Chapter 40 William''s Disappearance


    William had disappeared.


    After their quarrelst night, Mary had not expected him to return. But she began to feel uneasy as


    the hours passed and William did not show up. She thought he must be with one of his friends or


    colleagues.


    The day after he vanished, she learned that William had not been in contact with anyone from work,


    either.


    Around lunchtime, Kevin approached her to ask if she had seen William.


    "No," Mary answered.


    Kevin frowned. "This is unusual. I''ve been working with him for several years now, and he''s never


    disappeared like this before."


    "Well," said Mary. "There''s always a first time."


    "There are some documents that need to be signed by the CEO," Kevin said.


    "Don''t you know where the CEO is?" Jane asked her directly. She shook her head. Jane was


    confused. "But Mary, you''re his wife. Didn''t he tell you where he was going?" Mary tried to hide her


    uneasiness.


    Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDra/ma.O(r)g!


    "He... He had a business appointmentst night, " Mary improvised quickly. "He never came home. I


    assumed he made arrangements to stay overnight."


    Jane looked scandalized. "Mary, you shouldn''t be so careless! Never let a man stay out all night


    without even informing you, or he will get used to such bad habits!"


    Mary flushed. "I don''t interfere in his business matters."


    "Mary, it''s time to call him," Jane said seriously. "He hasn''t evene to work yet. You''re his wife.


    You have the right to know where he is."


    Mary brought out her phone, then hesitated. Assuring Kevin and Jane that she would try to contact


    him, she walked away from them. But once she was alone, she still did not call him.


    She fretted, wondering what she should do. What Jane said to her at lunchtime was vivid in her


    mind. She should call him, if not as his wife, then as his assistant. However, they had just had a


    serious argument yesterday. He might not want to hear from her yet.


    While Mary debated, Kevin came to her again.


    "Mary, I have some bad news," he said in a rush. "What''s wrong?" Mary asked, rmed by his


    expression.


    "There''s an important meeting scheduled this afternoon, about the real estate cooperation scheme.


    The others have already arrived and they''re expecting to meet with the CEO. What should we do?"


    There were beads of sweat on Kevin''s temples.


    "Did you try to call him?" she asked. Kevin nodded.


    "Yes, but he didn''t answer."


    Mary''s brows knitted together. What was wrong with William? What was he doing? It was quite


    irresponsible of him to fail to show up for such a critical meeting.


    "When will the meeting start?" she asked briskly. "Half past one."


    Mary nced at her watch. It was already a few minutes after one. "Is it possible for Manager Zhao


    to attend the meeting on behalf of the CEO?" Kevin shook his head.


    "He''s not familiar with the details," he exined. "This endeavor has always been directly


    supervised and handled by the CEO."


    Mary thought quickly. "All right. Then you go and stall them for a while. Invent any excuse. I''ll try to


    call William." Kevin did not look convinced by this n, but he nodded. He headed off to the


    meeting room.


    This time, Mary called William without hesitation.


    "Sorry," said a polite, recorded voice. "The number you have dialed cannot be reached. Please try


    againter."


    Frustrated, Mary hit redial, but the call went unanswered.


    ''Damn it! He''s causing trouble for the wholepany, not just me, '' she thought angrily.


    Mary put down the phone and began pacing. She thought of everyone she knew who was close to


    William, who might know how to reach him. Suddenly she stopped as Lucas came to her mind.


    She grabbed her phone again and dialed Lucas''s number. After several rings, he answered.


    "Hello, Mary. What''s up?" he asked amiably.


    "Lucas, are you with William?" Mary said abruptly, getting straight to the point.


    "No, I''m out of town," he replied. "Why? What''s wrong?"


    "William has disappeared," said Mary, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "None of us


    here in the office have been able to get in touch with him." "No way!" said Lucas, sounding shocked.


    "You mean he disappeared on a whim? He didn''t inform anyone? Not you, not anyone in the


    company?"


    "No," said Mary with a sigh. She felt a rush of disappointment. She had really hoped that Lucas


    might know where William had gone.


    "Have you spoken to his friends?"


    Mary was embarrassed. "I don''t know the phone numbers of his friends," she admitted.


