CHAPTER 2 ā "The CEO Suddenly Froze"
The limousine stopped so abruptly that the chauffeur nearly hit the steering wheel.
Chairman Richard Lawson stared through the window.
"No..."
"It can't be..."
Without waiting for anyone to open the door, the seventy-year-old chairman rushed onto the sidewalk.
Executives scrambled behind him.
The crowd became silent.
Everyone watched in confusion.
Richard hurried directly toward the homeless woman.
Then...
To everyone's complete disbelief...
He removed his expensive suit jacket.
Placed it gently over her shoulders.
And bowed his head.
"Mrs. Eleanor Ashford..."
"I'm terribly sorry."
The lobby fell completely silent.
Derek blinked.
"What...?"
Richard's voice trembled.
"We've been searching for you since yesterday."
The woman smiled softly.
"I know."
"You never answered our calls."
"I wanted to walk."
Richard looked around.
His eyes slowly settled on Derek.
"What happened here?"
No one answered.
The intern holding her phone quietly kept recording.
One employee whispered,
"Who...is she?"
Richard turned toward everyone.
His voice echoed through the enormous lobby.
"This woman..."
"...is the founder of Ashford Properties."
The crowd gasped.
"The owner of this building."
"The owner of every office inside it."
"The owner of the company that signs every paycheck you've ever received."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Derek's face turned pale.
His legs nearly gave out.
"But..."
"She's homeless..."
Eleanor looked directly into his eyes.
"I've spent the last six months living on the streets."
"I wanted to know exactly how people treat those who appear to have nothing."
No one dared breathe.
Then she quietly asked one terrifying question.
"Would you like to see the report I've written about every employee I met?"
Hundreds of faces instantly turned white.
Because every smile...
Every insult...
Every cruel laugh...
Had just become evidence.
But Eleanor wasn't finished.
She had come for something far bigger than exposing rude employees.
Someone inside this building...
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Had been stealing billions.
And she already knew exactly who it was.
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