She Let Her Father Die for an Elevator

The company janitor suffers a heart attack, and I race toward the elevator with him on my back. But the new COO, Alexis Brown, refuses to let us in with the excuse that we're dirty and smelly. I beg her, but she just scoffs and has security pin me to the floor. Then she takes the elevator down and deliberately presses every floor button to delay us. The janitor misses the critical window for treatment and dies on my back. The next day, Alexis calls a company meeting and shifts the blame on me. She tries to fire me for causing a disturbance at work and even demands compensation for her emotional distress. I look at her coldly before putting the security footage up on the big screen. Then, I say, "Ms. Brown, you left your own father to die. He sacrificed everything to put you through college. How are you going to pay for that?" Chapter 1 "Mr. Brown! Mr. Brown, are you alright?" I had just washed my hands when I turned around and saw Marvin Brown, our usually cheerful janitor, curled up on the wet floor in agony. He was clutching his chest tightly. In just a matter of seconds, his face had turned ghastly pale, and his mouth was wide open as he gasped desperately for air. I knew immediately that he was having a heart attack. We were on the 21st floor of the office building. Every second counted, so I dropped to one knee, gritted my teeth, and hoisted the 180-pound man onto my back. "Hang in there, Mr. Brown! I'm getting you to the hospital! There's an emergency medical station downstairs!" I tried to sound as calm as I could. Even as a grown man, carrying someone 25 pounds heavier than me was tough after years of sedentary office work and lack of exercise. But in that moment, a massive surge of adrenaline gave me incredible strength. With him on my back, I stumbled out of the restroom and sprinted toward the elevators. "Excuse me! Please let us through! He's having a heart attack!" I shouted down the hallway, my voice hoarse. Marvin grew heavier with every step. Each labored breath he took came with a faint rattling sound. Just as I turned the corner into the elevator lobby, the doors of a private elevator reserved for executives slid open. "Wait! Please, hold the door!" I said anxiously. The open elevator gave me a glimmer of hope, so I pushed myself and bolted forward. There was a woman inside. She was wearing a perfectly tailored designer suit and holding a cup of hot coffee. It was Alexis Brown, our new chief operating officer, who had joined the company just the day before. "Ms. Brown! Please hold the door! The janitor is having a heart attack. We need to get him downstairs immediately!" I was breathing hard, less than ten feet from the elevator. But instead of helping, Alexis frowned in disgust. "This elevator is for executives only. Janitors and regular staff use the service elevator. Don't you know the rules?" she said arrogantly. "And what is that smell? You two stink," she added, covering her nose and waving a hand dismissively. Seeing the doors sliding shut, I lunged forward and threw my shoulder right between the closing doors to block them. Chapter 2 The elevator doors slammed onto my shoulder, and a sharp pain shot through me. But I gritted my teeth and refused to take a step back. "Ms. Brown, the service elevator is down for maintenance, and the regular elevators are stuck on the first floor! "He's really not going to make it. This is a matter of life and death! Please make an exception and let us in!" My forehead throbbed with bulging veins as I looked at her, practically begging. Marvin suddenly convulsed on my back, letting out a faint, painful groan. "That's none of my business." Alexis took a step back, recoiling in annoyance. She snorted. "He's just a janitor. He can die somewhere else for all I care. Why did he have to ruin my air with his stench? "What if he passes some disease on to me? Or gets this designer suit dirty? Do you have any idea how much this costs? Could you afford to pay for it?" "How can you say something like that?" I shouted, burning with rage. I couldn't believe those words were coming from a highly educated executive. "How dare you speak to me like that?" Alexis's face darkened. She jabbed the elevator intercom button and barked an order to the person on the other end. "Security? This is Alexis Brown. There's a crazy man with a stinking janitor causing a scene on the 21st floor. It's seriously affecting my work and my mood. Get up here now and throw them out!" "Alexis Brown! How can you be so cruel? You're unbelievable!" I yelled, trying to force my way into the elevator. Just then, heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway. Three burly security guards burst out of the emergency stairwell. Leading them was Colin Herbert, the head of security, who was always eager to kiss up to the