A Night of Terror

Her phone ringing for the fifth time in her side desk, she wakes up lazily and takes her phone.

“Morning, m’lady!” Jason screamed loudly. Hell, it’s five in morning. The sun hasn’t come out yet.

“Hmm?” she’s still sleepy to use words

“Did you Mrs. Rhodes calls last night?”

“No, I don’t think so” she barely remember anything from last night

“what do you mean by you think?” he ask confusedly “Just hurry up and come to the hospital, I’ll send you the address” his hysteria voice makes her cold

“Hospital? I don’t understand, Jason w—”

“It’s Adrian, he’s dying” he end his calls and a notification pop-up in her phone screen. The address Jason has sent was near the hospital near Eagles Inc tower.

Aurielle jumped from her bed and a sharp pain hit her head. Something happened to Adrian and she didn’t know why. She didn’t remember anything from last night even though she try to collect the memory. Hell, she even didn’t know how she come back home and straight to bed with her night gown. Everything from last night was blurry to her. But something feels off, it like she is forgetting something important but she don’t know what it is.

She takes shower and changed her night gown to her semi-casual cloth. Her working hours is still three hours from now, so she collected her belongings for work too.

In half an hour she was ready in her semi-formal attire. Her working hours would start three hours from now, so she had prepared everything she needed to go to work from now on. She thought that from today onwards, her work would be more difficult with Adrian's absence.

She immediately took her car keys and went to the hospital.

Jason was waiting for her in the hospital lobby. His face was a little pale and he looked worried.

"What happened to Adrian?"

"No one knows, a security guard who just arrived found Adrian dying in the basement. CCTV in the office and underground parking didn't find any evidence" he explained to her as they both headed to the ICU.

"What about the other security guards, don't they know anything?"

"Like I said, no one knows. The two security guards who are on guard, they seem confused when asked by the police"

"Are they drunk or on drugs?"

"Police suspect that too, they will carry out a related check"

"How could Adrian suddenly be lying on the ground and dying?" she almost screamed hysterically

"No one knows" Jason sighed in frustration "the office will be closed for a week if the police get permission from Adrian's father to investigate"

They stopped near the ICU, they can see Adrian parents was standing outside his room. But before they approach them, they needed to find the solution for the office problem about the investigation.

"That's possible, Adrian's father will give permission" Aurielle massaged her temples "we can persuade her to take three days off the office, if he won’t"

"You're right, we should try" Maybe they can do it. Adrian parents always considered them as their own child, most importantly — they trusted them.

She could see Adrian through the glass of the ICU room as they walked in. His body was bandaged and medical equipment attached to his body. He's messed up.

"My daugter" Victoria Rhodes — Adrian’s mother hugged her tightly. Her eyes are swollen because she's been crying from last night.

"How's Adrian?"

"Several ribs and both legs broken, the doctor said he'll be fine but why isn't he awake yet?" she sobbed softly and comforted by Jason. Aurielle was sad to see her cry and seeing Adrian in critical condition also made her sad.

“Aurie, can you come with me for a moment?” Sawyer Rhodes — Adrian's father took her out

"My daughter, I trust Eagles Inc in your hands from now on until Adrian is healthy again." His face was so serious, he didn't doubt her "Why do you trust me so much, Mr. Rhodes?" she wanted to know why, she desperately wanted the answer.

"Because you are also my daughter"

“Sir, they said I was cursed. I’m always caused trouble and no one will be safe if they are near me. Now I'm starting to think that it was true”

“It makes me sad about how you think of yourself, my dear” his gray eyes pierced her eyes, “It is not your fault that they are punished after treated you so badly. That is their consequences, for doing something bad to you. You are not cursed”

"Adrian didn't do anything to hurt me but he still got hurt"

"Hush, my dear. You have to be strong because you will be in control of Eagles Inc. From today on, Jason won't be able to help you. His father's punishment is over and he will be back to Fraux Company again.” He explained "You shouldn't look weak, it will only make them happy"

"Thank you father. I don't know what I could have done without you" she whispers softly

The police investigation went smoothly, and they concluded that Adrian was neither attacked in the office nor in the basement parking lot. He could have been attacked elsewhere and taken underground to keep the evidence unknown.

