Chapter 960: Looking for Susan

Chapter 960: Looking for Susan

Randall stared down the empty road ahead, his eyes dark and unreadable.

After a moment, he let out a breath and turned to Susan with a smile. "All good. Looks like the scare worked — your hiccups are gone. Let me take you home."

He drove Susan back to the Olteran Estate. Before she got out, he said, "I'll pick you up tomorrow morning."

"all, are you going to be in danger?"

Randall gave a cold, mocking smile. "You're giving them too much credit. Don't worry about it."

He watched her go inside, then drove off — not home, but to Erik's place. Erik and the others had gone to the hospital that night and never came back.

Erik's wife was at home, crying and making a scene. By the middle of the night, the neighbors had all drifted away and left her alone, with no one around but a lawyer she was consulting about filing for divorce.

Randall took one cold look at the scene inside and drove away.

He pulled onto a quiet, empty street, popped open the trunk, and took out a laptop. He didn't go home that night.

The next morning, Randall went into the office. The moment Jenny and Otto saw him, they pulled him aside.

"Erik wants to see you."

Randall had seen it coming. He followed them to the hospital.

Growing up, his uncle had shipped him off to boxing lessons more than once for running his mouth — and the most obvious thing he'd gotten out of it was raw power. The kick he'd landed on Erik the night before was pure blind rage, everything he had. Turned out it was enough to put the man in the hospital.

When Randall walked in, Erik slammed his cup off the table, glaring at him like he wanted to tear him apart. "Last night — you called the cops on Mr. Reed and Mr. Cooper's guys?"

Randall pulled out a resignation letter. "Was going to leave this on your desk, but I forgot you were in the hospital. Doesn't seem like there's much of a future for me at the company anyway, so I figured I'd just quit. Save everyone some money."

"I've already filed a police report," Erik shot back.

"Sure, whatever."

Erik's eyes were full of hate. "The injury assessment will be done soon. You're going to prison."

"Okay," Randall said, completely unfazed.

Jenny was trying to put in a good word for him.

Otto chimed in too. "Randall, just apologize to Erik and we can put this behind us."

Erik waved him off. "I don't want his apology."

Otto played his card. "Randall, you're a smart guy. You know what Erik has always wanted. Listen to me — you're still young. Whether it's prison time or just detention, it'll follow you. You can always find another woman. But your career, your future — if that's gone, your whole life is over. Look at Jenny, she's crazy about you. She's been defending you since last night. Here's what you do: bring your girlfriend. Have her come apologize to Erik privately. Then this all goes away."

Randall looked up at the man lying in the hospital bed, the one who'd just set the trap. His eyes drifted to the woman beside him, gazing at him with that longing look. Then he settled his gaze on Otto. "So this whole thing is a performance you're putting on for me."

"Randall, a man's career comes first. Women — you can get whatever kind you want." Otto pressed on. "Erik is genuinely angry this time."

Jenny added, "Randall, I really don't want to see you go to prison."

Randall took out his phone and dialed the police. "Hi, I'm calling to report an incident on behalf of my coworker. No — I'm the one who hit him."

He hung up and glanced at Erik's midsection. "When are you getting out?"

"What are you planning?"

"Thinking about hitting you again."

He walked out of the hospital.

Back in the office, Erik was seething. He swept everything off the table. "Get out. I want him dealt with."

Jenny watched Randall leave, then turned to look at her father in the hospital bed. "Otto, how do we find that girl?"

Susan had no afternoon classes, and she couldn't focus anyway. She left early and headed to Randall's place to wait for him.

She hadn't even made it into the building when a voice called out from behind her. "Did you hear? Randall's going to prison."

Susan stopped and turned around. It was the woman who had shoved her the night before.

Jenny walked up to her, taking in the girl with the backpack — young-looking, kind of cute. "He hit my dad last night because of you. My dad's decided to press charges."

Susan's face gave nothing away, but her palms were sweating. "Where's Randall?"

"The police probably have him by now," Jenny said lightly. "Want to save him?"

Susan didn't answer.

"Come to the hospital tonight and talk to my dad. If he lets it go, Randall walks free." Jenny looked her dead in the eye. "If you really love him, you need to think about what's best for him. For a man, his career matters far more than any woman. You love him, and so do I."

Susan stared at her. "He doesn't like you."

"But I can give him things you can't. A career. Status. Connections. I'm the sole heir to the company. If he's with me, he gets a business worth tens of millions without lifting a finger. Can you, a broke college student, even come close to that?"

Susan blinked at the woman standing there, so full of herself. How old was she when her allowance first hit seven figures?

"I have someone looking out for me," Susan said simply.

Jenny laughed. "What, your cop uncle? You think my dad can't make one phone call and end his career? What do you actually have? Do you even know what connections look like? Randall wants to do a master's degree — my dad can get him a supervisor, open doors. Can your uncle do any of that?"

Susan said nothing. Jenny took the silence as fear and kept going. "You two have love right now. But when real life hits — the pressure, the bills — all you're left with is a mess. Love like that doesn't last. Be smart. While you're still young and have something to offer, use what you've got to get ahead. When that fades, even the shortcuts will be gone." She dropped the act entirely. "Come be with my dad. Twenty thousand a month. Isn't that enough?"

Susan looked at her blankly. "Can I ask you something? Does your mom know you're out here finding your dad a mistress?"

"You—"

"Anyway, I've told you how to save Randall. If you're okay with watching him go to prison for you and feel nothing about it, that's your choice. But if he goes down and you did nothing, that's on you."

She flagged down a cab and left.

Susan watched her go, then pulled out her phone and called Randall.

No answer. She tried again. Still nothing. A quiet unease settled in her chest.

She didn't go to Randall's place. She turned around, hailed a cab, and said, "The Olteran Group."