Everybody looked at me in shock trying to understand what just happened, although it was a lot to digest but I was now beginning to be more convinced that my father's brother Uncle Kim together with his partners was involved in the mysterious disappearance of my parents'. I thanked Cynthia and Mr. Thompson very much for all the documentation and information she presented which truly helped me get a better knowledge and understanding not only of the company but my parents especially Uncle Kim. I informed everyone that we shall need to think, plan and come up with a strategy with all the evidence on how to catch each board member and Uncle Kim bringing them to justice for their crimes. It will truly break my heart if I find out that Uncle Kim was indeed involved with the disappearance of my parents, doesn't matter if we are blood related, I will never forgive him.
After listening to Cynthia my head was hurting so much that I needed two strong Advil headache tablets to get rid of the pain, had also prepared a strong cup of black coffee with two pieces of cake in the hopes I will feel better. As we were waiting for Chris and Jaime to set up their stuff, I turned to Kitty and Eddie and asked them for a favor; "I understand you guys are the tech savvy geniuses especially with phones and are based in Chicago, right," I asked. "Yes we both study at Chicago University in the science and technology department," they said. I smiled at them, "Perfect, here's what I want you guys to do for me, I will be having a meeting with the board members of Thursday January 26, I would like for both of you to meet me at the company to do the following; Cynthia will arrange a separate room for the two of you which will be next to the board room, before the meeting begins will collect all the mobile phones of each board member which will be given to Cynthia to bring to you, you are to take the phones and place a tracking GPS device and also a tracker to monitor all their incoming and outgoing calls, who they talk to, what time, where, and topics of discussion, have a feeling our boys have been quite busy and we need to know how busy with who, what and where, would that be possible?" They both replied, "Absolutely, no problem, very easy, how many phones are we talking about?" I replied, "Ten board members, ten phones, but there could be some that have more than one, which as I know will try to fool me by giving me the phone that they don't often use which is not going to work, will take all their phones and if we need to check them for any electronics that will not be a problem." They replied, "No problem, we will be there around 9:45 in the morning to set up in the room, but what if they ask who we are and what we are doing in the company?" I replied, "Don't worry about that, Cynthia and I have it all figured out." They both gave a thumps up.
Eddie continued, "I can work with Cynthia to find out and track the whereabouts of the twenty million dollars and the other transactions from the company to the unknown accounts and we can also help Mr. Thompson in tracking down all the illegal finances from Uncle Kim's company and your parents' company." My eyes lit with tears and joy upon hearing what Eddie said, I even had to ask him to repeat his statements, everyone burst out in laughter, Anderson smiled and hugged me….it was the best news received in today's meeting and truly thanked and hugged Kitty and Eddie, the headache that was killing me somehow miraculously disappeared, guess good news can help cure a headache nowadays, told myself.
Chris and Jaime were now ready to present all the CCTV footage of my parents' travel with the received footage from Cynthia. They were able to track the travel times, dates and destinations including who they met at the airport for the last four years from 2019 to 2022, getting five years was a bit of a stretch as most of the footage had already either been erased or deleted. We categorized the CCTV footage based on years then months; so we started with 2019, we begun watching the CCTV footage of my parents and from 2019 March the entire year my parents were mainly Chicago, that was the time my mum started going to see Dr. Falcon our family doctor, alright let's see the footage of the year 2020. Every morning in April and May of 2020 she went to the hospital for her checkup but never went again during the summer when I was around, she didn't want me to know about the pregnancy.
In September 2020, this was when I started my first year at Boston University; alright there is footage of my parents at Chase Bank opening an account for me but not at the counter but with Mr. Morris at the VIP Lounge which meant this was something they had already planned even before arriving in Boston. Next the footage showed them travelling to New Jersey, Maine and New York during the long weekend in September, they were never picked up by anyone at the airport instead they rented their own car to drive around in all three States, even when heading back to the airport and that was also the time my mum was pregnant, which also meant they didn't want anyone to know about mum's pregnancy. They mentioned meeting friends and relatives and I am guessing their never suspected any abnormalities with my mum at all, they were pretty good at hiding a lot of things I must say. Everyone turned to look at me after what I just said, "Can you blame me?" I said. Then from Mid September to December 2020 when they were back in Chicago, mum had frequent visits to the hospital alone, "What about my father, anything on him?" Chris and Jaime showed me footage of my father leaving from Chicago airport on October 5th 2020 arriving in Europe on the same day where he was met by two gentlemen who shook and hugged him which meant they knew each other very well. He didn't leave Europe until November 15th when he travelled to Singapore, Malaysia on November 23rd, Hong Kong on December 1 and back to the US on December 5th, just in time when I was closing for my winter holiday. "Can we go back to his arrival in Europe on October 5th please, thanks?" "Guys I think I know who these two gentlemen are with my father, the co-founders of my parents company Mr. Davids Williamson and Mr. Tobias Everson.