higher-ups. "Ms. Brown, we're here!" said Colin. "Get them out of here. Just looking at them makes me sick." Alexis waved her hand in disgust, as if shooing away a fly. The security guards stepped forward and grabbed me. "What are you doing? Let me go! He needs medical treatment!" I desperately tried to break free, but Colin ignored my pleas. Desperate to impress the new COO, he twisted my arm behind my back and slammed me hard against the floor. The violent impact sent Marvin crashing to the ground with a dull thud. "Let me go! He's dying!" I roared in fury. Standing inside the elevator, Alexis looked down at me as I struggled helplessly on the floor. "You want to go downstairs? Well, I'm not letting that happen," she said with a shrug. As the elevator doors were about to close, I watched in disbelief as Alexis pressed the buttons for every single floor. "Have fun waiting, you pathetic trash." With her contemptuous sneer, the elevator doors slid shut with a soft chime. "Let me go! You bastards! Let me go!" I bellowed, writhing frantically on the cold floor. "Knock it off! Ms. Brown gave the order. You're causing a scene at work. Do you want to get fired?" Colin snarled at me, tightening his grip further. "He's going to die! Mr. Brown is going to die! You're killing him! This is murder!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, sweat stinging my eyes as I clenched my teeth. A few feet away, Marvin lay curled on the ground. His face had turned ashen. His lips were blue, and his eyes had rolled back. His chest, which had been heaving with labored breaths just moments ago, was now barely moving. A younger security guard noticed something was wrong and said in a trembling voice, "Mr. Herbert... I think the janitor is really dying..." Colin froze for a moment before looking down at Marvin, and the color drained from his face. His grip on me instinctively loosened. I broke free and scrambled to Marvin's side. "Mr. Brown! Mr. Brown, wake up! Stay with me!" I cried out, shaking him. Chapter 3 With trembling hands, I felt for his breath. It was so faint I thought it might stop at any second. I glanced at the elevator display. The elevator Alexis had deliberately sent to every floor was now on the 17th. Each stop felt agonizingly long. The doors would open, wait, and close again as the elevator slowly crawled downward. There was no time to lose. By the time it reached the first floor and came back up—or another elevator arrived—it would already be too late. "Help me! Please, help me carry him down! We'll take the stairs!" I turned to the security guards and yelled. They exchanged uneasy glances, and no one was willing to step forward. Colin quietly backed away, stammering, "Look... if he dies while we're carrying him, we're the ones liable... You... you're on your own. I'm going to call HR." With that, they all turned and ran off. I clenched my jaw until it hurt. In this cold corporate world, a human life meant nothing. But I didn't have time for anger. I had to force myself to stay calm. Hoisting Marvin onto my back once more, I staggered toward the door leading to the emergency stairwell. With the weight of a grown man on my back, I began the long descent down the stairs from the 21st floor. The stairwell echoed with my heavy footsteps and ragged breathing. "Hang in there, Mr. Brown. We're almost there... We're almost there..." I kept talking to him as I descended, hoping to keep him conscious. When I reached the 15th floor, my legs felt like lead. Every single step down sent a sharp stab of pain through my knees. Marvin's head hung limply over my shoulder, bumping against my neck with every step. His body was growing colder and colder, and panic surged through me as I felt his life slipping away. "Mr. Brown, think about your daughter. Didn't you say she just got a great job in the city? Aren't you saving up to give her a beautiful wedding? You can't give up now," I said. Sweat poured into my eyes, stinging fiercely. Marvin loved talking about his daughter more than anything. She was the pride and joy of his life. He always told me that she had been a top student, graduated from a prestigious university, and had a successful career in the city. Even though she was always busy and rarely came home, he sent her every dime he earned each month, refusing to even buy himself a decent meal. By the time I reached the 10th floor, I was at my limit. My lungs felt like they were on fire, and every breath carried the metallic taste of blood. Suddenly, my legs gave out, and I pitched forward. To protect Marvin, I twisted my body, slamming my back hard against the steel handrail. The acute pain exploded through me, and everything went black for an instant. I bit down hard on my tongue, using the pain to force myself to stay conscious. I couldn't stop. If I did, Marvin would really die. Just then, a faint, barely