Chapter 3

At the time, I thought the company was just giving its employees special treatment. But now, the more I thought about it, the less it made sense.

"Wait! We also had medical checkups!"

I quickly added, trying one more time to prove I was telling the truth, "Our company had amazing benefits. Every month, they scheduled a medical checkup for us.

"Sometimes it was even a full-body exam, and the company paid for everything. During my last checkup, they found I had mild fatty liver disease. Mr. Leonard even talked to me about it. He told me to eat healthier, stop ordering takeout all the time, and even recommended a few healthy meal plans..."

As I spoke, I suddenly froze.

What kind of company would be that generous?

Monthly medical exams were already expensive. Full-body exams every so often would cost even more.

And Gavin's concern for me had gone far beyond what a manager normally showed an employee. He had cared about every little detail.

The officer's expression turned even more serious. He picked up his radio, spoke into it for a moment, then looked back at me with sharp eyes.

"Mr. Clarke, we've just contacted several major medical exam centers in the city. None of them have any record of you having a medical exam during the past six months. Can you tell us where you got these medical reports? Did they have the clinic's stamp or a doctor's signature?"

I tried hard to remember, but my voice began to shake.

"Mr. Leonard gave me every report himself. Each time, he'd hand it to me and patiently explain all the test results. He said the clinic worked exclusively with the company. To protect employee privacy, they didn't upload reports into any public system and only kept them in the company's internal files. I remember there was a stamp on the report. It was a little blurry, but it looked real, so I never questioned it."

"They were all fake..." I muttered to myself.

"One time, I asked Mr. Leonard if I could get another copy of my report from the clinic so I could show it to my mother. But he told me their partner clinic didn't provide paper copies directly to patients. He said only the company could collect them. I thought it was inconvenient, but I didn't push the issue."

The officer asked gravely, "Did you ever actually see this medical clinic? During your exams, were there any other doctors, nurses, or patients there?"

I searched my memory, but my mind was strangely blank. "We always had our exams at a small building with its own courtyard. There was only one doctor and one nurse inside. Every time, only Maverick and I went together. I never saw any other patients. Mr. Leonard said it was the company's private medical facility so we wouldn't have to wait in line. But now that I think about it, it didn't look like a real medical center at all. It looked more like a private clinic."

The more I thought about it, the more wrong everything felt.

If I hadn't really been working for a legitimate company, then what were those medical exams?

I didn't even dare finish that thought.

I immediately reached for my phone to call Gavin.

My fingers were ice cold as I gripped it.

Just as I was about to press the call button, Juniper suddenly spoke, "Mr. Clarke, now that we've confirmed you aren't actually a missing person, we should be heading back. We still have a lot of work waiting for us at the office. We only came here to help the police verify the missing person report."

The administrative specialist nodded.

"That's right. Maybe this is all just a strange coincidence. Someone could have been pretending to represent our company, or maybe there was some kind of misunderstanding. After all, your salary payments and Social Security records are real, so it can't be a complete scam."

They were trying to comfort me. But my uneasiness only grew stronger.

There was no way this many unbelievable coincidences could happen at once.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

If they hadn't reported me missing, I had no idea what kind of situation I might be in now.

Juniper patted me on the shoulder.

"Don't worry too much. I'm sure the police will get to the bottom of this. If they need any documents or information from our company later, we'll do everything we can to help."

After saying that, they hurried out of the police station.

As I watched them leave, panic washed over me again.

I immediately opened my WhatsApp chat with Gavin and started a voice call.

All I heard was the long ringing tone. Then it changed to an automated message...