"Alright moving on to the footage of 2021," said Jaime. On January 23, 2021 my parents were in the hospital this was the day my baby cousin Amy was born, it confirms Dr. Falcons' story, truly a wonderful blessed day for my family, sadly a day I never got to experience nor see my baby cousin Amy, I really hope she is safe with my parents, tears running down my face, it was too emotional for me and was not sure if I was ready to continue watching the footage but I had to, finding them was my number one priority at this moment, promised myself not to get too emotional and to focus was one of the most difficult experiences ever in my life. Ten days later, my mum was discharged from the hospital and for the next four months from February to May 2021 my mum went to the hospital regularly to have checkup for Amy and herself. I asked, "Is there any footage of my mum travelling out of the country before the end of May 2021?" Chris replied, "That's the part we found very strange because there was no footage or any images we could find of your mum ever living Chicago or the States with the baby." I replied, "That doesn't make any sense at all because when I returned for the summer my mum was the only person at home, there was no child." I continued, "I know my dad travelled a lot during the summer, let's check his footage, we might be able to find something." We did see that my dad had travelled once again to Europe and Asia which was like for three days, or a week here and there which was a lot of travelling and when he travelled he had his small suitcase and his laptop bag which he always travelled with every where." We stopped the video for a minute before moving on, I started pacing up and down the house thinking and wondering where mum would have taken Amy. I could only think of one or two things, One, either Amy was staying at one of my mum's friends in Chicago; it could be the only logical explanation and the only thing that made sense. I said, "I don't think my mum travelled anywhere with Amy, she probably had one of her friends look after her in Chicago who had to be a nurse one who knew about infants, toddlers and babies and since there were no available footage, two my parents could have left the country but via another State not directly from Chicago to avoid suspicions; I could be overthinking….(Anderson moved closer to calm me down and hugged me) "It is ok, you are just thinking the way any person would think when their loved ones are missing, let's keep watching the footage maybe something will come up, OK?" said Anderson. I nodded, I am going to have to assume wherever Amy was that she was safe and sound with my parents. "Do we have any other footage for the remainder of 2021," I asked. As they were looking through the footage something immediately caught my attention, "Stop," I said loudly, "Zoom in closer, what was the date and time stamp for this video and the location?" I asked. It was September 15th 2021 at the Chicago airport," said Jaime. "Yes, it was my parents with my mum carrying Amy; does it show where they were going, what flight?" I asked. "It shows they were heading to Seoul, South Korea," said Jaime. "Okay let's cross reference this date with the travel itinerary Cynthia received from her sources to check how many times they travelled to South Korea with and without Amy." Kitty and Eddie joined in to help Chris and Jaime. It took ten minutes and they were able to find that my parents had travelled to Seoul, South Korea ten times in the last four years including from September to December 2021 and from the beginning of January 2022 till the time of their disappearance. I started walking back and forth the house everyone looking at me wondering what was going on, what was I thinking. Then I turned and sat on the sofa and said, "Guys all those times we were not able to find footage of my mum, she had been travelling to South Korea with Amy sometimes directly from Chicago and other times from other States. Moreover, if you see the travel dates and times on their travel itinerary that is not mentioned in their official travel itinerary, there were also times she travelled with my dad to South Korea after Hong Kong, also remember when we went to see Dr. Falcon, he said, "my mum was scheduled for check up back in March 2022, but she never showed up, he 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 Dr. Falcon heard from my mum. Anderson you remember I had asked him, "When he called her?" He replied, "It was sometime in July 2022 when he called her, a day he remembers very clearly as it was a very hot day and there were lots of patients the hospital had received due to heat stroke." Let's not forget when Mr. Thompson had been trying to reach my parents since 2020 and when he failed to contact them, he reached out to me on December 22, 2022 which was my 20th birthday.
