Chapter 4: My Money!
1020 Words
Tom opened his eyes slowly as he groggily took in details of his surroundings. He was lying in a hospital bed, surrounded by beeping machines and sterile white walls.
He could barely recognize the woman in a white coat standing by his side. "Doctor?"
"Hello, Tom. It's a good thing you're awake." Her soft voice reassured him.
"What happened?" He croaked with his throat dry.
"One of your employees rushed you here. She said you passed out and became unconscious." The female doctor told him.
Then his mind raced back to the chain of events that occurred earlier, even though he was not sure how long it had been. Martina's disappearance, the note she left, the emotional shock that followed it....He sighed.
"So what is the state of my condition, doctor? Did something bad happen?"
"Well, luckily, nothing bad happened to you. You just lost your consciousness due to an emotional shock and exhaustion. Did you overthink something?"
Tom took his face to meet the doctor's but didn't utter a word. She immediately understood he didn't want to talk about it.
"Okay, it's fine. But you should avoid emotional stress for now because even though this was a minor incident, it could result in something serious in the long run if it continues."
Tom nodded signifying that he understood what she said. "So when would I be discharged?"
"From your health response, we can let you go today. I'd inform the nurse about it."
"Okay, thank you."
"Uhm, by the way, do you have a family member around that we can place a call across to? Just to come over and pick you up."
"Don't worry about that doctor. I can handle myself."
"No problem. If you need anything else, I'd be in my office. Don't hesitate to let me know." The doctor told him as she left the room.
As the doctor left the room, Tom's mind wandered back to the fact that Martina was gone and all he was left with was a note that absolutely made no sense to him.
He thought about the last time he saw her before going to the office. She didn't display any sign that was off. They never had a fight. So what happened? Why did she leave? Those thoughts constantly rang through his mind but he couldn't find a perfect and satisfactory answer.
******
"Excuse me, sir, this was brought in 2 days ago and I noticed you haven't signed them." Tom's office assistant, Jane, said to him when he resumed at the office some days later.
"What is it for?" Tom enquired.
"It's the final document for the project discussed in the last meeting. Your signature is the only one left for the commencement."
"Leave it on my desk. I'd attend to it later."
"Okay. Uhm...I know this is an off-work topic and probably doesn't concern me but I heard what happened and I'm sorry about that sir."
"Yeah, it's none of your business but thanks anyway," Tom responded without lifting his head from the papers on his desk as he tried to focus. "If there's nothing else you'd want me to do at the moment, please let me be for now."
"Actually, there is something that I would like to confirm but I don't know if this is the right time for it."
"What is it?"
"I was going over the accounts just this morning and I noticed something off in the records."
"What do you mean off?" Tom finally raised his head up with a puzzled face.
"Well, it looks like a large amount was moved from the company's account recently. I think it was done remotely so I can't trace it. Could it be you sir?"
"Me? Large amount? I don't think I've authorized any transaction from the company's finance for a while now.....Wait, when was this?"
"About 5 days ago sir."
Tom paused to think again. "No. I don't know of that." He added after he became certain. "How much exactly are we talking about."
"About 30 million sir."
"What! That's not possible."
"Exactly sir, I'm confused. Only you have access to the account."
"Hold on a second....did you say this happened 5 days ago?"
"Yes sir. At about noon, to be precise."
Tom's eyes widened like he had come to the realization of something. "Martina!" He screamed.
"Martina? Your wife? Erh..sorry, ex-wife."
"Yes! That was a day before she left. She must have found a way to forge my signature." His loud voice came out angrily.
Jane looked at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry sir. What would you want me to do now sir?"
"I want you to trace the godd*mn account the money went to. She must not get away with this."
"I actually tried that already sir. I couldn't trace it as no record was found. I still don't understand how she could manage to do that."
Tom's face turned red with anger and frustration. "What do you mean no records were found? That's impossible! She must have left a trail behind. Check again!" He slammed his fist on his desk.
"I already tried contacting the accounts and finance department about it and we have run a thorough check on the transaction but it didn't lead anywhere. It suddenly just disappeared into thin air."
Tom loosened his tie and fell back to his seat. This isn't the kind of news he wanted to hear. His whole words seemed like it was crashing down and it was all happening fast. Just when he thought Martina's sudden disappearance was the only thing he would battle with.
He cheated on Whitney with a woman he didn't know was a thief. A woman whose plan was to steal his money right from the beginning. Now he has lost his wife, the only woman who loved him genuinely, and his money was gone with no evidence or tract left behind.
At that moment, his mind flashed back to the way he treated Whitney with disdain and disrespect.
"I was a fool for letting you go, Whitney. Now my life is a mess. What am I gonna do now?"
- Writer
