Even the cook stood stunned with stark fear written all over his face. "Don't talk nonsense. If the
explosion happened in the kitchen, do you think I could still stand here?
Where did the explosion come from?"
Feeling confused, people started whispering among each other and were immersed in a heated
discussion.
But not everyone seemed so chatty. There were some who were so consumed by fear that words
wouldn't come out of them. Rick and Marcus were two such people.
After calling the police, Rick had to count the number of people present.
He checked all the way from left to right to ensure no one was missing. Only after he was somewhat
convinced that everyone was present, he let out a sigh of relief.
Moreover, he was glad he had received the guests in person when they arrived. Otherwise, he wouldn't
have known who left the villa and who didn't.
If someone got hurt here today, the Hawk Pharmaceutical Company and the cooperation case would
surely be in vain.
Somebody was sinister enough to have done this.
The enemy had planned this with an intention of making him a laughingstock. Or perhaps he had a
different goal. A goal to have him killed! Such thoughts spiraled inside Rick's head.
His mind wouldn't be put to rest. Relying on his height, he stood on one side of the flower bed and
looked around to check if there was anyone missing.
'Hope everything will be fine,' he thought with a tinge of panic.
He then went to Marcus and apologized, "I'm sorry for what happened..."
But before he could finish, he saw Celine and got startled.
He looked around but couldn't spot either Jack or his wife. Anxiously, he asked, "Where's Mr. and Mrs.
Fu? Also, where is Mr. Du?"
'We left the villa together. How could they disappear in the blink of an eye?' he wondered.
Wearing a brooding face, Marcus replied, "Rachel is still in the villa. To search for her, Jack and
Michael went back in."
"What?!" Hearing that, Rick's face changed instantly. He was overcome by fear. Helplessly, his fear-
stricken face glanced at the burning villa. He wondered if there were bombs inside. It was too
dangerous for anyone to be inside.
And Rachel... 'She hasn't come out?'
He opened his mouth but was in no position to speak. Under the dire situation, he had one comfort.
"The policemen and firefighters are on their way... They will sort it out. They will bring the three of them
back," he said, but sounding very unconvinced. He was trying to cling onto the last ray of hope.
He still wanted add something but decided otherwise. The truth was, he wanted to go inside and check
if they were okay. He wanted to be the brave hero who would save them. But he didn't have the
courage to do it.
In truth, Rick was a coward who wouldn’t selflessly put his life in danger for someone else.
Everyone present had a different expression on their face. Celine stood silently at the corner, eyes
wandering, while Henry stood beside Lea, with one hand on her shoulder, comforting her silently.
Lea looked pale. She felt so heavy in her heart. Rachel's phone wasn't with her. She felt guilty and
responsible for leaving Rachel alone.
If something bad happened to her, Lea would never forgive herself. She would spent the rest of her life
with guilt.
Two times, she had let her friend alone, and both the times something bad happened to her.
When she was worried and frightened, she heard a voice behind her crying, "Rick..."
All of them turned around. Rick saw his sister coming to him with someone's support. His eyes were
glued to Claris that he didn't even see who was holding her.
Instinctively, he strode towards Claris and reached out his hands to hold her. Then he pulled his sister
from that man's arms.
Seeing his sister's pale face, Rick asked worriedly, "Do you get hurt? How do you feel?"
Leaning against his brother's chest, Claris shook her head and said in a low voice, "I'm fine. He saved
my life."
Rick then noticed the man beside Claris. Earlier, he was so worried about his sister that he could only
see her. Before he could thank him, Lea called out, "Lucas, where have you been?"
When he saw her, Lucas breathed a sigh of relief and walked up to her. "Oh, you are here. I lost my
phone."
He then looked around, frowned and asked, "Where is Rachel? Why she isn't here?"
Lea pressed her lips into a line, with tears in her eyes. She turned around, pointed to the direction of
the villa, and sobbed, "She is still inside."
Lucas was overcome by fear. His face turned pale.
On the other side, Rachel was walking around in a daze. All of this felt like a bad dream and she didn't
know what to make of it. As she trudged through, she was shocked to find that all the carpets were wet.
