Chapter 30: January 24, 2021: Dor

As Syn landed on the third floor of the building, she hurriedly unlatched the window to see if Konrad's car was still parked by the pavement. Upon seeing that he had already left, disappointment could be seen on her face.

She immediately patted her chest with her right hand, assuaging the prickling ache that suddenly rose to her heart.

'Calm down, Syn. You're simply guilty that you haven't paid him yet for his efforts. This feeling is nothing more than that. Anyway, you will see him again soon.' Syn stated to herself, wanting to give a name on the emotion.

Little did she know, her hands were now firmly clutching the sleeve of Konrad's coat that she was still wearing.

The lady proceeded to turn her back against the window and continued her way up the stairs. She chose not to use the elevator to allow herself some time to think.

'If Larry decided to threaten me using my family, I will be at a loss on what to do. I can't possibly give the burden of paying that damnable man's debt to anybody else, much more to my mother and brothers.'

She stopped and gripped the left handrail on the flight of stairs, feeling the hatred she had for Larry grow.

"Just drop dead in a ditch somewhere, you retarded stalker." She mumbled, her grip on the metal railing tightening.

Syn exhaled her grievances since she was tired of dealing with them. For the reason that she was all alone, it was inevitable that the lady would be preoccupied with her worries.

'If only that bastard did not go up and disappear, I won't be in this situation. Why did you leave all of your responsibilities to me?'

Syn was almost crying in her thoughts. She had no courage to show her tears in front of anyone, so she settled in suppressing her desire to shed tears.

Her vigor had long been drained, yet she decided to strive for her family, the center of her world. She was willing to beat herself up to earn money. However, she's aware that it's a stupid mentality, considering that she was not in the best of health.

'Two years, if I can survive to be with Tristan for at least two years, then my family can live without owing a single cent to those criminals.'

Syn shut her eyes for a moment to clear her mind. After a second, she lightly sighed and went on her way. Once she landed on the eleventh floor, she sauntered leftwards to reach the entrance of the office by the end of the corridor.

From afar, she could see that there were a lot of people walking about inside the room. To not make a disturbance, she slowly pushed the glass door. Withal, her attempt was unsuccessful because they noticed her presence right away.

"Syn! What are you doing here?!" Mina was the first one to notice her arrival, hollering the question in disconcertment.

"Sorry, am I not welcome here? Should I go back home?"

As Syn was about to step out of the door, Mina stood up from her seat and made her way towards the lady. The woman caught the left arm of the lady to halt her exit.

"No, stay here. It's more dangerous for you to go outside. In any case, I have to interrogate you." Mina said, dragging Syn to the conference table in the middle of the room.

Most of the people occupying the seats gave her a nod as a greeting, and the rest only kept their silence. She didn't mind the cold reception, seeing that she wasn't supposed to be in the area at the outset.

Mina urged Syn to seat beside her, so the lady complied.

"So Syn, how did you get here? In the beginning, how did you even escape Larry? You just told me this morning that you won't go outside for the sake of your safety, yet here you are. Are you simply stubborn or you solely love to have us fretting over your circumstance? We're not exactly having fun, young lady. Think about all the people that you're troubling whenever you do something ludicrous."

Mina rubbed her face with her hands as she finished lecturing the lady. The woman knew that Syn was already remorseful of her actions since her confrontation with Larry had happened. Still, she couldn't stop herself.

Syn felt as if she was sinking in her chair, ashamed at causing a terrible issue rather than being reprimanded afore a crowd.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it." She uttered her apologies, lowering her head to show repentance.

Nevertheless, she duly abandoned the hope of receiving forgiveness.

When she didn't hear Mina's response, she carried on with her explanation. Though, she didn't have any intentions of divulging the true story when there were many people around.

"I didn't go back inside the building because I believe the group of men in black loitering around the lobby were his subordinates. I was able to run away from the condo, then hailed a taxi at the bus stop. Surprisingly, Larry didn't pursue me. But I'm afraid that he's still out there. He might also use my family to blackmail me. I can't sit around knowing that there's a possibility of that happening."

The whole time she was speaking, Syn's voice was woeful, capably tugging Mina's conscience. All the same, the other people inside sympathized with the young lady who had it the hardest.

"I- I mean, no, I'm not really blaming you, Syn," Mina stated as she caressed Syn's back to offer some consolation. "I just wanted you to take care of yourself. You are too imprudent at times. What if this turned out to be more than what we could handle? It is you who will be tormented with the consequences. And you know I don't want that."

"Hmm, I know," Syn replied in a whisper as she bit her lip.

Mina took the lady's hands within hers, embracing them ever so slightly to ease Syn's tension.

"I will always be here for you, so don't suffer all by yourself. Now raise your head. We have many things to discuss."

Syn followed her supervisor's words right away. She then met Mina's gaze with her glistening eyes, bowing once to show affirmation.

"Thank you, Mina."

"Thank me when we've solved this problem. Alright, let's move on with our agenda."

Once Mina was done addressing her, Syn faced the people who were surrounding the table. There were a couple of individuals, men who were around their 40's, who she did not recognize. She tapped Mina's left hand to get her attention.

"Who are those?" Syn queried while directing her stare towards the people seating directly across her.

The supervisor trailed the lady's gaze, mouthing an 'Oh' ahead of responding, "They're the police investigators who are tasked to help us in this matter. They were requested by Mr O' Connor himself. Dear sirs, this is Miss Syn Rosenfeldt, the victim of yesterday's incident."

The investigators quickly rose from their seats and bowed as they introduced themselves.

"Good afternoon, Miss Rosenfeldt. I'm Carlos Orlow, and this is my companion, Landon Travis."

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Rosenfelt."

"It's also my pleasure to meet both of you. I hope that we'll get along." Syn returned their greeting, standing up to shake the hands of the officers.