Genius Daughter Of What Was Broken

Chapter 4: Unresponsive doorbell

Two months later, Alice’s replacement failed to meet expectations, leading to constant production delays, which significantly reduced monthly revenue.

Justin’s father, furious, stood by the window of his penthouse and called the company manager.

“Hello, Mr. Tank. What is happening? Why is there a drastic drop in our revenue? have you become this incompetent at running the company?” Justin’s father, Mr. Parker asked in a displeased tone, waiting to get answers!

“No… no, sir. I’m very capable of running the company. We have had a lot of technical difficulties lately, which caused delays and affected our production capacity,” Mr. Tank stammered in a shaky voice, trembling as he stood, suddenly sweating under the air conditioner.

“We didn’t use to have technical problems, what happened?” Mr. Parker pressed further, curiosity lacing his voice.

“Uhm… i…i suspended the previous head of technical department on orders from your son,” he quivered, his feet wobbling.

“You did what? Have you lost your damn mind? How could you make such a decision without my knowledge?” Mr. Parker seethed, furious, crushing the apple in his hand.

“I’m so sorry, sir. Your son threatened to have me fired, I had no choice. Please forgive me, sir.” He pleaded, lips shaking, anxiety burning through his body.

“You better hope for your sake whoever you fired is still available and willing to be reinstated. Otherwise, you will be in a big trouble.” Mr. Parker threatened, glancing at his watch

“Yes, sir. I will find her and have her reinstated. I didn’t completely fire her, it was only a suspension. I had hoped Justin would listen to me and accept my plea on her behalf, but he didn’t.”

“That’s your problem. Goodnight Mr. Tank.” He hung up. The abrupt buzz of the disconnection startled the manager as he visibly trembled.

He glanced at his watch, it was past midnight. He knew he couldn’t call Alice at such an hour. Gently sliding the phone from his ear, he placed it on the table and headed to bed with a troubled mind.

Still lost in his sleep, the early morning sunlight flashed in his face, forcing him to wake up—only to realize it was past 8:00 a.m. The morning Alarm had gone off unnoticed, he was too tired and rooted in his sleep.

He hurriedly got out of bed, ran into the bathroom for a quick bath, washing carelessly. He pulled out a towel from the rack, dried himself off, got dressed and headed to work.

Upon arriving at the gate, he honked and it opened. He drove in, quickly stepped out, and headed straight to his office.

After settling down, he logged into his computer and pulled up Alice’s application file. He took her phone number from it and rang her through the office phone five times, but none of the calls went through, leaving him frustrated.

Immediately, he began sweating, shifting in his seat. His eyes darting across the room as his breathing intensified.

Still in the thick of his frustration, he pulled off his blazer, swung it over the back of his chair and slammed his hands hard on the desk with a loud exclaim:

“f**k!!”

His loud voice rippling through the room before he eventually collected himself and called his assistant to schedule a meeting right away.

After ending the call, he reached back for his blazer, slipped it on, adjusted himself properly and headed to the conference room.

Upon his arrival, everyone was already seated. The room felt unusually cold and quiet—quieter than usual. His unfriendly demeanor, gentle and deliberate steps made everyone still, watching him with curiosity as he walked to the front.

“I called you all here over a matter of little importance to you, but of great importance to me and this company. I need to contact Alice. I tried, but I couldn’t reach her, is there someone who knows where she lives?” He asked, scanning the room, hoping to see a lifted hand before spotting one in the middle row.

“Yes, Mia. Please, come forward,” he said, gesturing to her to step forward.

“I know where she lives, I do hope she still lives there. I have been there just once,” Mia chirped, twisting her fingers and swaying from side to side.

“That’s something, let’s go find out. Come with me, the rest of you are dismissed. Thank you for your time!” He announced.

The quick dismissal didn’t sit well with some disgruntled staff members, who immediately began mumbling while heading back to their offices.

Mr. Tank, unbothered by their dissatisfaction, rushed to his car with Mia as they headed to Alice’s house.

A feeling of elation surged through his body, letting out a sigh of relief and once again, flashing a smile across his cheeks.

Mia noticed his big smile, but pretended like she didn’t. She turned to the window, watching the passing scenery and drawing lazy circles on the glass before turning back to give him directions.

A few miles in, and just minutes away from Alice’s house, Mia mentioned they were close—a piece of news that made her boss sit up as he flashed an even bigger smile until they finally arrived.

He pulled over, unbuckled his seatbelt, and took a deep breath before stepping out. They pushed the car doors shut, walked to her door as Mia rang the doorbell. But it was already dead, forcing her to resort to knocking on the door, but there was still no response.

Mr. Tank looked at Mia anxiously, lips slightly parted, gesturing to her to knock again in hopes of getting a response.

But there was still no response after landing several knocks for the second time. The thought of losing his job should he fail to find Alice gripped him. He instinctively became unsettled as his life flashed before his eyes.

He walked closer, shoved Mia to the side, positioned himself with shoulders squared, and knocked. Really hard knocks. But silence followed yet again, causing his heart to drop with shock as he turned to Mia.

“Are you sure this is her address? It doesn’t seem like someone lives here,” he asked in a frustrated voice. Pacing back and forth with his hands placed firmly on his waist. Tight jaw. Furrowed eyebrows.

“Boss, are you alright? You’re scaring me,” Mia cried out, her bottom lips visibly shaking as she trembled with fear.

“Answer me, dammit! I got no time for questions,” he gritted, posture stiff, fist clenched.

“Yes, boss. This is exactly where she brought me when I visited her. I don’t know why no one is responding. Maybe she’s not at home,” she trembled, wishing inside of her for Alice to open the door.

“Well, it looks to me like no one lives here. There are no lights on the porch, the doorbell isn’t working, and I can hear the sound of the alarm beeping from low battery. I don’t think anyone lives here,” he lamented, staring at Mia with anger, forcing Mia to backpedal a step with fear as she reached for the step frame.

In the thick of their strained interaction, emotions spiraling into chaos, a sound went out, forcing them to sharply turn, their eyes fixed in its direction.