Her Marriage: The Night is Still Young-Chapter 183: It’s Over, President Gallagher Is Trapped in the Elevator
Nathaniel Gallagher’s fist slammed heavily onto the desk, and a fine crack appeared on the expensive mahogany office table.
He panted heavily, the veins on his forehead throbbing, and the surge of anger in his eyes threatened to engulf the entire office.
"Josephine Thompson... Julian Grant..."
He gritted his teeth as he uttered these names, each word laced with a venomous chill, "Do they really think they can sleep soundly now?"
"Not a chance."
The chief secretary knocked on the door cautiously, carefully reminding him, "...President Gallagher, it’s time for the meeting."
Nathaniel Gallagher said icily, "The meeting is canceled today."
After speaking.
He stood up coldly, and walked out with long strides.
"Ah? Oh, okay!" The chief secretary hurriedly stepped aside to clear the way, wanting to follow and persuade him, but seeing his bad mood, ultimately did not dare to follow.
In the conference room.
The shareholders and executives had been waiting for an hour, and couldn’t help but glance at the door, "It’s already half past nine, why hasn’t President Gallagher arrived yet?"
"Right? Is today’s meeting still happening?"
"The afternoon meeting is more important, surely President Gallagher won’t miss it?"
"The company profit will surely exceed expectations this year, won’t it?"
"It’s hard to say, other entertainment companies have been active lately, we’ve been constrained on several projects, President Gallagher is probably harboring a grudge."
The meeting room buzzed with discussion.
A few veteran shareholders leisurely discussed over their teacups.
Director Sterling knocked on the table from his seat at the head, "Profit sharing is secondary, the key is strategic planning for the second half. Even though President Gallagher is young, he has keen insight, following him is never wrong."
As soon as he finished speaking.
The chief secretary walked in gravely, the documents in his hands trembling, "Director Sterling, Chairman Lynch, everyone... today’s meeting has been temporarily canceled."
"What?"
Someone slammed down their teacup, tea stains splattering onto their suit pants which they didn’t bother to clean, "How can it be canceled just like that? Notices have been out for half a month!"
"Exactly, many came back from other places specifically for this, this is ridiculous!"
The secretary bowed his head lower, "It was President Gallagher’s instruction, he said... all meetings are suspended, company affairs will be handled by the deputy today."
"Where’s President Gallagher?" Director Sterling frowned, his tone deepened, "What’s he off doing?"
The secretary’s lips twitched, ultimately not daring to mention Nathaniel Gallagher’s frightening state just now, vaguely replied, "President Gallagher left, didn’t say specifically what for..."
With these words, the conference room erupted.
"Left? Where could he go at this critical moment?"
"Could it be because of what’s online? This morning I saw news he was stimulated by his ex-wife’s announcement with Julian Grant..."
"Shut up!" Director Sterling shouted lowly, casting a glance at that person, "Company matters, don’t drag in personal ones!"
But the gossip didn’t cease, it intensified.
Someone pulled out their phone to check trending topics, the tag "Julian Grant and Josephine Thompson" was still at the top, the image of the two stung the eyes.
In a corner, a young shareholder murmured, "President Gallagher probably still has feelings for President Thompson, after all, she is young, beautiful, and wealthy, the current Mrs. Gallagher can’t compare."
Director Sterling sighed heavily and stood up, "Since the meeting is canceled, let’s adjourn. Deputy, come to my office, organize the recent reports for me."
The group reluctantly packed up, leaving while whispering complaints.
...
"Ding--"
The elevator door opened.
Nathaniel Gallagher entered the executive elevator with a sullen face.
Once inside, he pressed the button for the parking garage on the basement level.
"Ding!"
The elevator doors shut, descending slowly.
The advertisement screen in the elevator ran on automatic, playing today’s hot news in a cycle.
[Epochal romance exposed, Caldwen’s Crown Prince Julian Grant announces love affair, acknowledges former Audenburg’s number one socialite]
[Campus love turns around, finally fruitful]
On the advertisement screen.
The interview footage of Julian Grant continued, his eye smiling tenderly as he spoke of Josephine Thompson, "Meeting her is the luckiest thing of my life."
Nathaniel Gallagher’s eyes suddenly widened, letting out a suppressed growl, like an ignited powder keg, his accumulated anger exploding instantly.
He fiercely raised his fist, smashing towards the overly bright screen with thunderous force.
"Bang—"
The sharp sound of glass shattering echoed inside the elevator.
The screen instantly blacked out.
Shards splintered, cutting his fingertips, blood beads forming, yet he remained oblivious.
