One Man Band System

Meanwhile, Eric was still at the hospital, sitting beside Melissa’s bed. Ding, a text message came through on his smartphone. He pulled it out of his pants pocket and opened it, finding a new message from Emma. Eric casually opened it, but as his eyes scanned the text, his face instantly darkened. Naturally, Melissa noticed the sudden shift.

"What’s wrong?" Melissa asked.

"Jason... he went to Ruby’s school. Emma and the others are there too," Eric answered in a low voice.

"What... really? He showed up there? How is that possible? How could he know where Ruby goes to school?" Melissa asked in shock.

"That’s what I don’t know. Someone definitely tipped him off... I have to go," Eric answered, standing up.

"Wait... don’t go there alone. Take me with you," Melissa said, grabbing Eric’s hand.

"No... you can’t go. Don’t worry," Eric said, smiling gently as he pried her hand away from his.

"If that’s the case... at least take Mr. Norman with you. Don’t confront Jason on your own. It’s way too dangerous—we have no idea how unhinged he is right now," Melissa urged, genuinely terrified.

Eric paused to think. Because Melissa had raised her voice slightly, the hospital room door swung open, and Norman poked his head inside. Spotting Eric standing up and Melissa sitting up, reaching for him, he stepped fully into the room.

"Is there a problem here?" Norman asked, walking over toward Eric.

"No problem, sir," Eric answered.

"Mr. Norman, could you please go with Eric?" Melissa asked directly.

"Did something happen?" Norman asked, shooting a glance at Eric.

Eric didn’t say a word; he simply showed Emma’s text message to Norman. As Norman read through it, his face remained largely stoic, but his brows knit together, and Eric caught his jaw clenching slightly. Norman then looked at Eric beside him.

"Call her, Mr. Eric. The top priority is ensuring their safety first," Norman said.

Eric nodded, pulled his smartphone back out, and immediately dialed. He put the call on speaker, and Emma picked up after three rings. The noisy chatter of the school grounds hummed in the background.

"Hello?"

"Emma, are you and the others alright? Is Ruby okay?" Eric asked.

"We’re fine. We just headed back inside the school grounds along with Ruby and Tania, who just got here," Emma answered.

"Walk me through what happened step by step," Norman instructed.

"Uh... oh... alright," Emma said.

Emma went on to explain part of what had transpired before handing the phone over to Ruby. Ruby detailed everything from the very beginning up until Jason left with two suspicious-looking men. Ruby also had Laura forward the audio recording to Eric so he could hand it over to Norman, though she begged Eric not to listen to it himself.

"Alright, I understand. Please wait at the school and do not step outside the campus grounds under any circumstances. I will have police officers come pick you all up and bring you to the station temporarily for your safety. Once they arrive, I’ll request to speak with your school administrators," Norman said.

"Understood, sir. Thank you," Emma said.

Ding, another message popped up on Eric’s phone. Emma hung up, and Eric opened the notification. Laura had sent over the audio file she recorded when Ruby speed-dialed her from inside her bag. Eric pressed play. Jason’s voice rang out loud and clear, threatening Ruby. The tape vividly captured the utter desperation in Jason’s tone alongside the sheer terror in Ruby’s voice.

Listening to the exchange between Jason and Ruby, Eric was stunned out of his mind. Slowly, he turned his head toward Melissa, whose face was completely frozen in equal shock. Once the recording finished,

"Alright, this is a clear threat and likely constitutes extortion. I will write up the official report," Norman stated.

"Y... yes, sir. Thank you," Eric stammered.

"Please forward that file to me. I’m going to step outside for a moment to arrange for their pickup. Do not go over there by yourself, Mr. Eric," Norman said.

"Y... yes, Mr. Norman," Eric replied, shaking as he forced a weak smile.

"No need to worry, Mr. Eric. Everything will be fine. Excuse me for a moment," Norman said, placing a reassuring hand on Eric’s shoulder.

Norman turned around and walked to the door, opening it and stepping outside before closing it tightly behind him. The atmosphere inside the room turned dead silent. Neither Eric nor Melissa could utter a word. Thump, Eric sank back into his chair with a blank expression, while Melissa kept her head turned completely away, her cheeks flushing bright red.

