New Year January 1st 2023 rolled in with celebrations welcoming the New Year across The United States; we were able to watch the beautiful fireworks on television and the wonderful countdown in New York Times Square. At The Andrews Family, we welcomed the New Year with hugs and kisses wishing each other a wonderful and pleasant New Year.
After a week of celebrating it was now time to take care of business before heading back to Boston on Saturday January 14th, 2023. Initially was to have scheduled a meeting with Mr. Thompson back in December, but as I was caught up with other matters and just wanted some peace and quiet during the holidays, which was what I needed especially in digesting everything that happened in 2022, and all that was to be done in 2023. The first thing I needed to do was to catch up with Mr. Thompson to set up a meeting with Mr. Morris at Chase Bank to sign off on all the transfer documents, in addition, discuss with Mr. Thompson on possibly drafting a letter which states my inheritance and takeover of my parents' companies as the CEO and Director not only in the States but globally this also includes stating the relationship with my parents. This was a letter, stamped with evidence that Mr. Thompson would present in the upcoming meeting I was to have with the Board sometime at the end of this month. On the 9th of January, reached out to Mr. Thompson and surely enough he had already made the appointment with Mr. Morris for today at 2pm. I needed Chris, Jaime and Anderson to go with me as they were going to be the witness of the signing and transfer of the documents, including taking a video which would be used as evidence in case there were any doubts. I informed Chris, Jaime and Anderson of the meeting appointment and we were all set and ready to by 1:00PM to head over to Chase Bank.
At around 1:45 in the afternoon, we arrived at Chase Bank where Mr. Morris had been waiting for us in the VIP Lounge. Mr. Thompson arrived ten minutes later carrying a laptop, and a brief case; we were all seated in the VIP Lounge room where the meeting was set to take place. When everyone was present, I was presented with all the documents as previously given when I first met Mr. Thompson. I read all the documents then forwarded them to Chris, Jaime and Anderson as I needed another pair of eyes to help me in case I missed any details or needed to question the information on each document, at the same time Mr. Morris had been taking a video with my phone as evidence. I was to sign four copies of each document, that were also original one for myself, Mr. Morris, and Mr. Thompson, and the final original copy would be sealed and kept in the bank in a safe deposit box along with all the other items belonging to The Johnson Family. As I was reading through the documents, the words in one of the documents started moving all around the paper, to avoid causing any alarm, continued reading the document when the all the words came to a sentence saying, "trust no one, trust yourself, you will never be alone, we will always be with you." I looked up at Chris, Jaime, Anderson, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Morris in a confused state of mind after reading that message as was not sure what exactly the message meant but also most importantly the origins of the message where and from whom. I quickly put my doubts aside continued reading the documents and signed it. The entire process lasted five hours once that was done, a video of Mr. Morris and Mr. Thompson shaking hands with me was also an indication to show that the transfer process was complete and authenticated. The next step was to ensure that all documents were notarized by the Chase Bank; Mr. Thompson had all the documents notarized by his office so all that was left the notarization from Chase Bank once that was all done, the transfer process began. I asked Mr. Morris if all the transfer would be completed and confirmed before the end of January, and he confirmed the transfer would be complete within five days. That brought a great smile to my face as it meant with all the documentation would not only be ready for the board meeting but to also face the board members should there be any trouble. Before leaving Chase Bank, I asked Mr. Morris to let me know once the transfer process and notarization of everything has been completed, and finally I had a private meeting with Mr. Thompson informing him of the upcoming board meeting at my parents' company and needed him to be present at the meeting with the original signed documentation of the signed on all the transfer documents and a stamped, signed and notarized letter which states my inheritance and takeover of my parents' companies as the CEO and Director not only in the States but globally this also includes stating the relationship with my parents. He agreed and would begin to prepare the documents; my job was to let him the date, time, venue of the board meeting once confirmed with Cynthia. I also informed Mr. Morris to let me know once all the transfer was completed. We shook hands, thanked Mr. Morris and his staff, said we would be in touch and left the bank going our separate ways.
