Out of Control: Into Your Everything-Chapter 39: The Gathering Storm

Scarlett Shaw doesn’t have her phone, and she’s not in her room. It’s raining thunder outside, and they just got back from that wilderness survival team building. Even if she wasn’t totally exhausted, there’s no way she’d have the energy to run off somewhere. Where could she possibly go?

Aaron Carson found this more and more strange the more he thought about it.

In the end, he didn’t just sit around waiting for trouble; he went to look for Manager Lynch again.

Manager Lynch was a chubby middle-aged man. He thumped his chest and said, "Assistant Carson, you tell President Ford there’s nothing to worry about! I can guarantee you, every single employee who went to the training is safely back at the hotel. I double-checked! If there’s any mistake at all, I’ll take my head off and let you kick it like a soccer ball!"

Aaron Carson was speechless. "Why the hell would I want to kick your head? Just get out there and find her for me!"

Manager Lynch said, "Scarlett Shaw is with Chloe Grant. They must be in their room!"

"..."

Aaron Carson gave a forced smile. "Manager Lynch, take a guess—when I asked you for Scarlett Shaw’s room number, what do you think I was going to do?"

Manager Lynch froze. "She’s not in her room?"

Aaron Carson: "Nope."

"How is that possible?!"

The flesh on Manager Lynch’s cheeks quivered rhythmically with his agitation.

"Before we got back, I made sure everyone checked for their partners—we counted and no one was missing!"

Aaron Carson rubbed his temples, his head pounding. He glanced again at the rain beating down like war drums outside. He couldn’t shake the sense that something had gone seriously wrong.

"Bring Chloe Grant over."

Ten minutes later, Chloe Grant walked in wrapped in a coat, her face as foul as you can imagine. She stood in front of Aaron Carson with a cold expression and snapped, "Assistant Carson, are you going to let people sleep or not?!"

The annoyance in Chloe Grant’s eyes was all too obvious.

Manager Lynch shot her a look.

After all, Aaron Carson was one of Julian Ford’s people. Acting like this toward Aaron was as good as disrespecting President Ford.

Aaron Carson glanced at Chloe Grant too.

He honestly didn’t care much about Chloe’s attitude toward him, but it was odd how she was suddenly acting so brazen right in front of him.

Almost as if—

She had something on him?

"Chloe Grant, let me ask you: since you and Scarlett Shaw were wilderness partners, weren’t you supposed to stick together the whole time? So why did you make it back and she’s missing?" Aaron Carson cut to the chase.

Chloe Grant: "If she’s missing, you should ask her, not me."

Aaron Carson frowned.

No matter how patient he was, hearing that from Chloe at a time like this was pushing it.

Manager Lynch saw the tension and quickly interjected, "Shaw left her phone at the hotel, can’t be contacted. She was in your group, and group members are supposed to look out for each other. Don’t tell me you just got on the bus alone?"

Chloe Grant: "I did, in fact, get on alone."

The moment Chloe said this, Aaron Carson and Manager Lynch’s faces changed at the same time, both eyes locked on her.

"Whether Scarlett Shaw got on the bus or not, isn’t that your job to check, Manager Lynch? I fought my way out of that forest on my own—already exhausted. Where would I get the energy to worry about someone who almost got me killed?"

Chloe Grant’s words were loaded; her face was calm, but a thin anger flickered in her eyes.

As if Scarlett really had done her wrong.

Manager Lynch pressed her, "What exactly happened?"

"When I woke up in the tent early this morning, Scarlett Shaw was gone. She took all the supplies and the map. I had nothing. Making it out, not getting trapped up there, is already a miracle. Now you people are standing here interrogating me—have you considered how I feel?"

As she finished, Chloe Grant’s usually cool, round eyes turned misty-red.

It was like she hadn’t wanted to make a fuss, but they were forcing her to it.

Chloe Grant’s features truly were attractive, especially when she was on the verge of tears—sharp, but somehow vulnerable.

She knew just how to use that to her advantage. Sure enough, Manager Lynch was left speechless, unable to utter a word.

"Without a map, how did you find your way out?"

Aaron Carson’s probing gaze pinned Chloe Grant, eyes narrowed in question.

"That patch of woodland you entered—there are no markers at all. You have to rely on the map for everything. Plus, there’s an undeveloped zone that’s even more dangerous. How did you get out safely without a map, while Scarlett had the map but ended up missing?"

"I have a good memory. I checked the map yesterday and got a rough idea of the route."

Chloe Grant parted her lips weakly, looking at Aaron, her eyes bright red:

"Assistant Carson, I never would’ve thought you’re the type to bend the rules for your own."

Aaron Carson’s frown deepened; he could sense there was a hidden implication.

After she said this, Chloe Grant pulled up her sleeve, revealing several fresh, unscabbed wounds on her pale arm.

"Just trying to get out today, I fell into a bunch of traps and got hurt quite a bit. I didn’t plan to make an issue out of it, I was just exhausted. But now, with you two cornering me like this, Assistant Carson, even if you work for President Ford, do you really have to pick on us at the bottom?"

Tears finally spilled from Chloe Grant’s misty eyes.

They fell, one by one, on her raised arm.

The tears soaked into the open wounds, making the bruises and redness stand out all the more fiercely.

Several colleagues passing by overheard the commotion and looked their way in surprise.

Aaron Carson’s brow creased so hard it nearly formed a "川" character. "So what you’re telling me is, Scarlett Shaw might still be out there in the wilderness—is that it?"

"I told you, I don’t know."

With that, Chloe Grant turned away, eyes red, and left.

Manager Lynch glanced at her retreating back, then carefully said, "If what Chloe Grant says is true, doesn’t Scarlett Shaw need to be punished for this? Do we even keep looking for her?"

"Real or not, we have to find her,"

Aaron Carson’s expression was grave.

"If Scarlett really is out in the wild in this weather, the odds of something happening are high. Honestly, do you think you can dodge responsibility for this?"

Manager Lynch turned deathly pale, about to speak, when he saw Julian Ford coming out of the elevator lobby behind them.

"P- President Ford!"

Aaron Carson’s face turned even whiter than Manager Lynch’s.

He strode over to Julian Ford and gave a succinct report of the situation.

The whole time, he hardly dared breathe.

Everyone knew about the boss and Scarlett—it wasn’t out and open, but she was definitely his. At the very least, from Julian’s demeanor, he was clearly interested in Scarlett Shaw.

In the dead of winter, after giving his report, Aaron Carson was drenched in cold sweat.

Julian Ford heard everything, his expression unchanged, but he immediately said, "Contact the staff at that wilderness site. Find her."

His features were cool, his tone calm, his emotions concealed.

But to Aaron Carson, it felt like a storm was on the way.

Manager Lynch did as Julian ordered, called immediately, and when he hung up, his expression had soured.

"President Ford, they said the rain is too heavy today, and there’s thunder. They can’t send out a helicopter to search."

"And it’s dangerous for people to go in there right now, too."

Julian Ford looked at him coolly, "So, you want to wait until tomorrow to start looking?"