Novel Full Chapter 424 Suddenly Summoned
**A few days later **
“Is Miss Karina here?”
Having been too caught up with thoughts of my work for hours, I wasn’t sure if I had heard correctly that someone seemed to be looking for me. With quite tired eyes, I looked up from my computer screen to find that many of my colleagues had left already while I had been too focused on work. Apart from Richard and me, there were only a few people left in the project room. My attention turned to the middle-aged woman standing in the doorway to the room.
Her tidy suit and matching skirt clearly weren’t meant to make her stand out. It didn’t take me long for me to realize that I had never seen this woman before and that was precisely why I had no idea what business she could possibly have with me.
“Umm…I’m Karina. Are you looking for me?” I asked although it was obvious that she was searching for me.
The stern look that she had on her face as she turned her attention in my direction made my stomach turn and my body stiffen at the same time. Like a student that had been caught red handed in an inappropriate act, I started to panic a little. I had no idea why she was looking for me or what business she had with me but the look that she had on her face told me that it couldn’t be anything good.
“There you are. Please come with me for a moment,” she said sternly.
“Umm…” I made a hesitant sound as my eyes returned to my laptop. 𝐞𝗼𝘃𝐞𝐥．𝗰𝐨𝗺
What about all this work that I still had to do?
It was quite amazing even to me how I could still worry about work when I felt like I could be in some kind of trouble. The woman must have caught on to my hesitation because she heaved quite a loud sigh.
“It won’t take long if we hurry,” she said although I felt no reassurance or support in her cold tone.
“Right…” I mumbled.
Because it seemed like I didn’t have a choice in the matter, I decided to leave the project room silently after her. Even when we were alone in the silent hallway, she did not state what business she had with me. Instead, all she did was tell me to follow her as she promptly led the way. At first, I had no idea where she was taking me; however, soon enough the path that we were walking became a little familiar to me.
It felt like I had been along this path before, and I still remembered where it led even though I didn’t quite want to remember. An uncomfortable lump formed in my throat as a sense of dread filled my chest. The back of the woman walking in front of me started to look very intimidating and it felt like one of those moments when I wished with every fiber of my body that I was wrong about everything when I already knew that my sense of foreboding must be spot on correct.
“Umm…are we…” I began asking but the woman did not even turn my way.
“Please just follow me,” she said without even casting a glance my way.
The sound of her heels clicking against the hard floor as she proceeded along the hallway only added to my anxiousness. I told myself that I had done nothing wrong and that there was nothing that could possibly happen. The walk felt too long for my liking, and I found it quite amusing to feel a sense of relief when the woman finally stopped in front of a large door.
“The committee is waiting for you inside,” the woman informed me politely and without any emotions.
I understood that she was just doing her job and I also decided that I was going to do my job and play my part as well.
“Thank you,” I thanked her simply.
She stepped to the side and motioned with her hand to invite me to open the door and enter the room. I stood in front of the door before taking in a deep breath and holding it. Unfortunately, my sense of foreboding had been absolutely correct. Now as for the reason why I was summoned to this place, I truly had absolutely no idea. While feeling the woman’s eyes on me, I firmly pushed the door open to meet whatever was waiting for me on the other side.
The room felt as cold as I had remembered the last time that I was here. I couldn’t help but wonder if someone intentionally set up the room to be cold as a way to make it feel even more intimidating. Clearly, there was no need for that because coming face-to-face with the disciplinary committee was frightening enough that there was no need to add the overly cold air conditioning to the equation.
“Please take a seat,” one of the committee members instructed with a polite smile.
While still not knowing why I had been summoned, I already knew that I must be in some sort of trouble. The first thought that ran through my head as I headed for the only unoccupied chair in the room was whether or not they had finally found out about my relationship with Ace. I had thought that we did a pretty decent job of hiding it from the world but perhaps that wasn’t entirely the case.
I could feel everyone’s eyes on me while I told myself to remain calm. All my efforts went into putting up a calm and collected front even though my mind was racing on the inside. It just didn’t make any sense to me at all. Everyone knew by now that Ace was supposed to be dating Elizabeth after they made such a public announcement, so it didn’t make sense of the committee to call me here regarding that matter.
Then, what else could it be?
“I didn’t think that you would ever return here after the last time that you were here,” another committee member said with a stern look on his face.
–To be continued…