hit Ma'am," the employee said, pointing to the vehicle still blocking the road.

"Mike..."

The voice came from behind him, and even without turning around, he knew who it belonged to. Before facing his friend, he nodded at the employee he was talking to.

"What happened between you and Ruby before the accident, Mike? Did you scold your secretary?"

He furrowed his brow at the question. "What? No! How could I scold someone I didn't even see before the accident?" he replied, equally puzzled. But his friend looked even more perplexed than him.

"What? You didn't meet Ruby? But I specifically asked her to bring the food you ordered to your office."

"What were you saying—" He paused. "Wait, didn't you say you told the delivery boy to bring the food to my office?"

"What? Why would I do that? I know how strict you are about employees entering your office. And what delivery boy are you talking about? The one who delivered the order was a woman—"

"Follow me, Jam..." he said, cutting off his friend.

If earlier, Michael was the one following his friend, now the roles were reversed. He needed to see something. He needed to clarify something. He needed to confirm something.

Despite his knees trembling with an inexplicable fear, he quickened his pace. The commotion among his employees was irrelevant now. What mattered was that they had people outside to take care of the almost unrecognizable remains of his former secretary.

The answer to his questions was in one of the rooms in the building.