Marcus’s head throbbed as a high-pitched ringing filled his ears. He tried to open his eyes, but they were heavy at first, so he had to do it slowly… very slowly. As he did, light flooded in and blinded him for a moment. Everything was blurry. Then, little by little, shapes began to emerge and come into focus. A soft voice pierced through the haze beside him. “Marcus? Are you okay? Marcus, are you hearing me?” The words anchored him. He blinked hard, forcing his vision to sharpen. White walls, fluorescent lights, the faint smell of antiseptic and clean linen. He was in a hospital room, lying on a crisp hospital bed with monitors beeping steadily around him. Doctors in white coats hovered nearby, checking IV lines and reading charts. And right beside him sat Natalie, her face etched with worry, eyes red-rimmed from lack of sleep. He groaned, instinctively trying to push himself up. Pain lanced through his body, but he kept moving until Natalie’s hands pressed firmly against

Jessica refused to calm down even after the security guards surrounded her. "I said call the police!" she shouted hysterically. "I'll expose all of you!" Seeing that she refused to leave peacefully, the guards finally contacted the authorities. Twenty minutes later, Jessica and Natalie were both seated inside a nearby police station. Jessica pointed angrily at Natalie across the desk. "She's lying! She's preventing me from meeting Mr. Smith. He's one of the Langstone board leaders, and she's abusing her authority to keep me away from him!" The officer behind the desk looked from Jessica to Natalie. Natalie sighed, already exhausted. "Officer, there is no board leader named Mr. Smith at Langstone. In fact, there has never been one." Jessica slammed both palms onto the desk. "Stop lying! I met him! He introduced himself! I even met several other board members that day!" Natalie folded her arms. "And every single one of them was a scammer." Jessica glared at her. The officer

Sorry about the lack of updates, my system was faulty. From tomorrow, will started dropping steadily. Thanks wonderful readers.