With the CCTV that was broken on the day of the incident, the police concluded that the perpetrator of the attack was not an ordinary person ⸻ they are dangerous and It's possible they hacked the company's CCTV.

Police warns the Eagles Inc executives including Aurielle to be careful because they wouldn't be targeting regular employees. There was an unknown purpose and that could be the reason they attacked Adrian. But under Aurielle's orders, all employees are not allowed to work overtime in the office. She suggested bringing their unfinished work to home. This has to be done to avoid similar incidents that Adrian experienced.

A week passed and Adrian was awake, although she wasn't completely healed. So far nothing suspicious and she didn't feel scared anymore. Therefore, she worked from the morning and finished in the afternoon. After that she would accompany Adrian until he fell asleep, then she came home.

But something is bothering Aurielle. Adrian doesn't remember anything on the day he nearly died, nor does he remember who beat him. When he woke up, he was confused because he was in the hospital with bandages all over his body. The doctor said not to force Adrian to remember what happened that day, so Aurielle never asked him anything else.

What happened to Adrian was the same as what happened to her and the two security guards who were on guard that night. She also didn't remember anything from the previous night when she woke up in the morning. Her head would throb in pain as she tried to dig up the memory of that night.

Subconsciously she massaged her temples.

"Are you okay?" Adrian asked as he eats his apples.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you serious?"

"Sure, I'm just tired. I'm going out to get some fresh air for a bit. Do you mind if I leave you alone?"

"No problem, Jason will be here in a minute" and with that she quickly left

The hospital hallway is very quiet tonight, it has been raining heavily since the morning and only stopped a few hours ago, making some people not come out because of the cold air. She cursed inwardly for not wearing her jacket. Several nurses she passed gave her a friendly smile. She decided to go to the canteen on the right wing of the hospital, she needed a warm drink.

The sound of the cell phone ringing made her stop walking and immediately took her cell phone from her skirt pocket. An unknown number called her, she was lazy to pick it up and immediately continued on her way to canteen.

but the caller didn't stop calling and it bothered her so she decided to pick up the phone

"Hello?"

"Darling, If I call you have to pick it up immediately" Her brow furrowed when she heard an unfamiliar deep and husky voice greeted her on the other line.

"Who—?"

"If you're wondering why don’t you immediately go to the parking lot? Come here, I'm waiting for you near your parked car" he chuckled darkly, instantly sending her shiver.

Where did she feel the same feeling when she heard this voice?

After the phone was hung up, she ran to the parking lot.

She was tired and out of breath from running. So she stopped for a moment, she could see her car from where she was standing. But she did not find anyone near it.

But there is something black on the hood of her white audi. She walked over and sure enough, there was a black box with a red ribbon adorning it.

Her face turned pale, she doubted what was in the box.

She didn't pick up the box, she immediately pulled the red ribbon and opened the box slowly ⸻on the inside, there was a medium sized bouquet of red roses. She took out the flower and she found out that black box also contained a medium sized velvet box, after she opened the velvet box there was a white gold bracelet with two black pearls.

Her phone rang again and without hesitation she picked it up

"You like it?"

"No, I'm scared, what do you want?" she shivered slightly as she heard he chuckled darkly and answer "You"

"Don't you dare throw all that in the trash" he threatened her "put on that bracelet don’t you ever take it off"

"I don't understand, what do you want from me?" she whispers softly "where are you? I just want to know who you are, isn't it unfair that you know everything about me and I don't know anything about you?"

"Trust me darling, I'm always near you" he chuckled darkly "Don’t break my rules and don't tell anyone about this, you don't know what I’m capable of, darling"

The call ended, leaving her trembling in fear and also making an evil smile etched on the face of someone in the black car parked not far from her.