Chapter 194

Ethan looked at her and didn't try to argue anymore. He knew there was no point arguing with the front desk staff.

He took a step back, pulled out his phone from his coat pocket, and swiped the screen.

He pressed the dial button.

The receptionists watched his movements but didn't stop him.

After a few rings, the call connected.

"Hello." Damian's cold voice came through the phone.

"Mr. Wolfe, hello." Ethan's voice was calm. "Grace's two friends and I are in the lobby downstairs at your company. There's something we need to confirm with you."

Silence on the other end. Ethan could hear the faint sound of papers rustling.

After another few seconds of silence, Damian's voice came through. "Wait there."

The call ended.

Ethan put away his phone and regarded the reception staff with a neutral expression.

Less than ten seconds later, the receptionist's internal phone rang. She picked it up, listened to just one sentence, and immediately responded. She hung up and stood up at once. "Mr. Parker, I sincerely apologize. Please come with me, I'll call the elevator for you."

The three of them were led into Damian's office.

The office was minimally furnished—a massive black desk, a few sleek guest chairs, and a bookshelf against the wall. Nothing else. The entire space was empty, cold, and hard, filled with an oppressive atmosphere.

Damian sat behind that massive desk.

He wore a dark blue shirt with no tie, the top two buttons casually undone. He didn't look up, his gaze still fixed on the laptop screen in front of him, his fingers tapping on the keyboard.

Only when he heard the door open did Damian stop what he was doing. He closed the laptop, leaned back into his wide leather chair, looked up, and turned his gaze toward them.

His eyes were cold and indifferent, without a ripple of emotion. He first glanced at Mia and Evelyn, then finally, his gaze settled on Ethan.

"What is it?" he asked.

Ethan met his gaze and took a step forward.

"Mr. Wolfe, Grace disappeared after resigning from headquarters." He got straight to the point, his voice well-controlled, showing no trace of panic, only a cold, hard questioning tone.

Damian's expression flickered almost imperceptibly, then returned to normal. He picked up a pen from the desk and spun it casually between his fingers.

"She didn't disappear," he said. "She resigned. As I said before, maybe she went straight abroad."

"She wouldn't do that." Mia couldn't help but speak up, her voice a bit tight but still controlled. "She's supposed to be a bridesmaid next week. We went to try on the dresses together. She wouldn't just leave without a word for any job."

Evelyn continued, "We went to her place and found this."

She took out the black stylus pen in the evidence bag from her purse, walked forward a few steps, and placed it on the edge of the desk.

"A designer wouldn't leave her pen behind." Evelyn's voice was clear and calm.

Damian's gaze swept over the pen, his expression unchanged. He didn't even reach out to touch it.

"Maybe she bought a new one," he said lightly, his tone undisguisedly dismissive. "Maybe the equipment abroad is better."

He impatiently pressed his brow. "Anything else? Where your people go has nothing to do with me."

"We reported it to the police." Ethan's voice deepened. "But it was suppressed. The police station has suspended all case-filing requests related to her. Mr. Wolfe, besides you, who else in Harmony City could make the city police do this?"

The atmosphere in the office grew tense.

Damian stopped spinning the pen. He placed it on the desk with a light click.

He looked at Ethan, a faint smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Mr. Parker, are you questioning me?" His voice was soft, but the sense of oppression suddenly intensified. "You need evidence when you speak. Do you have evidence?"

Ethan's jaw clenched. He knew that in a pure power confrontation, he was no match for Damian at all.

"We just want to know where she is and if she's safe." Mia took a deep breath, bringing the topic back. "She came here the afternoon before yesterday, and after that, we couldn't reach her anymore. We want to see the surveillance footage from that day. From when she entered the building to when she left."

This was their last and most direct request.

If they could see the surveillance, they would know who she last met, which door she left through, and whose car she got into.

Damian looked at them without answering immediately. Instead, he picked up the internal phone on his desk and pressed a button.

"Byron, come in."

A few seconds later, the office door opened, and Byron walked in.

"Mr. Wolfe."

Damian's gaze remained on Mia's face. "Pull up the surveillance footage for them."

Byron turned to the three of them, bowed slightly, and said in his emotionless professional tone, "I'm very sorry, everyone. Due to the headquarters' annual security system upgrade, starting from early Monday morning this week, all surveillance equipment including the lobby, all public corridors, and exits have been shut down for calibration and haven't recorded any footage. The system only fully recovered yesterday morning."

This timing... Mia and Evelyn's faces changed instantly.

Ethan stood there, his hands clenched into tight fists at his sides. Looking at Damian's handsome but cold face, he felt powerless for the first time.

Seeing that no one spoke, Damian turned his gaze back to his computer screen, as if they no longer existed.

"If there's nothing else," he issued his dismissal, his voice devoid of any warmth, "Byron, show them out. I have a meeting in ten minutes."

Byron stood by the door, his posture respectful, but his body had already turned slightly, making a gesture of "please."

In the office, outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, was Harmony City's brilliant night scene, with traffic flowing like streams and lights like stars. But inside, the air was as cold as ice.

Ethan looked at Damian's cold and distant attitude, his fists clenched tight.

But Ethan knew that here, any emotional behavior would be meaningless, only making him look incompetent and ridiculous.

Ethan unclenched his fists, took a deep look at Damian behind the desk, and without a word, turned and walked out.

Mia and Evelyn were also helpless and anxious. They had come with hope, only to hit a wall built of power and lies. What was behind the wall, they had no way of knowing, but they could feel the cold hostility emanating from within.

The two followed Ethan, silently walking out of that suffocating office.

The heavy wooden door closed silently behind them, separating two worlds.

As the elevator descended, the elevator was silent as a tomb. The three figures reflected on the polished car walls, blurred and silent.

Only after walking out of Wolfe Corporation's entrance did the oppressive suffocation ease slightly.

Ethan stopped, looked back at the towering building, his eyes churning with emotions he was trying hard to control.

"He's lying." Mia's voice was low, filled with doubt. "How could the surveillance just happen to be down?"

"I feel like he's hiding something too." Evelyn's voice was cold.

Ethan didn't speak. He took out his phone and made a call.

"Dad, it's me." His voice was tired but firm. "I need you to help me with something..."

The night was deep. Three people stood under the Wolfe Corporation building, their shadows stretched long by the streetlights.