Chapter 293 Is He Gonna Die from Anger
As we rolled up to that sketchy old factory on the edge of town, Elissa's call buzzed in.
She was all frantic, "Hope, you said Claire's in deep trouble. What the heck happened? Isn't she supposed to be chillin' at the nursing home?"
"Claire's been snatched," I tried to keep my cool. "I got a hunch it's Kimberly and Skylar. They told me to haul it to this abandoned factory out here."
"Those jerks! How can they keep messin' with an old lady like that?" Elissa was fuming and shot back, "Where you at now? Does Jerry know? I'm comin' over right now!"
"Jerry's in the dark. He's probably too swamped with that chip case to even pick up."
As we were about to hit the spot the kidnappers mentioned, I quickly said, "I'm almost at the factory. No need to come; I'm not solo. Ran into Cecil, and he's with me."
"Cecil? He's in Maple Valley?"
"Yeah," I replied.
The car rolled to a stop. I checked the time; we were right on the dot. No time to waste. "Elissa, we're here. I'll catch you later!"
After hanging up, Elissa grabbed her keys and started dialing another number.
After a few tries, Francis still wasn't picking up.
Elissa hung up and tried Jared instead. She needed to get to Jerry, and it didn't matter if it was through Jared or Francis.
Jared picked up quick, no hard feelings from before. He still had that laid-back vibe. "Elissa, finally remember me? Realized Francis ain't got nothin' on me, huh?"
Elissa cut to the chase, no time for games. "Someone's nabbed Mrs. Harris! They told Hope to hit up an abandoned factory to save her. Jerry's not answering. Can you get ahold of him?"
Skylar and Kimberly were straight-up ruthless. They'd poisoned Claire for the inheritance; they'd do anything.
Even with Cecil by Hope's side, Elissa was still on edge and knew Jerry had to be in the loop.
Jared got serious real quick. "You mean Hope's already out there solo?"
"What else?" Elissa snapped, then added, "Oh, she's not alone. Jerry's love rival is with her."
To Elissa, Christopher was just an ex, not a rival. Given his past, he had no shot. But Cecil? He'd always been sweet to Hope, a real gentle soul.
Jared shuddered. "I'll get to Jerry right now! Don't do anything crazy and get yourself in a mess."
Elissa said, "Don't worry, I'm not that dumb!"
"Good." Jared hung up fast. He thought about trying Jerry's number again but figured time was tight and called Steven instead.
Steven was always on standby, ready for any of Jerry's orders, so it was rare for him to miss a call.
Steven picked up, sounding all business. "Hello, Jared."
Jared felt a bit of relief and said urgently, "You with Jerry?"
Steven replied, "Yeah."
"Is he busy?"
"Yeah," Steven said, standing outside the conference room, shooting a worried glance at the door. "He's in a shareholders' meeting. The M398 chip mess has blown up. Jerry wanted to stop production ASAP, but some big shareholders are pushing back. There's probably someone shady at PL Group stirring up a lawsuit, and the stock tanked eight points when the market opened today. Mr. Hammer's crew is trying to boot Jerry from the Hammer Group again."
Things were a total mess, inside and out.
"Damn it," Jared muttered. "No wonder Jerry hasn't picked up Hope's call with all this craziness."
But Jared stayed focused. "You gotta bust in there and tell him right now that Hope's in deep trouble. It's urgent."
"Hope's in trouble?" Steven knew how much Jerry cared about Hope and immediately tensed up. "Got it. I'm on it."
He pushed open the conference room door, swallowing hard as all eyes turned to him. It wasn't the fear of interrupting the meeting but the dread of where he'd end up if something happened to Hope.
Jerry sensed something was off, his face turning icy as he glared at Steven. "What's going on?"
"Jerry," Steven leaned in and whispered, "Hope's in trouble."
Before he could finish, Jerry was already up and storming out of the room.
Steven was caught off guard and quickly followed.
Someone yelled, "What the hell, Mr. Hammer? The shareholders' meeting isn't over! With everything going on, don't you owe us an explanation?"
"Fuck! When has you ever taken us seriously?"
"Jerry! How dare you!" Austin seized the moment, slamming the table in anger. "Do you even respect us? Do you think the Hammer Group is your personal playground?"
Austin shouted, "Is something wrong with Hope? All you care about is her. The Hammer Group can't be left to someone like you! If you don't want it, then get out!"
Jerry's expression turned deadly, his brown eyes cold as ice as he stared at Austin like an enemy. He sneered, "Austin, if I find out you had anything to do with her trouble, you better start planning your funeral! Otherwise, I might just dump your body."
With that, Jerry turned and walked out.
The conference room went dead silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Did Jerry just threaten to kill his own father over a woman?
As everyone processed this, they were both scared and impressed by Jerry.
Some even started replaying their recent words, wondering if they'd crossed a line. Dealing with someone with no moral boundaries was risky; they couldn't afford to act high and mighty anymore. This was a guy who'd even threaten his own dad.
The crowd looked at Austin. But then again, some thought he had it coming. After all, his illegitimate son Carlos nearly got Jerry killed. Austin had been ruthless, but Jerry wasn't a pushover either.
Austin, humiliated and furious, felt a rush of blood to his throat and spat out a mouthful of blood right there.
Someone thought, 'Is he gonna die from anger?'
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