    On the other end of the line, Lucas was silent. ''Right, of course. William wouldn''t bother telling a


    nominal wife how to contact his friends, '' he thought.


    "Let me ask around for you, see what I can find out," he proposed.


    "Okay," said Mary gratefully. "Please let me know immediately when you learn anything. There are


    urgent matters here that he absolutely has to attend to. Thanks!"


    "No problem," said Lucas casually. "Don''t worry too much. William is a sensible man, after all. I''m


    sure he hasn''t done anything foolish."


    "All right. Thanks again."


    As soon as Mary hung up, Lucas dialed William''s number.


    Like Kevin and Mary, he was unable to get through. "The number you have dialed cannot be


    reached," said the recorded voice in his ear.


    Lucas hung up and scowled. There was only one other option.


    Frank. Of Course it was because of him.


    Lucas dialed Frank''s number.


    "The number you have dialed cannot be reached, " said the voice again.


    Lucas put down the phone, his face cold. Where had those two gone now? What were they


    nning? ''Are you going to drop everything for love? Abandon your work, abandon your family?'' he


    sneered mentally at his friend. ''What a joke! You''re just going to leave it all behind? You''re immature


    and reckless, '' he thought angrily.


    Lucas sent a text message to William. "Call me as soon as you see this message."


    Then, with a heavy sigh, he called Mary.


    As soon as Mary finished speaking with Lucas, she went to the meeting room. She found that the


    meeting had been cancelled, and a group of investors were walking out with aggravated and


    irritated looks on their faces.


    Manager Zhao walked behind them, trying to cate them. "We apologize deeply for this


    inconvenience. Our CEO had an emergency to attend to, something deeply private and urgent. We


    will reschedule as soon as possible, at your convenience, of course," he said.


    "Manager Zhao," said one of the investors sharply. He was a middle-aged man who looked capable


    and, right now, annoyed. "AJ Group is arge and reputablepany, which is why we agreed to


    do business with you. But this is very rude and irresponsible. We did not expect to be treated this


    way. Not only has your CEO failed to show up to a scheduled meeting, he didn''t even bother to


    send apologies or exnations!"


    "Again, we are truly sorry," said Manager Zhao, bowing slightly. "We hope you will allow us to make


    it up to you. I assure you the CEO will apologize to you personally as soon as he can."


    Shaking their heads, the group of investors walked into the elevator.


    Mary walked up to Manager Zhao. "It''s not your fault. Thanks for doing your best," she told him.


    Manager Zhao ran his hand over his face, looking disgruntled. "There will be trouble because of


    this. It will affect the reputation of thepany. Mrs. Lan, where on earth is Mr. Lan? Why didn''t he


    attend this meeting?"


    "He..." Mary trailed off, then said haltingly, "You''re right, there was an emergency. He''s — he''s sick.


    He went to the emergency room."


    Manager Zhao pursed his lips, glowering suspiciously at Mary. It was clear he did not believe her.


    "Well, I need to get going," Mary said hurriedly, eager to end the conversation. "Manager Zhao, you


    can go back to work, I''m sure you''re busy too."


    She nodded and smiled at him and walked away as quickly as she could. ''Because I''m the CEO''s


    wife, everything he does is my fault too, '' she thought.


    She tried calling William again, to no avail.


    The rest of the day, rumors spread about William''s conspicuous absence, each wilder than thest.


    Some whispered that he had stolen money from thepany and fled. Others repeated Mary''s


    story about the emergency room. A few mused that he might have been kidnapped for ransom and


    the police were suppressing any information about the case. Everyone watched Mary covertly. As


    the wife of the CEO, they were sure she had inside information. Their stares and whispers made


    Mary feel self-conscious.


    Restless and furious with William, she avoided everyone, not wanting to spout any more lies to


    cover his disappearance. She had absolutely no idea where her husband had gone. As the hours


    passed, she even began to feel worried about the rumors. What if he had actually been kidnapped?


    She didn''t even know if he was alive or injured or dead.


    Finally, the work day ended, and the employees began heading home. Mary went over to Kevin as


    he was packing his things in his bag. "Kevin," she said, "Please tell all the department managers to


    inform everyone that William is in the hospital. Tell them—oh, I don''t know. Just say that the specific


    nature of his illness is private and it''s nobody''s business what he has."