In other words, all of them had been sprinkled with combustion-supporting liquid. If she failed to leave
the villa, she could only imagine what would happen to her.
When she thought of that, goose bumps arose on her body. There was no one upstairs. It was just her
and her miserable end! She didn't know where the problem was with the circuit, and the light above her
kept flashing on and off.
There was a window at the end of the corridor. Rachel walked to it quickly. Just when she was about to
reach the window, she heard some people talk. This brought her to standstill.
Rachel was surprised. She was about to call them. But when she heard the voice, she hesitated. She
stopped and eavesdropped, but it was hard to catch what they were saying. Finally, she caught bits
and pieces of their words. "Are you done?"
"Well, get ready to go out."
"Oh my God! The fire is quickly consuming the whole place. It will only be a matter of time before the
entire building turns into ashes! Where can we go?"
"Let's go to the balcony and leave the villa."
"Shit. Are you saying we're going to jump? What if I break my leg?"
"Of course you won't!" The voice sounded a little impatient. "There is a tree near the balcony. We could
climb down the tree."
The two people walked away gradually.
Rachel was barefoot on the carpet and her toes curled slightly. Her heart sank with worry. Enduring the
pain in her knees, she cautiously moved her feet forward.
When she reached the corner, she leaned against the wall discreetly and looked over. There were only
two men in blue uniforms opening the glass door, which led to the outside balcony.
They were trying to unlock the door, but failed. Grunting with anger, one of them ordered, "Kick it open!"
The man stepped aside and said, "You do it."
The two men were bantering impatiently. Judging from their conversation, Rachel could guess that they
had something to do with the explosion.
Therefore, she hid herself in the corner and didn't dare to make a sound. Seeing that they were going
to break through the window and leave, she held her breath.
Under the dire situation, all she could do was wait. Just when she was lost in thoughts, a voice came
from behind. "Miss, what are you doing here?"
She was stunned. Her life seemed to be dangling on the edge.
Behind her, there was also a man in the same blue uniform. He looked at her with a weird smile on his
face.
Rachel's heart began to thud. 'Is today indeed going to be my last day?' she wondered.
On the other hand, Jack had rushed inside. Impatiently, he was searching the banquet hall, where
several shoes were thrown around.
Then, he recognized the pair of black high-heeled shoes on the floor. It was the pair that Rachel wore
today.
"I think she should be here." He looked around the dinner hall, which was dim, and fixed his eyes on
the carpet that was obviously pushed away by someone.
Obviously, Michael also saw that. He looked at the stairs and muttered, "Did she go upstairs?"
Both of their eyes were glued on the stairways. They knew that was where they had to go.
They had passed through the fire wall before they came here. Now they were in a mess, and many
places on their clothes were burnt.
Both of them quickly went upstairs. They had almost guessed what Rachel wanted to do. The fire had
blocked the road downstairs.
Maybe Rachel guessed that she couldn't go out, so she wanted to jump down from the second floor.
It's not a joke. Although the height of the second floor was not very high, she would be injured if she
didn't land in a proper position.
Michael glanced at the tensed look on Jack's face. He raised his hand and wanted to pat him on the
shoulder. But he put it down after thinking for a while.
They went upstairs. Before they started to look for her, Michael heard someone talk and hurriedly
pulled Jack back. "Hey, someone is talking."
The sound came from the front. 'Is there anyone still here?'
When they walked closer, they heard their conversation and stopped in their tracks.
"How about this woman?"
"Leave her here."
Both of them were shocked. They strode forward and took a turn in the corridor. Jack was almost
driven crazy by what he saw.
The three workers didn’t notice the two. But Rachel’s helpless eyes saw them approaching. Just when
she thought life was over, hope returned. Their presence brought such happiness that she wanted to
scream.
Her changed expression didn’t go unnoticed by the three workers.
Unfortunately, they were too slow to react. When they turned their heads, Jack and Michael had
already rushed over and each grabbed a man. They hit them so brutally that the two fell on the floor,
completely knocked out.
The remaining man didn't even realize what had happened.
He looked at his two companions who were knocked out in the blink of an eye.
Seeing they were coming for him next, the man squatted down and begged for mercy.
"Don't hit me! Don't hit me!"
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