My parents were already in Seoul, South Korea with Amy since September 2021, when they called or sent voice messages they were in Seoul; "wait a minute said Chris and Jaime, before we jump into conclusions here Diana, let's think about this, what if your parents were in Seoul to open a new branch office for their company, or had some business interactions or were visiting friends or relatives, could we not be over thinking about all of this?" I said, "Alright you could be right, let's think about it then, as you all know Cynthia has been one of my parents most trusted employee who knew everything that was going on in the company including preparing and organizing their travel plans, anything my parents did whether was internally or externally Cynthia knew it first hand because my parents would always consult with her on any issues with the company. "So tell us Cynthia from all the times you have been working with my parents did the company have any business interactions or ventures in Seoul?" "No they didn't she replied." I questioned, "Did they ever plan to open any branch, collaborate or start a business in Seoul?" She replied, "No they didn't." "Anymore questions for Cynthia?" I asked. In addition if you take a look at the two travel itineraries, you will find a lot of discrepancies in their travel dates and times which don't match at all. The travel itinerary that Cynthia prepared was arranged and managed in the Chicago office, but when they left Chicago they altered their travel plans which included a visit to Seoul before returning to Chicago. Here is my question to you, "why would you alter your travel itinerary, and the travel arrangements and plans without telling Cynthia or your own daughter, you don't find that weird?" I continued, "My parents have never ever spoken about their travel to Seoul, why hide it?" This means they never wanted anyone including me to know about their number of trips to Seoul and this can only be because they were not travelling for business or holiday, they were running for their lives and they took Amy because they were all not safe in Chicago, Amy's safest place with my parents was in Seoul, South Korea. There must be something in Seoul that would make them fly back ten times, there is something that either happened or was related to my parents and Amy and it clearly wasn't business related but personal. "I also have a feeling a lot of it is mainly connected to my mum and Amy," I said. "Oh how so," asked Cynthia and Anderson, firstly when my mum travelled with my dad it would mainly be her either spending a lot of time in Europe or in Seoul, secondly when my mum got pregnant and gave birth to Amy, she didn't mention a single word, even though she was scared that I would be upset or not like Amy, but telling me would have been much better than hiding it, and thirdly the video she left for me to see on my 20th birthday was no coincidence, she and my dad knew something bad was going to happen and had to find a way to let me know everything including the transfer of all their assets, company, shares etc. before it was too late, but what they didn't realize was that it was already too late!!
It was already 2AM when we had finished the meeting, a meeting that left all of us in shock, worry and unsure of what will unfold or transpire next. The information presented in today's meeting was a great start with a direction in search for my parents, and we also had an idea of who would be behind the disappearance and wanting to harm my parents and my baby cousin Amy. All that was left was to gather the evidence that linked the board members, Uncle Kim and anyone else in the missing of my parents and Amy and bring them to justice. Before we ended the meeting a few items still needed to be investigated, clarified with evidence to be able to prepare a case; Mr. Thompson was to investigate and find out more information on Uncle Kim's company in New York including the company projects, finances, deals he has had with my parents' company and other companies legally and illegally. Kitty and Eddie will prepare monitoring and GPS tracking devices that will keep track of all incoming and outgoing phones made by each board member that will help bring out the mole and culprit of the company. In addition they will also work with Cynthia and Mr. Thompson on tracking the finances and assets attained or transacted illegally from the company and Uncle Kim's company in New York. Chris and Jaime will keep digging into the travel itinerary of my parents' final destination and address in Seoul, South Korea, "would you be able to get this information before January 26th?" I asked. "Of course no problem and if we have any problems Kitty and Eddie will chip in," they said. Cynthia you can begin the preparations for the board meeting on January 26th at 10AM, send a formal email with the word "IMPORTANCE" attached to email to inform every board member to be present at the meeting, failure to attend the meeting will result in dismissal and revoke all their privileges from the company, also add the agenda of the meeting, this will definitely get their attention to attend the meeting.
I informed everyone that I will be leaving for Boston tomorrow, Sunday January 15th on a 3PM flight as school starts on Monday January 16th, 2023 but will only be in Boston for nine days then back to Chicago for the board meeting then off to Seoul, South Korea. Chris, Jaime and Anderson, "we shall discuss the remaining information and details once we get to Boston. I asked if anyone had any further questions, everyone was looking quite tired as it had been a very long night; however we were all with the understanding of what we were to do moving forward. I apologized for keeping everyone until late in the night, we were to keep in touch via phone, contact each other in case of any emergency, and we gave each other hugs, kisses and wished each other goodnight. I had packed some meals and dessert for everyone to take with them. I requested Cynthia and Mr. Thompson to send a text message to ensure they arrived home safely.
Once everyone was gone, Anderson and I cleared the dining table, cleaned and vacuumed the carpets while the dish washer washed all the dishes. By the time we finished the cleaning it was already 4AM; we also cleaned up the rest of the house then decided to pull an all nighter with wine and snacks. Most of the food stuff was all cleared so whatever was left which wasn't much, Anderson and I did a pretty good job with our last bottle of white wine till 6 in the morning when we woke up in each other's arms on the living room floor and quite sober I might add. When we woke up, we looked at each other with smiles and laughed at where we spent the night. We gave morning kisses and hugs and begun our final chores for the day before heading back to Anderson's place to get ready to leave for Chicago. By 10AM we were already driving out of my parents' driveway heading to Anderson's place, his parents were already waiting for our arrival as it was also our last day in Chicago and they wanted to spend the last few hours with us before we left. We arrived in forty five minutes and were greeted with hugs and kisses by his parents'; we talked about our night not giving out a lot of details especially about the meeting. We then went upstairs to start packing, Anderson had started talking about my plans to Seoul but I motioned for him to be quiet as didn't want his parents to hear our conversation, whispered in his ear that we will talk once we get to Boston. I called Chris and Jaime to see how they were doing; they were very much awake and finishing up their packing. We arranged to meet at the airport at 2PM.