His knuckles pressed against the still-warm wreckage, residual electrical currents tingling his skin, like the feeling of his heart being repeatedly torn apart.
"Zzz!"
"Bang!"
The elevator suffered an external hit, automatically switched to protection mode. The slowly descending elevator suddenly halted.
Nathaniel Gallagher glanced up, the floor indicator stuck on level 24.
"Shit"
"Thud thud--"
He kicked the elevator door a couple of times, immediately pressing the emergency button.
But...
The security guard monitoring the elevator happened to have an upset stomach today.
Moreover, the regular maintenance of the executive elevator ensured it hardly ever encountered issues.
Hence, the guard inevitably slacked off during work.
"Beep beep..."
Nathaniel Gallagher, irritated, pressed the alarm several more times.
After waiting two minutes.
Still no response.
"Damn it..."
Angry and furious, he instinctively reached into his pocket for a phone!
He searched repeatedly, found nothing.
"Today really is cursed, Andy, where’s my phone?"
He glanced around!
Andy and Martin hadn’t followed him up.
After all, everyone feared his temper.
His expression was so foul today, even his bodyguards wisely preserved their lives, since he forbade them from following, they didn’t come along.
"Damn, where did my phone go?"
He searched again.
Suddenly remembered, the phone was just thrown by him.
Another phone is in the car, one in the office, one at home, one with the secretary, one with the special assistant.
Overall, none were at hand.
"Finished!"
"Bang bang bang!" Nathaniel Gallagher pounded the elevator door irritably again.
"Is anyone out there? I’m stuck in the elevator."
The elevator was airtight.
The screen shattered, sending sparks crackling, mixing with his heavy breathing, accentuating the claustrophobia.
Nathaniel Gallagher raised his hand to wipe his face, fingers brushing the blood from the wound, the metallic taste made him increasingly restless.
He stared at the sealed elevator door, the urge to scratch his knuckles returning.
The force of smashing the screen hadn’t fully dissipated, now he wished he could tear apart this door too.
"Is anyone out there?" he shouted again, his voice bouncing off the metal walls, the returning echo carrying an empty thud.
The 24th floor was the tech department.
Usually busy, but today coincided with a team-building event, most were out in the countryside.
The remaining few were clustered in the pantry, browsing the trending news and discussing the "fairytale romance" of Julian and Josephine, not hearing the commotion in the elevator at all.
Nathaniel kicked the door for the third time, the heel of his shoe scraping a harsh line on the metal panel.
"Zzz zap bang!"
The elevator’s machinery shuddered a few times, then plummeted several meters.
Afterward, it got stuck on the 22nd floor.
The elevator was not accommodating to him.
With his violent assault, even the emergency lights went out.
"Is there anyone outside? Did everyone fucking die?"
"Someone, anyone, I’m damn stuck in the elevator..."
What a pity.
No matter how he shouted, no one responded to him.
Because he was using the CEO’s private elevator, employees didn’t dare to use it at all.
Naturally, no employee would notice.
Plus, the security guard watching the monitor room was slacking off, completely unaware that the emergency lights had been activated.
"Bang bang bang!"
The darkness combined with his claustrophobia made Nathaniel rage like a trapped beast.
"Is there anyone outside? Did everyone fucking die?"
No matter how much he cursed in anger.
At this moment, not a single person paid attention to him.
"Beep beep beep"
He almost broke the alarm button.
In the blink of an eye.
Half an hour had passed.
He was still trapped in the elevator.
...
Pantry.
Andy, Martin, Vance, and the others gradually arrived at the pantry for a break.
Some were special assistants, some were bodyguards, but usually, they all stayed close to Nathaniel.
Just now, Nathaniel had an outburst and told them not to follow.
So, they had some peace, only needing to keep an eye on their phones, ready to be called upon at any moment.
Andy brewed a cup of tea: "Sss~ I was scared out of my wits this morning. You guys didn’t see President Gallagher’s face; it was even darker than coal, scaring me into a cold sweat."
Martin stuffed a cookie into his mouth, mumbling, "Not just dark, he looked like he wanted to eat someone. Just now in the office, I could hear him breaking things through the door, probably going to need to replace the desk."
Vance, leaning against the bar, browsed trending topics on his phone, furrowing his brow: "No wonder President Gallagher is so mad. Look at these tags, they’re almost everywhere. Julian’s move is pretty ruthless, knowing full well about President Gallagher and President Thompson’s past, and still acting so openly."
Andy leaned over for a glance, clicking his tongue, "Tsk, these photos make it look like they’re a match made in heaven to outsiders. But honestly, Miss Thompson does look more relaxed now with Young Master Grant."