As it was already dinner time and we were starving, we decided to head on to our old time favorite restaurants 'Steak and Grill,' we all wanted to not only have their steak but also the pork ribs and lots of French fries and drinks-non alcoholic since Anderson and Jaime were driving. The manager of the restaurant was our very good friend even before we placed our orders he already knew what we wanted to order. We spoke at length how he had been including his business and family; he had thought we moved from Chicago to another State. We told him we are just in Boston for university; our parents are still in Chicago working. He gathered our orders and went off to prepare our orders; the restaurant itself had not changed except there was more and more customers' everyday which was very good for his business.
As we were waiting for our meals turned around to ask Chris and Jaime about their tech savvy skills especially on phones; they looked at me very confused wondering where this conversation was going; I informed them about the upcoming board meeting that was to be held this month and while Cynthia was gathering all the information about each board member, I needed their sources to help with monitoring all the incoming, out coming phone calls and their conversations; whom they talk to every single one of them including the details. They asked my reasons for what I wanted to do, and informed them that some of the board members have been involved in various illegal activities with the company but internally and externally at the same time I now believe these same board members are involved with the disappearing of my parents. As much as this was very hard for all of us to believe, the only thing that mattered right now was to get all the information needed to catch the culprit behind the disappearance of my parents. Chris and Jaime had two contacts that were not only tech savvy buddies but were good at hacking into phones and computers and best part was they were also based in Chicago. I informed Chris and Jaime to help set up a meeting with them prior to our board meeting sometime towards the end of this month; thumbs up was their response and I didn't need to worry about it at all.
Next I turned to Anderson asking if he could accompany me to the hospital, his first reaction was if I was sick or something happened to me; told him it was not about me but needed to get information about my mum's health. He asked if everything was ok, explained to him that I noticed the weight gain on my mum's body since the summer of 2020. At first didn't take much notice of it and thought it was weight gain due to age, but again thought could be health related and didn't want to ask my mum; however in the summer of 2021 when I met my parents my mum's weight had gained but was not as much as back in 2020. I started becoming suspicious and worried, and although had wanted so badly to ask my mum what was going on, didn't want to bring up the topic especially if it was health related as mum always knew anything that had to do with my parents especially about their health always had me worried. I need to go see our family doctor, Dr. Falcon at Chicago Hospital to inquire about my mum's health, as I feel there was more going on than just her health, I have my suspicions but want to make sure before jumping to conclusions. Anderson asked when I wanted to go, told him tomorrow morning before noon.
After having such a wonderful dinner we relaxed and chatted about our evening plans as well as tomorrow's plans. Chris and Jaime were heading home to work on the finding information and details of my parents travel and whereabouts through the CCTV cameras and getting in touch with their sources that could help me with my phone tech request, while Anderson and I were also heading back to his place. We parted ways shortly after 11PM, and texted each other when we got home. I started going through everything that had occurred at Chase Bank especially with the strange message I received on the document; ""trust no one, trust yourself, you will never be alone, we will always be with you." I had been trying to figure out who would send me that message especially during this critical time, was thinking my parents or 'black hood' considering we had not spoken for a very long time and had been wondering how 'black hood' was doing. I didn't want to over think too much, tried to be calm and patient telling myself that everything will be OK and will get all my questions answered in due time. It was already past midnight and was already feeling tired and sleepy, showered and prepared myself for sleep. Earlier Anderson and I were chatting about the prospects of taking over my parents' company; he was worried with all that was going on including my university studies that I will not be able to handle the pressure, worries, anxiety and stress especially from the board members and the overseas companies. I told him, "The day we watched the video which was the last thing I had of my parents' told myself no matter what I will do everything in my power to not only save my Parents Company but find and bring my parents' back home even if it meant breaking the rules and doing it on my own." Anderson's blue eyes opened wide in shock and it was from that moment on he knew that I was determined to do whatever it took not only for the sake of the company but most importantly for the sake of my parents.' "I will always support you, and will always have your back no matter what," said Anderson. I thanked him, hugged and kissed him goodnight, would see him tomorrow morning.
