Chapter 170: Living in Fear
"Mr. Ryan, for now, I can’t do anything. Thea hasn’t gone anywhere alone. She always has soone with her. And I’m afraid to contact her through her phone. She might report
to Arthur. I think she heard our conversation."
Bradley Thomas is on the phone with the missing Ryan Blackwood. When the call cos in, Bradley feels half relieved and half terrified.
He owes a lot of money to Ryan. That was how he was sent to Montrose Corporation in the first place, planted there as Blackwood’s spy.
His second mission was to make Thea Montrose fall in love with him. It was all Ryan’s idea. At first, Bradley had refused. Arthur Montrose was not soone he wanted to cross.
But Bradley has a weakness. A gambling addiction.
When he received money from Ryan, he didn’t use it to pay off his existing debts. Instead, he gambled it away, convincing himself that if he could just double it, everything would disappear. All his problems. All his fear.
Now, none of his debts are paid. They have only grown larger. His mission inside Montrose Corporation has failed miserably. And if he makes one wrong move, he won’t just be exposed as a spy.
He’ll be labeled as a kidnapper.
"If that’s true, then she would have already reported you to Arthur. And knowing Arthur, he would have taken action imdiately. But as you can see, Arthur hasn’t done anything to you." Ryan says over the phone.
Bradley can’t argue with that. What Ryan is saying makes sense. Arthur is not the type of man who tolerates mistakes or betrayal. If he knew Bradley was a spy, he wouldn’t have stayed quiet until now.
And that annoying assistant of his, Sam. He’s the sa type as Arthur. That’s why they get along so well.
At one point, Bradley even tried to spread rumors about the two of them being in a relationship. It didn’t work. No one in the company cared whether their boss was sleeping with his assistant or not.
What mattered to them was that the company was still going strong and that they could earn a living.
Bradley was so irritated by it all that he took three days of unpaid leave, just to calm himself down.
Then he shifted his attention to Theodora Montrose. Ryan had pointed out early on that she would be an easier target.
Bradley spent weeks studying her schedule, trying to arrange an accidental eting while still working at Montrose Corporation.
During that ti, he saw a fragile and delicate fifteen-year-old girl who spoke fast and abruptly, as if she were afraid that if she didn’t finish her sentences quickly, everyone would leave.
Sowhere in his heart, Bradley began to feel pity. Real pity for the isolated Theodora.
When he finally succeeded in eting Thea, he gave her the one thing he knew she craved the most: a listening ear.
For the next few months, Thea hardly ever left his side.
If Bradley was honest with himself, he enjoyed spending ti with her. He even ca to genuinely care about her.
So when she suddenly called him, crying, Bradley was at a loss. It had never been part of his plan to have a real relationship with her, even if he cared. He was too busy surviving. And Thea was one of the ways he survived.
With Ryan’s help, he eventually managed to take Thea to his grandfather’s cabin on Mt. Helene, where they lived together for five days.
It was one of the happiest tis of his life.
Then it happened.
One day, when he returned from work, he found the cabin in chaos. The door wasn’t closed properly. Tables were overturned. Plates lay shattered across the floor. One of the lights had fallen and broken.
It looked like a fight had taken place.
And Thea was gone.
Not a trace of her.
Fear crawled up Bradley’s spine. He called Ryan imdiately and told him everything. He panicked, convinced Arthur had finally found out.
Ryan promised to investigate. A few hours later, he called back with news.
Thea was in the hospital.
She had broken her ankle.
Bradley felt both worried and terrified. He dreaded going to work the next morning. But nothing happened. Arthur didn’t show up. Sam didn’t show up. No one ca to fire him or arrest him.
He felt a sliver of relief.
But the fear never left. He waited constantly for the other shoe to drop.
And living in constant fear was far more exhausting than he had imagined.
And Ryan was losing his patience.
Bradley had her for five days, and now she was gone. Thea had been missing for five days by then.
Ryan called and demanded his money back. Bradley panicked.
"I’m really sorry, sir! But she was here, for five days! If that bastard Arthur hadn’t co and taken his sister, she’d still be here!"
His ears started to ring. His heart pounded. His palms were slick with sweat.
"Give
another chance, sir! Please! She’s already in love with . I can definitely get her to steal so of Julian’s notes from their latest project!"
"I’ve spent months catering to that spoiled brat’s every need. She’s really into , sir. Just give
another chance!"
Bradley was practically begging.
Then he noticed sothing outside his door.
"Hang on, sir. I think soone’s outside."
He walked to the door and opened it.
There was no one there.
And then, a few days after that, he heard that Thea was in the hospital, in a coma.
Bradley couldn’t describe what he felt back then. Relief, fear, dread, hatred. All of it tangled together until he thought he was going insane.
He spoke with Ryan afterward. Ryan scolded him, but there was nothing they could do now that the target was in a coma.
From Ryan’s investigation, Thea’s condition wasn’t good. She was likely to either never wake up, or die.
Ever since then, Bradley had been living in fear. He was certain that Arthur knew Thea had been with him.
And if Thea died, Arthur would kill him.
He wanted to flee, but he couldn’t. If he ran, he would have both Arthur and Ryan on his tail.
So he continued as if nothing had happened. He kept showing up to work. He kept doing his job.
He hand no choice but continued to work at Montrose Corporation.
Reviews
All reviews (0)