    Kevin nodded. "Sure, I can do that."


    "All right then," said Mary hopelessly. "Go on ahead. Thanks."


    She left the office with a deep sense of powerlessness. Where had William gone? Where was he


    now? No one seemed to know. Was it time to call the police?


    Once she got home, after a moment''s hesitation, she picked up her phone and called William''s


    father. Apart from Lucas, he was the only other person she could think of who might know what


    William was up to.


    "Hello?" said Timothy. "It''s Mary," she said nervously. He greeted her in an amiable tone. He didn''t


    seem to have any inkling that anything was wrong.


    "Father," she said, taking a deep breath, "I need to ask you something."


    "What is it?"


    "William..." But as soon as she said her husband''s name, she stopped, realizing that she shouldn''t


    involve his father in this. It would be wrong. Judging by what she had seen of their rtionship,


    telling Timothy about his son''s disappearance would only cause more trouble and misunderstanding


    between them.


    When she didn''t continue, Timothy spoke. "Mary? What''s wrong? What about William?"


    "Oh," said Mary, shaking her head, d he couldn''t see her over the phone. "It''s just—It''s the


    wedding photos of me and William. We''ve received the photos and we also have an electronic


    version. We were wondering if you wanted a copy sent to you online?"


    Timothy rxed. "Okay, that sounds great. Thank you for reminding me of this, Mary," he said.


    "Of course, Father," said Mary, forcing her voice to sound cheerful. "That''s all I wanted to say! Have


    a good night!"


    "Sure. Good night, Mary."


    Mary ended the call, then marched to the bedroom and flung herself down on the bed. She didn''t


    know what to do next. Shey there without moving until she fell into a restless sleep.


    Mary was awoken by the sound of the phone ringing. She stirred and reached for the phone,


    wondering how long she had been asleep. When she nced at the screen, she saw that it was


    Lucas calling.


    Maybe he had news about William. She immediately sat up, all sleepiness gone. "Hello? What''s


    going on? Have you heard anything?" she asked anxiously.


    "Yes," said Lucas in a low voice. He sounded tired. "I asked him to call me, but he sent me a


    message instead. He just said he was fine. Nothing more."


    Mary squeezed her eyes shut, feeling like she was about to develop a headache. "So, when will he


    come back?" She knew even as she asked what Lucas would say. He had just told her that William


    hadn''t said anything beyond the fact that he was fine.


    "He didn''t tell me," said Lucas. He added, "I tried to call him as soon as I received his message, but


    it was toote. His phone was already turned off again."


    "Why is he doing this?" Mary asked. The longer William was gone, the more her anger grew.


    "What''s his n? Doesn''t he care about thepany anymore? Is he alone, or is he out


    gallivanting with someone?"


    Lucas hesitated, wondering what he should tell Mary. After a pause, he decided that there was no


    need to tell her about Frank. There was nothing she could do even if he told her, and besides, that


    was William''s private affair. So he said only, "I''m afraid the only thing we can do now is wait."


    Mary gripped the phone harder than necessary. "All right," she said. "Then we''ll wait."


    "Mary..." "What?" she snapped angrily. She regretted her tone immediately. She must not take out


    her anger at William on other people. "I''m sorry," she said. "Lucas, I''m really sorry... I didn''t mean it.


    I''m just so tired and frustrated."


    "I know," said Lucas gently. For a moment, there was silence, then Lucas said, "William has told me


    everything, you know."


    "Everything?"


    "I know you have a fake marriage," he said.


    "Oh, okay," she said quickly, relieved that he was being so kind. "Thank you for not being angry with


    me."


    Lucas sounded like he was smiling. "Really, who wouldn''t be angry if such a thing happened to


    them? William left without warning, leaving his mess for you to clean up. It''s all right for you to be


    furious with him."


    "I should save my anger for him instead of snapping at you," Mary said, smiling bitterly.


    "Mary. I understandpletely. Go to bed now and just wait until he turns up again."


    "Okay," she sighed. "Thanks again. Bye." She put down the phone and nced at the clock on the


    wall. It was eleven o''clock already. She had been asleep for several hours.