At noon we had a well prepared lunch by Mrs. Andrews. I thanked her as always for their wonderful hospitality and was grateful for everything they had done not only for me but for Anderson. I also thanked Anderson for being a part of my life, how much his encouragement, love and support have played a huge role not only in our relationship but in our lives. Anderson stood up from his chair giving me a tight hug and kiss saying, "thank you, love you lots and more my love." After a wonderful lunch went upstairs to finish our packing, brought our suitcases downstairs and waited for The Andrews to get ready to take us to the airport. We left shortly after 1:20PM; it was not a very long ride as they lived thirty to forty minutes from the airport. We arrived shortly after 2PM; found Jaime and Chris were already waiting at the check in counter. We joined them and being a Sunday there weren't as many people as I had expected in the entire Chicago airport, guess the travel season and most students' were already back in university as school was starting tomorrow. We were all set with our tickets, boarding pass, and suitcases checked in, it was now the sad part of bidding farewell to the parents and it was very emotional, my tears were already running down my face as it felt was going to be the last time seeing Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, Mr. and Mrs. Anders and Mr. and Mrs. Petterson. I tried controlling my tears and emotions, hugged and kissed them, thanked them, waited for Chris, Jaime and Anderson. As we begun walking towards the immigration office we turned stood watching their parents and waved our final goodbyes before heading into the immigration counter. We had our passports checked then headed off to find our boarding gate; we were scheduled to board in about fifteen minutes was a close call as we thought we were already late in boarding the flight. We sat with the rest of the passengers waiting to board the plane, started chatting about the courses for the semester, and were smiling listening to the excitement the boys had talking about their courses and study plans for the semester, they were pretty hyped about everything considering they each had roughly eight to ten courses including research projects which would be taking up a lot of their time this semester. We were so engaged in the conversation that we forgot to join the passengers boarding the plane; thank goodness I noticed otherwise we would have missed the plane. We boarded safely, found our seats, texted Chris, Jaime and Anderson's parents' to let them know we safely boarded the plane and would be taking off soon. They replied thanking me for sending them a text message, wished me all the best with safe travels and lots and lots of emoji hugs and kisses and should let them know when we arrived in Boston.
As the plane prepared for take off, was looking outside the window as the plane was on the runaway then turned to look at Chris, Jaime and Anderson wasn't quite sure what was going to happen once I went to Seoul, South Korea, on one hand there was fear lurking in my mind and heart as to what I would find when in Seoul, on the other hand was worried about the way things will go between Anderson and I when I leave, wasn't sure what would happen or expect, obviously would not want anything to happen between us with the hope everything would be OK, that he would continue loving, encouraging and supporting me from the past, now and forever. He looked at me, we both smiled at each other, he held my hand tightly as we were facing each other (very shy awkward moment for me), "There must be quite a lot of thoughts going through your mind right now my love, especially about your upcoming trip to Seoul," he said. I looked at him very deeply trying to study his mind and what he was thinking, just smiled saying, "how did you know?" He continued, "Although you have actively been involved with a lot of things, I am sure there are concerns and questions you wish to talk about but not sure how to bring it up, right?" Again was shocked and impressed but didn't want to show my emotions to him, "You're good especially at digging out my emotions, my feelings and thinking," I said. "It is my responsibility to make sure I know my woman very well and how to make her happy when she is sad, worried, angry, and anxious and in fear, and to make sure to communicate encourage her to never be afraid of speaking out whatever and however she feels from her heart and to know no matter what she says or wants to do will always encourage, support and love her as I want her to be free, happy and confident in whatever she wishes with the support of her boyfriend and her two buddies." It was at that moment with tears in my eyes that I knew Anderson's thoughts and where he stood on everything; it didn't matter what was going on, what I was going through or will be going through, my travel to Seoul to find my baby cousin Amy and my parents, Anderson would always stand by my side now and forever till the very end. I hugged and kissed him, while he dried my tears, our foreheads touching each other, "You are not alone and will never be alone my love, will always be hear for you to protect you, look after you and support you all the way, I only ask that you don't push me away, don't hide secrets, be open and tell me everything and let's work together to solve it, OK my love?" He said. I nodded and hugged him again. I had never felt so calm in so many months; my heart was so relieved and felt so much better, Anderson had a way of making me feel so calm and relaxed which was exactly what I needed especially after everything all that had happened for the past one year. One thing was clear the seven years of being together with Anderson; this was going to be a relationship destined to last a life time no matter what ups and downs we went or will go through, Anderson was here to stay, our relationship was here to stay.