The next morning was awake up and early at 7, the first thing I did was get my phone, and I contacted Cynthia to see if she was free to talk. She called me the minute she received my message. I asked her to do a background check on the founders of my parents' company including the ones in the States and globally. She asked my reason behind this request; I informed her that for my parents' company to grow at such enormous and fast pace making huge investments there had to be a third or fourth person involved who were also the founders of the company. I asked her to help me find out any information and their contacts especially during the first ten years when the company was just starting up as it was the crucial time. She would look into it and get back to me in three days. This was perfect as it would be of great help when we have the board meeting in a couple of weeks. Speaking of the board meeting, followed up with Cynthia on whether a meeting time and date had been set up with the board members, she informed me that the meeting has been set up for Thursday January 26th at 10AM at the company. "Excellent," I replied. Now that the meeting had been set up it was time to put the rest of the plans in motion; I asked Cynthia how far she had gone with finding all the information on each board member, she informed me that everything will be ready this weekend. I asked her to take the original documentation and make a set of three copies each which would be given to me and my lawyer Mr. Thompson and for the company. We also discussed how far she had gone with finding out information about my parents' via their travel itinerary, CCTV cameras etc, she informed me this is in working progress and will have everything ready at the end of this month as there is too much information and wanted to compile it in an organized manner including dates and times and who they met with during their travel. "Excellent, we seem to be quite ahead of schedule," I replied. We concluded that we would touch base on Friday to set up a time and meeting place over the weekend.
When I hung up the phone Anderson was already in my room seated at the sofa, we greeted each other good morning, and he then asked if I was talking to Cynthia, told him yes, and filled him in on the details of our phone conversation. He was quite impressed with the amount of time and effort Cynthia was putting in helping you search for your parents' and the company. "Cynthia has been the one employee my parents' always trusted with everything that was going on in the company whether internally or externally. She has always been spot on with all the issues of the company and had even worked with Mr. Thompson on some of the cases; I trust her and we both have the same goal, save my parents' and the company." I left Anderson seated on the sofa went to shower and dress up as we were heading to Chicago Hospital right after breakfast.
It was already hitting 8:45AM when we finally went downstairs to have breakfast, Mr. and Mrs. Andrews were already awake and dressed ready for work. I greeted them good morning with a hug and sat down to have breakfast, they asked our plans for the day; before I could answer Anderson said "we plan on doing some shopping and spending the day with Chris and Jaime." I turned to look at him only to receive a wink which I then knew what he meant. "Alright have fun and will see you in the evening," said Mrs. Andrews. They left as we watched them drive off from their garage. I looked at Anderson, "I didn't want my parents' knowing what we were up to or else they would be very worried and since we are not ready to tell them anything, came up with a quick simple plan for our day," thumbs up was my response to Anderson. We quickly had our breakfast, cleaned up, prepared our stuff and were ready and out of the door by 10AM. Anderson drove straight to Chicago Hospital, when we arrived; I got off the car while he went to pack the car, told him to meet me at the reception area. When he arrived went to the fourth floor where Dr. Falcon was already waiting for us in his office. We knocked on his door and walked in, it had been almost six years since we last met and Mr. Falcon was one of the most trusted family doctors we ever had, he remembered me instantly, we greeted and hugged each other, talked about my life in Boston, how things were going for me and my family. He looked at Anderson, it was then I realized had forgotten to introduce him, I did a brief introduction and let Anderson do the rest. Mr. Falcon did question him a lot especially about our relationship and how we met, jokingly warning to be nice and treat me well otherwise it will not be looking pretty for him and we both smiled and laughed as I held Anderson's hand looked at him and gave him a wink.
We then moved on to the nature of our meeting with Dr. Falcon; I told him everything I had begun to notice about my mum since the summer of 2020 from the weight gain to the health concern. I asked Dr. Falcon if he had been aware of any health issues my mum was going through since 2019 till the mid 2022, the last time I saw my parents' was the beginning of 2022 before returning back to Boston. After everything I had said, he asked if my mum had ever discussed any health concerns or issues with you during that time, I replied nothing that I didn't even know anything that was going on Dr. Falcon. I then asked his reason; apparently my mum was scheduled for a checkup more than six months ago but never showed up. Dr. Falcon reached to his computer and medical files to get my mum's medical report; it was all quite puzzling what he said. He repeated, "Yes, your mum was scheduled for check up back in March 2022, but she never showed up, I did call her but no answer and when she did finally pick up my phone, she was out of the country and would set up an appointment once she returned to Chicago and that was the last time I heard from her. I asked, "When did you call her?" He replied, "It was sometime in July 2022 when I called her, yes I remember clearly as it was a very hot day and there were lots of patients we had received due to heat stroke." "OK, can you explain to me exactly what is or what was wrong with my mum please?" I asked.
