England.The taxi stopped in front of the gate of a big country mansion. David got out of the car and looked around. Nothing has changed much there.
Over the past five years, he has hardly been here. His short visits two or three times a year could not even be taken into account.
He climbed up the steps to the porch and already wanted to knock on the door, but at that moment the door suddenly opened, and the mature woman rushed at the man, squeezing him in strong embraces.
"Son! Finally, you have arrived! You little brat, why didn"t you want us to meet you at the airport? I tied myself into knots here, waiting for your arrival!"
"h.e.l.lo, mom. Good to see you," David replied, and hugged the woman back.
"Сome in! Come in, quickly, don"t stand in the doorway. I missed you so much! Promise me you won"t run away in the evening, ok?"
"Mom, do not worry, I will stay at home for a couple of days, but then I will have to leave," David answered.
The woman"s face became alarmed, but she quickly dismissed her sad thoughts and gave a mellow smile to her son.
"You must be tired from the trip? Go take a shower, and then we will have lunch. I prepared your favorite dishes," she said happily.
David"s mom intentionally got up early to do everything herself. She even refused the help of the housekeeper. Her only desire was to please her son. The woman knew that as soon as David found out about her little agreement with Daniel, he would immediately drop everything and rush to the airport.
"Mom, honestly, I"m not hungry. But I will drink tea with pleasure. Moreover, I am sure that you prepared your special cookies in honor of my arrival, right?" The young man smiled slyly.
"Of course I did, honey! Have a seat! I"ll bring it all now!" The woman ran to the kitchen for tea and dessert hurriedly.
Less than five minutes later, David was sitting imposingly in his chair and enjoying a hot drink.
"Where"s dad? Why isn"t he here? I need to talk to him," he asked his mother.
"This old bonehead is just so crazy about fishing! He left for Riverhill three days ago. Said, as soon as you arrive, we must pack up and immediately go to him."
"To him? To Riverhill?? Yeah, right, even the mobile connection is not working there, I am not even talking about the Internet. What will I do in this den of a hermit, if there is not even a TV?" David asked indignantly.
"Son, I understand you, you are a busy person. But do a nice thing for your parents. Just take a break and distract from your worries. I"m sure everyone will cope with everything without you. You"re a good leader, right? So trust your employees," the woman tried in every way to distract her son"s attention from his daily activities. She knew that it was almost impossible, so she was choosing every word carefully.
"David, the driver will be here in half an hour to take us to Riverhill. You go and take a shower and change your clothes. I"ve already prepared everything we need."
"Well, as you say." David thanked his mother for tea and went to his room.
The woman began to hastily clean the table when she suddenly heard an unfamiliar melody. Looking around, she saw David"s cell phone on the couch.
Someone was calling persistently because even after two missed calls, the third call followed.
She took the phone and looked at the display. [My Elena].
The woman glanced at the stairs leading to the second floor where the bedrooms were. Making sure that no one was around, she quickly went to the kitchen, pressed the call reception b.u.t.ton and brought the phone to her ear.
"h.e.l.lo? David?" A ringing female voice addressed her son.
The last drops of doubt were still in the soul of this mature lady, but she threw them away and answered coldly,
"David can"t get on the phone right now. He is taking a shower."
The subscriber on the other end of the wire fell silent instantly. After a short pause, a question followed,
"Excuse me, who are you?" Elena did not expect an unknown woman to answer her man"s phone.
"David is resting with his family. Please do not disturb him in the coming days." Mom answered just as coldly and hung up.
Having thought a little, she turned off her son"s phone and put it in one of the drawers in the kitchen. "Lord, forgive me for what I am doing." The woman crossed herself and went back to the living room.
David had already changed his clothes and was just walking down the stairs. He looked around the room as if searching for something.
"Mom, have you seen my phone? I can"t find it anywhere. I tried to call it from our home phone, but it looks like its battery"s dead."
"Son, do not worry; it won"t run away from you! It"s just somewhere in the house. The driver is already waiting for us; let"s go, shall we?" The woman began to worry and tried to take her son out of the house as quickly as possible.
"But anyway…"
"David, we"ll be home tonight. You will look for it then. Can"t your generation stand it without having their gadgets at hand, just even for a little bit?" The woman said with reproach, scolding her son a little intentionally.
The young man rolled his eyes and sighed; no one had lectured him like that for a long time, "Okay, okay. Let"s go. Give me your basket here." David took the basket of food from his mother, and they left the house together.
. . .
Elena was listening to the short beeps in the phone and didn"t believe her ears, "What was all this about now??"
The girl made a call again, but all she heard back was "The subscriber"s device is turned off or is outside the network coverage area."
Frowning her brow, she threw the phone aside and looked again at the display of her laptop. What she saw there made her feel very uneasy.
. . .
Lee Pharmaceuticals head office.
"President Lee, bad news!" The head of the a.n.a.lytics department ran into Chen"s office. With shaking hands, he handed him the latest stock exchange report.
Mr. Lee took the doc.u.ments, began to examine them carefully, and with each page turned, his expression became more and more serious.
"For how many hours has the fall been happening?"
"Sir, the last fall has occurred within 10 minutes," the worker said in a breaking voice.
President Lee glanced at the man angrily and said in a hissing voice, "Do I understand you correctly, are you telling me now that our shares have lost 20 percent in just 10 minutes??"
"Y-yes, sir," the worker confirmed faintly.
"THEN WHY THE h.e.l.l ARE YOU STILL HERE??! Move, call everybody in for an emergency meeting! I want to have the directors of all departments in the conference hall in five, no, in three minutes!"
President Lee sat down in his chair and loudly punched the table.
Then he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.
"d.a.m.n, I knew that something was not right about it."