audible whisper reached my ear. "Je… Jerome…" It was Marvin. His voice was so weak it felt like an illusion, but I knew I had heard it. "Mr. Brown, I'm here! I'm right here! Hang in there!" I answered, hope surging through me. "I… I can't… make it," Marvin uttered the words with difficulty. I quickly stopped him and said, "Don't talk. Save your strength. We're almost there!" "She cares… too much… about her reputation. Don't... don't blame her..." Marvin said faintly. Those were the last words he spoke. When he finished, his head suddenly slumped against my shoulder. Chapter 4 "Mr. Brown! Mr. Brown!" I shouted. The stairwell was dead silent, except for the echo of my hoarse voice. Numbly, I carried him down the last few floors. When I finally got to the medical station, I quickly approached the medical staff. But the doctor just took a look at Marvin and said while shaking his head, "His pupils are dilated. There's no carotid pulse. He was delayed too long and missed the critical window for resuscitation." Staring at the flat line on the heart monitor, my mind kept replaying Alexis' malicious smile in the elevator and the image of her hand with that luxury watch pressing every single floor button. The police arrived shortly afterward. Once they had taken my statement, they asked me to contact Marvin's family. "Officer, I only know he has a daughter working in the city. But I really don't know her name or where she works." I explained. My fists were clenched tightly, and my voice was incredibly raspy. "Then we'll have to search his belongings for identification or emergency contact," the officer said with a sigh. Thereafter, I followed the police back inside the office building. Some employees had already gathered in the lobby, whispering among themselves. When they saw me walk in with the police, they all gave me strange looks. But I couldn't care less. My head was filled with Marvin's dying words. "Photo... in my bag... Give it... to my daughter..." The police and I walked to the storage room where the janitors kept their belongings and took their breaks. It was dim and damp, with a row of battered metal lockers lining the wall. I found the locker with Marvin's name on it. When the police opened the door, all they found inside was a change of old clothes, a chipped thermos, and a faded canvas bag. That was everything Marvin owned in the city. An officer put on gloves and unzipped the canvas bag. Inside was an old Nokia phone with a cracked screen, a few neatly folded bills, and an old photo wrapped in several plastic bags. "Let's see if there are any contacts in the phone," the officer said as he pressed the power button. But the battery was dead, and the phone wouldn't turn on. My eyes fell on the old photo. When I picked it up to look closer, I saw Marvin smiling stiffly while standing next to a young woman in a graduation gown. The moment I saw the woman's face, I froze. She looked much younger then, but I knew those eyes and that face. I would recognize her no matter what. It was Alexis! The very woman who, just half an hour ago, blocked us from entering the elevator and robbed Marvin of his last chance at survival. "Th-That's impossible..." I trembled all over as I flipped through the stack of bank transfer receipts in disbelief. Every single one listed "Alexis Brown" as the recipient. The amounts ranged from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, with transfers continuing right up until last month. Tucked underneath the receipts was an unsent letter. With shaking hands, I unfolded it. Marvin's uneven handwriting filled the page. "Lexi, I heard you just joined my company. I'm thrilled! You won't let me get a job because you're embarrassed to have an uneducated father like me. You worry that people will judge you, so I never told you I was working as a janitor. "Last time we talked, you told me you're marrying a rich guy, and his parents expect you to match their contribution to the wedding, but you're still 300 thousand dollars short. "I sold our house back home. Together with everything I've saved from working as a janitor over the past few years, I finally managed to put the money together. "If you're reading this, can you forgive me for keeping this from you?" As I read the letter, the pain in my chest was so intense I could hardly breathe. To protect his daughter's pride, Marvin quietly worked as a janitor in the very building where she worked. He gave her every single cent of his savings, refusing to even spend any money on his own medical care. "Sir," one of the officers said gently, noticing I was shaking. "Do you know the woman in the photo?" "Yes, I do," I replied and looked up, my gaze cold as ice. "Officer... I'd like to report a crime. She deliberately kept us out of that elevator and let Mr. Brown die. She's the one responsible for his death," I declared.