Dr. Falcon begun, "back in 2019 when your mum first came to the hospital, she had been complaining of pain in her abdomen and stomach, she claimed that it was not a very serious pain, but it would suddenly attack her then disappear for a few hours or even days, then the pain would come back and even worse. I decided to run some tests, including blood test, urine test, ultra sound, MMR and a full body scan and x-ray. Her sugar levels were good as I know she was good at eating and staying healthy. Since all the results would be ready the next day, we set up another appointment to meet the next day." "When did all this happen?" I asked. He replied, "Looking at the records, it was in March 2019." I looked at Anderson, "that was when I was in grade 12 at Chicago High School, ok continue Dr. Falcon." "The next day your parents' retuned and we sat down and talked about the results; the blood results were all negative, urine test was negative didn't find anything out of the ordinary, and her MMR was clear, it was the ultra sound, full body scan and x-ray where we did find something, there was a huge growth on the right side of her stomach, it looked like a cyst. You mum mentioned having an operation but told her it was very risky that we needed for the size of the cyst to shrink before doing any surgery, we gave her very strong antibiotics for two weeks in which an appointment was scheduled immediately her medication was over." "Dr. Falcon, I asked, "is this my mum, Mrs. Johnson we are talking about?" with tears in my eyes, it was all too much to take, confusion, worry and anger were the feelings in my mind, but I had to calm down as I didn't want my emotions to bring out the fear and pain in my eyes and hands, once I was calm, asked Dr. Falcon to continue. "After two weeks, your parents' returned and we did a full body scan and x-ray, the results showed that the cyst had reduced in size but was still huge, I recommended for your mum to have surgery but she was so against it and was not sure why, she mentioned that she would speak to her husband and get back to me on their decision. This went on for the entire 2019. "So what you are saying is that my mum never did the surgery but instead chose to deal with the situation herself," I said. "That's right," replied Dr. Falcon. "That sounds like my mum, she would rather go through the pain, find her own ways to heal her pain and whatever she is going through than seek professional help." "Didn't my father have any say on the matter Dr. Falcon?" I asked. "All he said was he will support whatever decision his wife made and that was end of the discussion," he replied. In the end we prescribed more antibiotics and they left. "That was it?" I asked. "No," he replied. I looked at Anderson; we both looked at Dr. Falcon confused as we were not sure what to expect. "In April 2020, I believe that was when you were in your last year of high school at Chicago High, correct?" "Yes, I replied. It was a Monday morning, the week after you had started school, she complained of having an enormous pain, we gave her a shot to reduce the pain, after half an hour, requested her to do another full body scan including blood tests. From the results of the full body scan and ultra sound, the cyst was gone; it had just like that disappeared from your mum's stomach. I looked at Dr. Falcon very confused asking him to explain in details. He continued, "At first we thought the cyst had moved on the other side of your mum's stomach but when we checked and rechecked the x-ray, body scan results, it clearly showed that the cyst had disappeared which was a miracle." I was so relieved hearing that until Dr. Falcon said, "however, we did notice something else not only in the blood test but in the ultra sound the something seemed to be moving and growing inside her stomach." I looked at him in shock, while Anderson stood up behind the chair. I looked at him in awe like what is going on and whether he was OK. He motioned his hand to listen to Dr. Falcon. I turned looking at Dr. Falcon with fear of what he was about to say, "Your mum was pregnant almost four weeks." I started laughing, looked at Dr. Falcon in shock and horror, "Say what, you must be joking, this is a joke right," while I was looking at Anderson. "At the age of over forty five years, my mum was pregnant?" I asked in shock. Still finding it very hard to digest and process what Dr. Falcon just told me, I decided to let him finish the entire story. "When your mum found out she was pregnant, the decision was made to keep the baby, and she would be coming in the mornings for her regular check up and we would keep in touch via phone in case there were any problems." I stood up started walking around Dr. Falcon's office, stood in awe and shock looking at both of them, didn't know what to say or do next, how I was to process