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“Oh… Jason said, “Maybe she’s thinking about telling you how she feels and is scared.”
“No… Liam thought about something else and said again, his jaw tightening. “Call Blake Theo’s office.” I want to talk to him.
The lift doors opened, and they got out. “OK, sir,” Jason said, and then he went to his little office while Liam went to his office.
He took off his suit jacket and slung it over the back of his chair. Then he sat down, rolled up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows, and unfastened his tie while running his fingers through his hair.
A minute later, his intercom chimed, and he pushed the button. “Yes, Jason?” “
“Sir, I called Mr. Theo’s office, but his assistant told me that he left for New Zealand yesterday for a business meeting.”
He clenched his jaw. “OK.” Thanks.
He put both hands behind his head and reclined back in his chair. He put one knee on top of the other on his desk.
What is bothering her if Blake isn’t here?
As he rubbed his temples, he began to get a headache.
He could feel that something was really wrong.
He studied a file for an hour but couldn’t focus on it since his mind kept drifting to Sophie.
He was so angry that he shoved the file away and contacted Sophie on his phone.
It was turned off.
He started to become nervous and called Helen right away. She picked up a few rings later. “Yes, Liam?” “
“Where is Sophie?” “
“She left for work about an hour ago.”
“OK.” He hung up and dialed Alley next. “Alley, is Sophie with you?” “
“No.” She didn’t show up today. I was phoning her, but her phone was off. I was just going to call you.
“Damn it.”
“Liam… Where is she? “
“I’ll tell you later, Alley.” “OK.” “Just let me know if she comes.”
He threw his phone down on the desk after hanging up. “Where the hell are you, Sophie?” “
He attempted to contact her again, but it didn’t work. Instead, he called Jason and asked him to find Sophie’s phone.
Jason found her phone’s position around half an hour later, near Alley’s restaurant. That’s all there was to it.
He told Jason to go, and his phone buzzed, and a notice went off. When he opened it, he saw a message from an unknown number.
Not many people know his cell phone number. He opened the message, and his face turned white when he read it. Liam,
I don’t think I can keep doing this with you. It’s too much for me. I’m sorry, but I’m going. Thank you for everything you did for me, but now I’m leaving.
See you later.
~Sophie
For a minute, he couldn’t move, talk, think, or even breathe. He was stuck in place.
She left him?!
He gripped the phone tighter and tighter as the message played over and over in his brain. He slammed the phone against the wall, where it broke into pieces.
He pondered, “After all the love I gave her, she left me? Did she never feel anything for me? Was everything a lie?”
He thought about every moment he spent with her: her smile, her voice, her face, her touches, her kisses, her embraces, and her words.
No, this can’t be right.
He made a fist with his hand and clenched and unclenched it, hoping to calm the tempest inside him.
He pulled his chair back and quickly swept everything off his desk when it was too much for him to handle. His laptop and other stuff fell to the floor.
He flipped over his desk and held on to it. His eyes were full of wrath as he kept breaking everything.
Jason heard the ruckus and walked in. When he saw the state of the office, his mouth fell. Liam is a highly organized guy who likes everything to be in its place all the time. He never gets upset, not like this.
Jason realized something had caused him to go crazy when he saw him like this. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he contacted Nathan. “S-sir…your brother is very angry.” He is flinging things all over the place; he nearly broke his office. “Please come down here.”
“I’m coming.” He said this quickly and picked up the phone, leaving Jason standing there, not knowing what to do next.
Why was he so angry?
As I mentioned, Nathan got down there in less than half a minute and marched to his brother’s office. He was shocked to see him like that.
He cried, “Liam, what the hell is wrong with you?”
Liam was standing with his back to him, his head down, his hands at his sides, and his palms folded into fists.
He cautiously turned around when he heard Nathan’s voice, his jaw tight and his eyes blazing with anger.
Nathan carefully moved closer to him. “Brother, what happened?” “She left me,” he said angrily. “That’s what happened: she left me.”
“What?” Nathan moved further closer and put his hands on his shoulders. “What do you mean by she left?”
Liam’s lower lip shook, and he started to cry. His voice broke. Not as angry as it used to be. But a voice that was cracked and gentle. “She left me, brother.” He embraced Nathan closely as he cried and put his head on his brother’s shoulder. Nathan’s heart sank when he saw him like way, and he embraced him back.
“She left me, brother,” he cried. “She said she would never…but she left me. She left me…”
Nathan didn’t know what to say to comfort his brother since he was wondering why she would abandon him when she loved him.
His tears soaked Nathan’s shirt as he wailed, “I loved her.” “I was happy. I fell in love with her. I finally found someone to love, and then she left me. She promised she wouldn’t.”
Nathan pushed back and grasped his shoulders tightly. “Listen to me, brother.”
Liam had his head down and was crying. He wouldn’t listen to Nathan. His legs shook, and he sank to his knees, cradling his head in his hands, which broke Nathan’s heart even more.
Nathan bent down in front of him. “Liam, just for a second, think. She loved you. Why would she leave you?”
“She d-didn’t…” His voice broke. “She didn’t…she never said she loved me…”
“Did she say why she left you?”
Liam sniffed. “She… she sent me a message… she said… it’s too much for her… and she’s leaving… she left…”
This didn’t sound right. She really loved him, didn’t she? How can she go? And why?
Nathan grabbed Liam’s arm and pulled him up and over to the sofa, which was lucky since he didn’t break it.
He forced him to sit on the couch, and Nathan kept crying while he got out his phone and called Alley.
“Alley…” He spoke right away when she picked up. “Can you come to our office right now?”
“What happened?” “Please, just come here…”
“Okay, I’m on my way.”
Liam put his head on Nathan’s shoulder and cried as Nathan wrapped his arm over Liam’s shoulder to comfort him.
When Alley got to the building, Nathan directed her to go to the 40th floor. It had been twenty minutes.
When they got to that floor, Jason led her to Liam’s office, and she gasped when she saw how messy it was. Nathan put his finger over his lips to tell her to stay quiet since Liam had fallen asleep with his head on Nathan’s shoulder. He had streaks of tears on his cheeks, a scowl on his brow, and he continued murmuring Sophie’s name in his sleep.
Alley sat down next to Nathan, worried about what was going on.
“Nat…” she said softly. “What’s wrong with him and Sophie? She seemed to have vanished. Do you know where she is?”
“Liam got her message earlier…” He whispered back and told her everything, even calling Jason in to tell them how worried Liam was about her.
After he was done talking, Alley spoke right away with confidence. “She would never leave him, Nat. She loved him. She would never do that. I believe her.”
Nathan looked at his brother and kissed him lightly on the head. “Where is she now? And what did that message mean?”
“She is in danger no matter where she is,” Alley said, horror growing inside her. “Sophie…” Liam muttered, still asleep, as a tear fell from his eye.