All Chapters of High-Altitude Hostage: My Ex Commands the Tower: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The next morning, things were unusually noisy outside my hospital room. I thought something had happened. Just as I was about to press the call button, the door opened. The first person to enter was the mother of the six-year-old boy. She was holding his hand, her eyes red-rimmed. The boy still looked rather pale, but he was clutching a paper airplane. The moment he saw me, he ran over to my bedside. "Mr. Captain, Mommy said you're the one who carried me off the plane."I smiled. "You were very brave back then."The boy shook his head. "I was asleep. I wasn't brave. But you were, Mr. Captain."He rose onto his tiptoes and placed the paper airplane on my blanket. A few crooked words were scrawled across its wings. "Thank you, Mr. Captain."The boy's mother looked at me. "Captain Griffith, I'm sorry. I'd been cursing you out after I heard the announcement on the plane. I thought you were the reason we were all in danger."Her voice grew choked with emotion. "But in the end,

A week later, the airline announced its decision regarding Lara's case. She was removed from all her positions, and her air traffic controller's license was permanently revoked. Regardless of the outcome of this case, Lara would never be able to return to her former position. When the news broke, I was at the hospital for my final follow-up appointment. Jacob handed me his phone. "Everyone's attacking her in the comments."I glanced at the screen and closed the page. The online backlash came and went quickly, but the real punishment wasn't the angry comments. It was having to face the legal consequences of her actions.Leo was placed under investigation as well. In the aftermath of the accident, not only did he contact the air traffic controller to have the recordings deleted, but he even tried to pay Megan to keep quiet. In the end, the equipment technician finally admitted that Leo had promised him a large sum of money. If he destroyed the complete recordings of communicati

On the day of the trial, a crowd had gathered outside the courthouse. Most of them were passengers from that flight and their family members.At first, I didn't want to attend, but the investigators told me that even though Lara had admitted the truth, there were still certain things that I needed to clarify myself. The moment I entered the courtroom, I saw Lara sitting at the defendant's table. In just a few months, she had already lost a lot of weight. Her once perfectly styled hair was now pulled back in a messy ponytail, and all color had been drained from her face.The moment she saw me, she instinctively wanted to get up, but the person next to her pressed her back into her seat. Once the proceedings began, they played the complete recording in court again.Lara had rejected our requests for an emergency landing. She had prevented other airports from accepting our plane. She forced me to admit to cheating on her. She made me slap myself on camera. Finally, she had

Six months later, the civil aviation authorities held a commendation ceremony to honor us. The venue was near the airport. I thought it was just an internal event. It wasn't until I got there that I recognized many familiar faces in the audience. They were all passengers on that flight. Some of them were in their wheelchairs, while others leaned on their crutches. A few even brought their entire family with them. The six-year-old boy was in the front row. The moment he saw me, he instantly held up a new paper airplane. Jacob stood next to me and chuckled. "Captain, don't go crying on us again later.""When did I ever cry?" "While you were reading those thank-you notes in the hospital." "Something got into my eye.""We were in the hospital. What could have possibly gotten into your eye?"I ignored Jacob. Once the ceremony began, footage of the plane's emergency landing popped up on the big screen again. The emcee didn't play up the danger. Instead, he explained the de

On the day I started flying again, the weather was beautiful. The morning sunlight hit the tarmac, bathing the entire plane in gold.I arrived at the airport one hour in advance. After putting on my uniform, I tucked the paper airplane into my flight bag. I couldn't take it with me into the cockpit, but I could keep it with me until I reached the boarding gate.Jacob was still my co-pilot. After checking the instruments, he deliberately asked, "Captain Griffith, are you nervous?" "A little.""You actually told me the truth for once."I put on my headset with a smile.After passengers started boarding the plane, Bethany suddenly stepped into the cockpit. "Captain, we have some rather special passengers today.""What do you mean?"She handed me the passenger list. After looking at the names for a long time, I was momentarily at a loss for words.Over 100 passengers from Easthawk 791 had booked tickets for this flight. They had come from different cities, just to be here for m