Chapter 359: Am I Your Wife or Fallon's Wife?
"Ms. Mitchell!" The secretary watched as the painting on the wall was moved aside, revealing a door.
Eleanor looked at it, her heart skipping a beat. "Go check if Mr. Brown's people are still around. If they are, get them to come help."
"I'll go right now," the secretary said, turning to leave.
Eleanor stood at the doorway staring at the door, confusion piling up in her eyes. The Mitchell Group had been controlled by Elowen's parents in the early years. Later, driven by selfish interests and wanting to make money, they took the company public through financing, which nearly brought it to collapse. In the end, it was Elowen's grandfather who discovered their scheme and ordered them to return the money and turn themselves in. Only then did the matter come to an end, and the Mitchell family's century-old reputation was preserved.
Although this matter was handled discreetly, those in the know understood all the twists and turns. They didn't talk about it because Elowen's grandfather still had some influence in their circle.
Otherwise, it was hard to imagine what state the Mitchell family would be in now.
Eleanor was already exhausted from taking over this mess. After what happened with Elowen last night, who knew how badly the stock would drop tomorrow?
Elowen's situation wasn't even resolved yet, and now William and Thalia had gotten involved too.
"Ms. Mitchell, they're here."
John looked at the door in front of him, surprised. "A secret passage?"
"I just checked the surveillance footage. When they were dragging Thalia, the person had their back to this door and opened it effortlessly, like they knew exactly what they were doing. I thought it was strange, so I came in to look around and found this."
"What are you planning to do?" John looked at Eleanor. In this situation, if it were an ordinary person, they would never let them in. Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?
For a moment, he couldn't figure out what she was thinking.
"Let's go in and take a look."
"Me too?"
Eleanor turned and glared at John. "I asked you here to back me up. What else would you be here for?"
John awkwardly touched his nose, thinking to himself that Thalia was really something!
If it were Thalia, she would have just gone straight in.
"Move aside," John gestured for Eleanor to step back and knocked on the door.
"It's hollow behind the door." He thought for a few seconds, then reached out and pushed the door open.
Pitch black, without any light.
John took out his phone, turned on the flashlight to shine around, and reached out to feel the air. "There's a breeze. Want to check it out?"
"You stay at the entrance and don't let anyone in."
The secretary nodded and left.
John and Eleanor stepped inside together, descending the steps one by one. The empty space made it feel even darker.
"A secret room in the building? This place must have existed when the building was first constructed. Otherwise, it wouldn't be so well hidden. Whose office was this originally?"
Elowen's dad's!
This office building was also built under Elowen's dad's leadership.
"Let's keep going."
Dirty laundry shouldn't be aired in public. There was no point in saying more.
Elowen's dad was now sitting in prison.
Eleanor continued downward, going down several floors until she saw a door. The door was ajar, hard to spot in the darkness.
John heard something and signaled Eleanor to stay quiet.
The two listened carefully to the sounds around them and heard someone mumbling.
"Someone's there?" Eleanor asked in a low voice.
"Maybe. Let's check it out." John's hand felt along the wall, trying to find a switch. After fumbling for a while, he discovered it was a hidden door. He pushed it open and saw a man in a suit tied up on the ground.
When the man saw Eleanor, he got as agitated as a caterpillar, wriggling and struggling on the ground.
"Do you know him?"
"Vice president of the sales department. The owner of this office."
Eleanor walked over and yanked the towel off his mouth. "What are you doing here?"
"I was tied up and brought here."
"I was working overtime! Someone came into my office and knocked me out. When I woke up, I was here."
"Looks like those two people knew about this secret room!"
"Ms. Mitchell, this isn't just a company matter anymore, is it? There must be a mole in the Mitchell family! No wonder Ms. Smith said you had it rough. You really do have it rough! Mr. Mitchell dumped all this mess on you to clean up. Don't be surprised if after you finish cleaning it up, his real son comes out and you have to step aside."
"You work yourself to death getting the company back on track, only to end up contributing to someone else. How miserable is that!"
Eleanor could take being mocked by Thalia, but now John too? What gave him the right?
"You sure talk a lot, John."
"Can't help it! It's in my nature. You're not going to burn bridges, are you?" He was Thalia's person. Everyone knew Thalia and Eleanor didn't get along, so naturally, he wouldn't be too friendly with Eleanor either. Helping out today was purely to watch the drama unfold.
"If you don't need me anymore, should I leave?"
Eleanor thought, 'Fine! Thalia's people are just like Thalia.'
"Go ahead and leave! As soon as you do, I'll call Thalia."
John thought, 'No wonder they're like sisters? These sneaky tactics are definitely Thalia's style.'
...
Near dawn, the phone on Thalia's nightstand rang. William woke up first, glanced at the phone, and saw John's name flashing on it. The man's tone was low.
"Do you know what time it is?"
"Mr. Brown, Ms. Mitchell discovered a sealed space at the company. Their vice president of sales was locked inside." William's rebuke startled John. At four in the morning, the sky was hazy. Looking down from above, neon lights flickered, making it hard to tell if it was dawn or dusk.
The transition between night and day wasn't clear.
People were also groggy and unclear-headed.
"Got it."
"From now on, contact me or Finn about this kind of thing." William's warning basically told John directly not to contact Thalia in the middle of the night anymore.
Thalia was the one being doted on, but he was the one getting scolded. How miserable!
"Whose call?" Thalia asked groggily, her voice hoarse.
"John. Go back to sleep!"
"What did he say?" Thalia's mind was still on the matter.
"Wrong number," the man said, pulling her into his arms and gently soothing her.
Thalia hummed in response, turned over, and went back to sleep.
...
"My back..."
In the morning, William was washing up in the bathroom when he heard a wail from the bedroom.
He grabbed a towel to wipe the shaving cream off his chin and rushed out of the bathroom.
"What's wrong?"
"My back!"
"Let me see."
William lifted her nightgown to take a look. "It's swollen."
"It's all your fault for making me rub it."
"It would be more swollen if you didn't rub it. Have Fallon get you a hot towel to apply to it."
Fallon was puzzled.
Thalia asked, "Why not you? Am I your wife or Fallon's wife? Am I your responsibility or hers? William, I suffered for you, and you want to pass me off to someone else?"
"I'll do it. Okay, stop scolding." William said.