Novel Square
Chapter 177
Chapter 177
Chapter 177
In a building a few hundred meters away from the Asiatic Shopping Mall construction site, Jerry Zabinski was standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling window in a room on the top floor. With his phone in his hand, he was looking towards the construction site.
The man narrowed his eyes as he spoke into the phone with a satisfied expression on his face. “I saw it already, Chien. I’ve already transferred one million to your bank account. For the time being, leave Channing and go into hiding.”
Chien replied excitedly, “Yes, Mr. Zabinski!”
After Jerry Zabinski hung up, he saw numerous police vehicles and ambulances speed pass the building. With a sneer on his face, the man thought out loud, “Nathan Cross, Penny Smith, this isn’t the end yet, I’ll deal with you two slowly.”
At 9 p.m., while Penny was tutoring her daughter in her schoolwork, she received a call regarding the accident at the construction site. Color drained out of the woman’s face at once.
When Nathan Cross came out of the study, he saw his wife’s expression. “What happened?” He asked her, with his brows creased.
Looking extremely pale and with her voice shaking, Penny replied, “Nathan, something’s happened at the construction site. The tower crane suddenly collapsed and smashed onto the containers where the workers were staying at. We don’t know the actual casualties figures yet.”
Nathan Cross’s face was grim as he heard the bad news. In a grave tone, the man said, “Let’s hurry over and check out the situation first.”
Penny agreed. After entrusting Queenie to her parents, Penny and Nathan rushed out of the house hastily.
When the couple arrived at the construction site, it was already filled with police cars and ambulances. The place was in chaos as stretchers carrying the injured workers were loaded on the ambulances.
What baffled Nathan and Penny most was the presence of reporters from various media outlets at the site.
When the media representatives spotted Penny Smith, the head of Cross Corporation, who was also the person-in-charge of the Asiatic Shopping Mall project, they crowded her at once and started snapping photos of the woman.
The reporters grabbed this golden opportunity to throw sharp questions at her, “President Smith, how are you intending to take responsibility for what has happened at the construction site?”
“President Smith, we heard you were in the fashion industry before you started this company. Now that an accident had occurred in this project which you are managing, do you think it is due to your lack of expertise?”
“President Smith, do you have anything to say to the injured workers or their families?”
Faced with the relentless questions from the media, Nathan Cross answered solemnly, “Sorry, we don’t have anything to say at this moment. We’re here to deal with the accident and would appreciate it if you could let us pass.”
After saying that, the man shoved his way through the reporters forcefully and entered the construction premises with Penny Smith, as he shielded his wife from the crowd.
The police had already cordoned off the site of the accident. Doctors, nurses and paramedics were busy lifting the injured into ambulances. They could not afford to waste a single minute.
Tears welled up in Penny Smith’s eyes as she looked around at the fallen tower crane, the ruined makeshift workers’ dormitory, and the injured workers covered in blood.
Just then, Bob Hoffman, the supervisor at the construction site, was seen running towards the woman, drenched in sweat. “President Smith!” he greeted her in a quivering voice. NôvelDrama.Org owns this text.
Penny knew this was not the time to cry and quickly wiped off her tears with the back of her palm.
She had to deal with the aftermath of the accident first. The priority at the moment was to save the injured workers. Pulling herself together, the woman asked the supervisor, “Bob, what happened?”
With a mournful look, Bob Hoffman replied, “I’m not sure what happened. Everything was fine when we checked, but the tower crane suddenly collapsed. It had to fall on the workers’ dormitory of all places!”
“What’s the casualties’ toll?” Penny Smith asked.
Looking pale, Bob Hoffman answered, “We don’t have the data yet, but as far as we know, there haven’t been any fatal injuries. However, among the injured, there are a few who were seriously wounded. They have already been transported to the Channing Hospital to receive immediate medical attention, but the chances of them surviving are very slim.”
Oh my God! The situation was a lot worse than what Penny had expected.
Penny then replied, “We’ll do whatever we can to save and treat our injured workers. Medical costs will be entirely borne by the company. We also need to placate the family members of the injured. Reassure them that the company will take full responsibility for the accident.”
Bob Hoffman nodded and replied, “Okay, I know what to do, President Smith.”
Just then, a leader wearing a black jacket arrived at the scene with a group of his subordinates and several policemen.
The leader was none other than Channing’s second-in-command, who was just one rank below the mayor, Jerry McGrady.