Bound To The Seduction

Chapter 52: A Chaotic Scene

Sarah arrived at the gate only to find about twenty or so reporters standing at the gate. She stood behind them and observed the situation first. She would be stupid if she walked into them unprepared. Who knows? She might reveal some crucial information accidentally.

The various reporters had their heavy cameras on tripods while others carried the heavy loads on their shoulders. Most of them had ID tags hanging on their necks; it seemed they came from reputable media houses.

They paced around like ants on a frying pan as they tried to find a way to get into the gate. It is a good thing that one can only access the gate through fingerprint identification. The various media houses were competing for information and everyone wanted to be the first.  They crowded the entrance as they made their recordings. It was chaotic indeed.

"Hello to our lovely viewers, we are at the front gate of Greenville Residence. This is where the young CEO of Salva Corporation lives and we are waiting for him to appear any moment now. We will update you as soon as..."

"We are still following up with the person behind the unscrupulous contractor who caused the death of our loyal citizens..."

"We have ascertained that Mr. Salva lives in this place. Don't worry. We will surely get to the bottom of this..."

A little further from the gate were two male reporters who worked for the popular 'What's Trending' newspaper company.

One of them took out his phone and made a call. "Hello director, please reserve the front page for us, we will have the trendiest news tomorrow." He nodded and hung up the phone. His smile widened as he said, "Buddy, the director promised to approve our seven-day paid leave if we accomplish this task."

A small group used their phones as recorders and seemed to be on a live stream.  Probably those were the internet wannabes who would do anything for likes. They never cared whether the news was true and never bothered to verify it. What mattered to them were the likes and followers. Whenever these attention seekers appeared, someone's reputation was about to be dragged in the mud.

But what the hell happened? Why are they here? Sarah took out her phone and opened the browser app. She tapped on the 'most trending' icon and the page took a few seconds to refresh. Then she was bombarded with all kinds of shocking headlines.

She scanned through the headlines, her hands trembling.  'The new CEO approves the demolition of a residential area'. 'Was it an accident or plain greed?', 'the man behind the chaos', and so on. Her heartbeat quickened as the headlines became more outrageous than the last.

Wait... Mr. Salva? Isn't that Henry's surname? 

"Oh, no!" she cursed in low tones as she shoved her phone back into the back pockets of her jeans. She slung her ladies' backpack over her shoulder and walked straight into the crowd.

"Excuse me miss, do you live in this building?" one of the reporters blocked her way and the cameraman focused his camera on her. The rest of the news reporters saw this as an opportunity and surrounded Sarah.

"Do you know which apartment Mr. Salva is in?"

"What is your opinion about the scandal surrounding him?"

"Have you filed a petition to have that vile person evicted from this building?"

Sarah frowned and tilted her head to the side at such questions being hurled at her. What in the world is wrong with these people? First of all, she doesn't even live in this building. How would she get the right to file a petition to evict him? Even if she did live here, why would she do that? And second, how was all this related to her?

Sarah took a deep breath and held out her hands in front of her. "Everyone, quiet!" she shouted. Her sudden outburst startled them and the chaotic scene died down into a comfortable silence. "I believe I'm under no obligation to answer any of your questions. Stop bothering us. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."

"But miss, we only want—"

"Get. Out. Of. My. Way." Sarah glared at the girl blocking her way. The girl quickly stopped asking questions and retreated two steps back. Sarah walked towards the door and pressed her finger on the biometric lock. A barely audible 'beep' followed and the automatic sliding doors opened.

One downside of these automatic doors is that they close at a snail's speed. The crowd tried to follow her in but Sarah stood at the door and turned around. She took out her phone and said, "If anyone follows me, I'll call the police. That counts as trespassing."

"Umm... isn't that the girl who attended the dinner party with Mr. Salva?" the newspaper guy murmured.

And then the crowd went wild.

Sarah ran into the lift as soon as the door closed. She had to warn Henry about this. Two lifts were operating in this building and she rushed into the nearest one. It stopped on the tenth floor and she rushed out. She glanced at the other lift and realized it was coming up too.

No, something is not right.  She quickened her pace towards Henry's door. She found him in the hallway heading towards the lift. She grabbed his hand and dragged the confused Henry back into the house without any explanation. She slammed the door shut and exhaled. "Whew, that was close!"

"What are you doing?" Henry asked, his eyes narrowed and fists clenched. He did everything he could not to yell at her. He held the door handle ready to open the door but Sarah pulled him back.

"You absolutely cannot go out." she pressed the button on the camera at the door. The footage of a chaotic hallway full of reporters carrying their cameras popped up. They were rushing towards their door.

"I'm starving and I have to get breakfast."

Sarah shrunk back from his glare. "H-how how about we order... a takeout?" Henry placed his hand on the wall above her head and looked her in the eye without saying anything. Sarah looked like she was about to cry, "Fine, I'll distract them. Please leave through the kitchen door." With that, she opened the door and stepped into the chaos.

He did not go anywhere. He watched those reporters harass her with questions. They shoved their microphones at her, and everyone yelled their questions at her in no particular order. Her voice drowned in the shouting of all the other people present. She crossed her arms over her head as the scene overwhelmed her.

Henry felt his stomach churn from the camera shutters and camera flashes. Cold beads of sweat formed in every pore on his body. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. No, he had to get her out of there. He counted to three and pulled the door open. He grabbed Sarah's hand and yanked her into the room before slamming the door.

He held his stomach with both hands and dashed into the bathroom.

"Henry, what is wrong?" Sarah screamed and followed him.

"I want to throw up."

"Are you unwell?" she patted his back as he threw up in the toilet. "Henry?" she called out in panic when she touched his sweat-soaked shirt. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

No answer.

He tried to get up but he couldn't. She helped him up and he leaned all his weight against her. He only managed to take two steps forward before his world spun and his legs gave way. He collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

"Henry?" she screamed as he collapsed onto the floor.