Too Much for Him to Bear
It turned out that giving Elliot too much room in her headspace during the day was a bad idea because
Anastasia was having a hard time falling asleep right now without thinking about him. She even had a
wet dream that involved him doing several unspeakable, yet sinfully pleasurable things to her, and she
woke up the next morning loathing herself for having subconsciously enjoyed it.
On Friday, she got a message from Alex asking her if she would drop by Tillman Constructions. Seeing
as all her other work had been set aside while she focused on designing Elliot’s necklace, she decided
that it would do her some good to go out and get some air. As such, she asked Felicia for the rest of
the day off and headed over to Francis’ company.
In the last few years, Francis’ company had doubled in size, and the land next to the ten-story office
building was occupied by warehouse after warehouse where all the inventory for their building
materials was kept. While the area was rather remote, the size of the enterprise was more than enough
to compensate for its location.
Anastasia’s car drove past the warehouse estate for quite a while before she even drew close to the
company building. At that moment, she suddenly understood why Francis could not bear to part with
the business. He had poured all his blood, sweat, and tears into building up the company from scratch,
and he had a trove of employees who depended on him for a living. In other words, this company was
a part of his soul.
When she pulled up outside the building entrance, she headed for the doors and was immediately
stopped by the security guard. “Is there something I can help you with, miss?”
“Hi. I’m Anastasia, and I’m here to look for my father, Francis.”
The security guard was startled by this, and he appraised her in shock as he pressed, “You’re
President Tillman’s daughter? How come I’ve never seen you before?”
“That’s not surprising, seeing as I’ve been abroad for the last few years.” Anastasia smiled. Since she
didn’t want to put the security guard in a hard place, she added, “How about I give my dad a call and
have him send his assistant down to escort me?”
The security guard decided to believe her, and he wasted no time in opening the door for her as he
said, “Pardon me, Miss Tillman. I didn’t mean to doubt you. Please come in.”
She nodded and strode through the door before coming to a stop at the front desk. The company
building had only been set up not too long ago, and she wasn’t sure which floor Francis’ office was on.
After asking the receptionist, she made her way up to the third floor.
Francis did not care much about decorum or formalities. One might even say he was laissez-faire.
Since Alex had seen Anastasia before at the banquet, he approached her enthusiastically and told her
that Francis was in a meeting, informing her that he would be done soon.
She took the chance to survey his office and sat down on the chair behind his desk. She had long since
outgrown days where she whined, pestered, and vied for her father’s love and attention, but moments
like these were reminiscent of those times.
She waited patiently for her father’s meeting to come to an end, but just as she was about to take a sip
of her tea, the door to the office suddenly swung open, and the female assistant who had escorted her
up earlier came rushing in. “Miss Tillman, something terrible has happened! Your father collapsed in the
conference room. Quick, go take a look at him!”
Anastasia’s hand trembled, and the tea in her cup nearly spilled over as she stood up abruptly. “What?”
Then, she hastened out the door after the assistant as the both of them made their way to the
conference room.
Meanwhile, in the conference room, an ashen-faced Francis was being carried over to the couch by a
few of his employees. Anastasia frantically ran over to him and crouched down next to the couch,
urging, “Dad? Dad, what happened?” She was beside herself with panic as she demanded, “Has
anyone called 911? What in the world happened here?”
“We’ve called 911. President Tillman looked fine earlier before he suddenly collapsed.”
“He probably heard that the company is getting acquired and he couldn’t take the news,” one of the
managers said gravely.
“What? What do you mean the company is getting acquired? Who said that?”
“The clients just now weren’t here to talk about business; they were the representatives for the
acquiring party, and they were here to discuss the acquisition.”
Even Anastasia was stunned. The news of the acquisition must have been too much for Francis, and
he had collapsed out of shock. Is there no way for Tillman Constructions to escape the acquisition at
all? Is this just fate?
“Anastasia, President Tillman will be just fine,” said a young man. She looked up and saw that Alex
was eyeing her worriedly.
Then, she turned to look at her father. He was breathing heavily, and his eyes were tightly shut as
though he was in pain, his skin pale and waxy. How can I not worry about him?
20 minutes later, an ambulance sent by the 911 dispatcher arrived to ferry Francis to the hospital.
Anastasia and Alex went as well, and upon their arrival, Francis was immediately wheeled into the
emergency room.
Only then did Anastasia snap out of her reverie, and she debated on calling Naomi and Erica. After a
moment of thought, she decided that she had to call them.
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