everything that was presented to me today here in Dr. Falcon's office. After ten minutes of trying to calm down, I returned back to my seat while Anderson stood behind me, it was now my turn to ask questions. "Dr. Falcon, you mentioned that my mum was four weeks pregnant back in April 2020, how often did she come for check up?" I asked. "She came every three weeks in the morning; her appointments were always in the morning as she didn't want anyone to know about her pregnancy including you Diana." He replied. "Including me, why?" I asked. Your mum was worried how you would take the pregnancy news and whether you were ready to accept a new member of the family," he replied. "She was good; I have to say my mum was very good at hiding her pregnancy, even during the summer when I was at home, she showed no signs of pain, nausea or any other sickness, and she was truly good." I replied. Okay here is what I don't understand and Anderson don't help me out here; if she was four weeks pregnant in April 2020, from what I learned in Biology it takes nine months before the baby is born, right Dr. Falcon?" He replied, "That's correct." "So if we count from May 2020 nine months later would be January 2021, when she was expected to give birth right?" So what happened because I remember clearly I was still in Chicago until January 8th or 9th if I remember before heading back to Boston for my second semester at Boston University. Did she deliver the baby in this hospital Dr. Falcon?" I asked. "Yes, she gave birth to a baby girl on January 23, 2021 and for the next six months she came with her baby for regular check up including vaccination, she had also put on a considerable amount of weight which was normal considering all she had been eating while pregnant and while feeding the baby," he said. "That explains that weight gain my mum had when I returned for the summer in 2021 which I thought was just weight gain due to old age, didn't think of it back then." I said, shaking my head still in confusion. "Hold on a second, something still doesn't add up, if my mum gave birth in January 2021 here in Chicago, baby was good and healthy for the six months, so how come when I arrived back in Chicago for the summer vacation, I didn't see a baby at home, what happened to the baby?" I asked staring at both Dr. Falcon and Anderson. They both looked at me in surprise as they thought this was information I would have already know. Sadly that wasn't the case; I sat down on the chair with my hands on my forehead trying to make sense of everything. "Did my mum mention anything to you about traveling, moving states or giving up the baby, any information?" I asked, was already getting furious and aggressive with Dr. Falcon, but Anderson tried to calm me down by sitting me on the chair. "No information was given in fact after those six months the baby never came back to the hospital for checkup," He replied. I looked up at Dr. Falcon, "What did you just say?" I asked him, "Your mum never brought the baby back to the hospital for checkup after six months," he replied. "Do you have any information on the baby?" I asked. "Yes, besides the date and time of birth we also prepared the birth certificate for the baby" he replied. "Do you have a copy of it?" I asked. "Sure, let me get it for you," he said. He returned with the birth certificate which stated baby's name as Amy Johnson, date of birth January 23, 2021 at Chicago Hospital and the parents' names Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. I had a baby cousin!! My head started working fast thinking and thinking, I looked up at Dr. Falcon and Anderson saying, "My mum gave birth to Amy Johnson in January 23, 2021, the first six months Amy was in Chicago that was till the summer time, but I never saw Amy when I went back to Chicago in the summer vacation, where was she? Why would my mum keep her away from me, it's not like I was going to do anything to her or be angry with my parents or treat any different." It was really hurtful just thinking about everything that had happened and heard from Dr. Falcon's office. It was then that something struck me I looked at Dr. Falcon then at Anderson; "if Amy was not living with us and was not in Chicago then it was either she was with our relatives in another State or worst case scenario in South Korea with my parents." I said. Why would my parents take Amy all the way to South Korea? Why would they not want me to meet Amy? Was there something about Amy that I didn't know? What were my parents hiding that they didn't want me to find out, especially about Amy? Were my parents and Amy in some danger?
I needed to find the answers to all these questions, but more importantly needed to find Amy, as she could be the only lead and key witness to knowing anything that happened to my parents, which meant I was heading to South Korea.