"What Jason said... was he serious?" Eric asked.

"I don’t know... I’m just hearing about that matter for the first time myself," Melissa answered curtly.

Silence fell between them once again, growing heavier and increasingly suffocating. Ding, a notification popped up on Eric’s smartphone. He glanced at it, seeing an unfamiliar number that had sent him a text message. He shot a brief glance at Melissa, who was watching him, before opening the message.

"Eric, whatever Jason said on that recording is a lie. I never did anything like that at all... Please believe me, Ruby."

Eric showed the message to Melissa, who read it directly but said nothing, simply handing the smartphone back to him. Once again, both of them fell silent, their minds racing in intense thought.

"So... what are you going to do?" Melissa asked Eric, breaking the silence.

"I don’t know... I want to believe Ruby, but... hearing what Jason said... I’m a bit confused," Eric answered.

"You and Ruby are still half-siblings. You basically share the same blood, so something like that shouldn’t be happening," Melissa replied.

"I know... now I understand why she’s always been clinging to me, ignoring me when I was with Vivian, and why she chased me all the way here after I was kicked out... on top of how she initially picked fights with Emma, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura," Eric said slowly.

"Hey... listen to me. No matter what, Ruby is your sister, so don’t overthink it. Just forget about it. The reason Jason threatened her with that is because he knows it’s her weak spot. Don’t let yourself get played, or Jason wins," Melissa said, placing her hand on Eric’s shoulder.

"Yeah... I know. Thanks, Melissa," Eric said.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Norman walked back inside, his expression dark. He approached the bed.

"There’s news. I just got a report from the prison. According to them, your older brother paid a visit there before he went to the school," Norman said.

"Huh... what was he doing at the prison?" Eric asked.

Norman didn’t answer right away. He shot a glance over at Melissa first, who also appeared to be waiting on what he had to say. Then, he let Eric’s question hang in the air for a moment before turning his gaze back to Eric.

"He met with Blake in prison... According to the audio recording from the visitation room surveillance camera, their conversation revolved around money and debt settlement. They didn’t discuss anything outside of that, but right before your brother left, their discussion started getting interesting," Norman said.

Eric and Melissa turned to look at each other, the name Norman mentioned clearly leaving an impact on both of them. Then, Norman continued speaking, his hand reaching for something inside his long coat.

"Technically this is confidential, but since you, Mr. Eric, and Ms. Melissa are involved with Blake, along with the fact that Jason is Mr. Eric’s brother, go ahead and listen."

Norman pulled out his smartphone and played the audio recording that had been sent to him earlier. The voices of Blake and Jason instantly filled the room.

"So that’s how it is," Blake said after listening to Jason’s story.

"Yeah... You said you knew someone who could make a copy of the will and forged signatures, right? I’ll give you $50,000 for it, which is obviously way more than the $10,000 you wanted to borrow," Jason said.

"Hmm... I know a few guys. Alright... I’ll give you their numbers, then you can contact them yourself. And if you want to track down the whereabouts of your dad and Eric, I’ve got people who can handle that job," Blake replied.

"Alright... Can they find my younger sister too?" Jason asked.

"Ah... That part’s easy. I know where she goes to school. I saw her back when I was keeping tabs on the niece of the bookie I borrowed money from," Blake answered.

"I see... Fine, lay it all out. Bottom line is, both of my younger siblings need to be wiped out so everything that damned old man owns goes to me," Jason replied.

"What about your mom then?" Blake asked.

"Who gives a damn? I don’t care about her. I don’t have a pathetic, embarrassing mom like mine," Jason answered.

"Alright then. But besides the cash, I want one more thing," Blake said.

"What?" Jason asked.

"You finish off my foster sister. Just that. She testified and didn’t stand up for me, leaving me locked up in here for a long time," Blake replied.

"Ah... That’s easy. I’ve got a bone to pick with her too," Jason replied.

The recording cut off. The atmosphere in the room turned dead silent. Neither Melissa nor Eric said a word. Norman looked over toward Melissa.

"You don’t need to worry, Ms. Melissa. You are under our protection," Norman reassured her with a faint smile.

"I... know," Melissa replied, and for the very first time, a full spectrum of emotions crossed her face.

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