"Shh——" Martin quickly cut him off, glancing towards the door, "Better not let President Gallagher hear that, or we’ll all be packing our bags."
Andy shrank back into himself and begrudgingly shut his mouth.
They fell into silence, the pantry filled only with the dim glow of phone screens and the occasional sound of pages turning.
...
Monitor room.
The slacking security guard spent over half an hour in the bathroom.
He finally leisurely returned to the monitor room.
"Hm hm hm~ I’m just a worker, burning my gut..."
He hummed a little tune, lazily returning to his post.
In the entire Gallagher Group, his post was probably the most leisurely. He just needed to look after the CEO elevator monitor daily; unlucky for him, his shift mate was on break.
Today, he was the only one on duty.
"Lucy, I’m coming to find you tonight. Introduce your good friend to my buddy, yeah, yeah, the busty one."
"Heh heh heh~ You’re right, it’s really for my buddy..."
He was chatting away with someone from a nightclub when suddenly, a sharp alarm sounded from the monitoring console.
"What’s that noise?"
He instinctively went over to check and was instantly dumbfounded.
"Fuck fuck fuck... it’s over it’s over it’s over..."
"President Gallagher is trapped in the elevator, oh man, what bad luck is this today..."
Panic-stricken, he immediately activated the intercom at the secretary desk.
"Hello..."
"Is Secretary Axton there? President Gallagher is trapped in the elevator."
"What?"
Andy quickly took the call, his voice coming through the intercom: "What did you say? What’s up with President Gallagher?"
"Elevator! The CEO’s private elevator! It’s been stuck on the 22nd floor for almost an hour, with the emergency alarm going off non-stop!"
Security guard Linton’s voice was trembling like a sieve, fumbling over the monitor screen, "I just got back from the bathroom and saw it, the lights are out, and there’s no response to the calls..."
"Buzz" went Andy’s mind.
The documents in Secretary Axton’s hand scattered all over the floor.
He suddenly recalled Nathaniel’s furious exit that morning, remembered his monstrous expression, and his heart leaped to his throat.
"I will notify the Security Department and Maintenance Team immediately! You keep an eye on the monitors, report any movement right away!"
He grabbed the internal phone, his fingers slipping from nervousness, dialing three times before reaching the Security Department: "Get a team to the 22nd floor CEO elevator right now! President Gallagher is trapped! Get the maintenance team too, the faster the better!"
He hung up the call.
Then he dashed madly towards the pantry, bursting through the door to yell at Martin and the others: "Quick! President Gallagher is trapped in the elevator on the 22nd floor!"
"Pfff!"
The cookie in Martin’s hand dropped to the floor with a "thud", and Vance sprang up and rushed to the door: "Why didn’t you say so earlier!"
The three of them bolted to the stairwell, their leather shoes clacking urgently against the steps, more frantically than ever before.
Inside the elevator.
Nathaniel’s consciousness was already starting to blur.
The darkness overwhelmed him like a tide, the suffocation from his claustrophobia making him shiver all over. The wounds on his fingers no longer felt like pain, just numb stiffness.
He leaned against the elevator wall, his head resting on the cold metal, his mind flickering with various images.
Josephine’s first smile at him, her resolute signing of the divorce papers, and the way her hand circled Julian’s neck as he held her...
"Josephine..." he murmured her name again, a whisper so light it sounded like a sigh, carrying a fragility he himself hadn’t noticed.
Just then.
The sound of chaotic footsteps and shouting came from outside: "President Gallagher! Are you in there?"
It was Vance’s voice.
Nathaniel struggled to lift his eyes, squeezing out a sound from his throat: "...Yes."
This time, those outside clearly heard the response.
"President Gallagher! We’re here! Hang in there, the maintenance team is on its way!" Andy’s voice carried a sob, he and Martin working together to pry open the elevator door with a crowbar.
"Screech——clang!"
The maintenance team arrived, carrying tools, the sound of the drill piercing the corridor’s silence.
A few minutes later.
With a loud bang, the elevator door was pried open just enough for a person to pass through.
As light flooded in, Vance was the first to rush up: "President Gallagher!"
Nathaniel stood in the corner, his face ghostly pale, his forehead dotted with cold sweat, his lips bloodless.
"Get President Gallagher out first!" the maintenance team leader shouted.
Andy and Martin quickly reached in, carefully helping Nathaniel out.
As Nathaniel stepped out of the elevator, he suddenly became like an enraged lion, "Are you all fucking dead?"
He lashed out furiously, kicking at them, seething with rage.
