Love Contract novel Chapter 40

William had disappeared.

After their quarrel last 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.

"He... He had a business appointment last 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 even come 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, alarmed 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 glanced 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 explained. "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 plan, 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 again later."

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

'Damn it! He's causing trouble for the whole company, 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.