Mysterious Mrs. Pansy

“Can you follow up on the progress of our overseas subsidiaries’ cooperation and negotiations with the other party? I need to know where things stand,” Jane instructed her assistant.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Nodding in understanding, the assistant realized the criticality of the situation at hand. Everyone involved was highly invested in this important collaboration, with a vested interest in contributing their skills and efforts.

If the company had already completed all necessary preparations and encountered any difficulties at this stage, they would not be able to bear the final responsibility.

After the assistant left, Jane hurriedly attended to her tasks, aware of the constant passage of time. She had originally intended to send another message to Patrick, but considering the possibility that he was already on the plane, she abandoned the plan.

Everyone knew that it was not possible to send messages while on a plane, and mobile phones were switched to airplane mode anyway.

As time passed, Jane finished her tasks and opened her computer to review the messages. Coming across a particular message, she carefully read its contents.

“The T526 flight experienced an unknown malfunction during its journey, and our embassy is working actively to establish contact,” the message read.

Jane felt a complete panic wash over her upon reading the news. Patrick and his team were on the same flight.

At this moment, Jane had no idea whether Patrick was still on the plane. She desperately tried calling him multiple times, but there was no response.

Jane didn’t know the severity of the plane’s malfunction. If it was a major issue, there was a possibility of a crash. However, if it was a minor malfunction, the impact would be insignificant.

The website only briefly reported the incident, with no specific details.

Jane made phone calls and reached the airport, but there was no concrete information available. Everyone at the airport was extremely busy and had no time to entertain queries.

Jane called her assistant and, disregarding lunch, asked them to drive her to the airport. Sitting in the car, Jane repeatedly tried to contact Patrick, but to no avail. There was no response whatsoever.

Her worry began to escalate.

“The chairman will be fine. If there were major issues with the flight, there would already be a second report,” the assistant reassured Jane, aware of the situation. It was the only way to console her.

Upon receiving this assurance, Jane once again visited the website where she had seen the news earlier, only to find that all the articles had been removed.

Had there been a mistake in reporting, or had another department forcefully deleted the articles?

If one did not have experience in the media industry, such doubts would not arise. However, Patrick’s company frequently dealt with the media, so Jane didn’t know what was going on.

But she was aware that when news articles were deleted from a website, there were two possibilities. One was that the news was too shocking, and it was published on the website without official permission. Once the authorities noticed it, the website hastily removed it.

The other possibility was that the news had been verified and found to be false after review. In order to avoid panic or being held accountable, it would be taken down.

Thinking about all this, Jane searched for a name on her phone, and as soon as she found it, she immediately dialed the number.

“Daniel, I saw a news article on your website today, and now it’s been deleted. Do you know anything about this?” Jane asked Daniel, the person on the other end of the line.

Daniel, who had a good working relationship with Patrick’s company, didn’t hesitate to answer Jane’s question. “After we published that article, there were some inaccuracies in the language used. This news garnered a lot of attention from the public, and the relevant authorities contacted us.”

“We had no choice but to temporarily remove the article until the official announcement is made. Then we can continue uploading it,” Daniel explained.

Jane felt a heavy sense of unease upon hearing this. It meant that there was a real possibility behind this incident, as official intervention wouldn’t occur otherwise.

“What was the source of your news? Can you confirm its accuracy?” Jane inquired, hoping to verify the information.

If it was accurate, it would mean that something had indeed happened to Patrick and his team. If it was false, it wouldn’t matter much. They would only have been scared for nothing.

“The source of the news was our foreign reporter, who happened to have a friend on that flight. The reporter made contact with airport personnel, but the exact situation is still unknown,” Daniel shared without holding back any information. He knew that being transparent with Jane would establish a better relationship between their website and Jane’s company.

Daniel said a few polite words, expressing that such news should not have been leaked. Jane understood the implications but didn’t have the patience to communicate further. She quickly ended the call.

Arriving at the airport, Jane and her assistant stationed themselves at the entrance, waiting for news.

If Patrick and his team disembarked as planned, she would definitely see Patrick here. Jane had already experienced once the nightmare of Patrick’s disappearance and didn’t want to go through it again. Her heart was filled with anxiety.

“He will be fine. If the news had been confirmed, there would already be reports. The lack of news means the situation is still optimistic,” the assistant offered, trying to comfort Jane, who had a serious expression on her face.

The assistant knew that if any problems occurred during a flight, especially when it was in progress, they could be fatal.