Cory Island was an obscure island where a hellish training took place. The people who went there would have a taste of what it felt like to be in hell, but they would return as whole new people after the arduous drill.
In fact, Thomas was one of the candidates who had successfully completed the inhumane training, and he would never want to go back there. Once was enough.
However, his mistake was beyond recall as Matthew insisted on sending him there. "Ask your brother, Troy, to take over your position."
Thomas swallowed back his pleading words and gave in in the end.
"Understood."
"Leave." The man ordered icily.
The corner of Thomas' lips twitched as he left the office instantly. Once he exited the building, he gave Veronica a call at the entrance, but no one picked up the phone no matter how many times he called.
His heart sank, and he slapped himself a few times in despair. "F*ck! You dumb sh*t!"
The brisk sound of slapping attracted the bypassing workers, who knew him
well.
"M-Mr. Ritter, are you alright?"
"Mr. Ritter, are you okay? Do you want us to call the hospital?"
"Mr. Ritter, is everything fine?"
"There are no mosquitoes, though.
Why did you slap yourself?"
The weird gazes from his confused colleagues irritated him. "What are you looking at? Don’t you have work to do? Can't I slap myself when my cheeks feel stiff? Have you got a problem with it? Huh? Scram! Just leave me alone!"
The crowd dispersed in a heartbeat upon hearing his lecture. Once he got into his car with trudging footsteps, he rang his elder brother. "Troy, I'm done for. I'm gonna die."
"What's wrong?"
"F*ck! Today, I..." Thomas recounted the incident in detail over the phone before getting into the main point. "Then, Young Master Matthew is going to send me to Cory Island! He even told me to enjoy myself there for months! Darn it! I'm not the same as I was during my younger days. I'm old now. Am I going to die there? Troy, is this the end of my life?"
"Yeah, you're doomed." Troy took a deep breath before bursting into laughter. "Thomas, I-I'm sorry. I don't usually laugh at this kind of situation, but I can't help it. How could you say that to Miss Murphy? You know how much Young Master Matthew cares about her. You silly!"
While his brother was guffawing nonstop, Thomas' face was perfused with red in embarrassment.
Veronica went to the hospital to see a neurologist. When it was finally her turn, she told the doctor about her situation.
On the doctor's advice, she underwent tests like electrocardiography and electroencephalography. Once the doctor took a glimpse of the results, she nodded. "It is insomnia. I presume that it has been two months, but most of the patients have it because of massive stress. And most of the youngsters suffer from sleep deprivation due to work pressure..."
The doctor proceeded with the common situations insomniacs might encounter as well as the things Veronica should take note of before scribbling a prescription for her.
It was half past five when she left the hospital. She checked her phone and saw the missed calls from Thomas in the car. Since she was doing a checkup at that time, she could not answer the phone.
Pondering for a moment, she had a rough guess of the reason why he called her, but she had no intention of returning the call.
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