Crossroads

Chapter 31

As dusk fell, Stephanie continued running relentlessly. Her face was pale as if she had been frightened.

The mountain road was rugged and uneven. Stephanie tripped and lost a shoe, but she couldn't care less about that. She gasped for breath as she hurried westward, as if someone was chasing her relentlessly.

Stephanie remembered that there was a village nearby. She needed to find someone and to call for help.

Just then, the atmosphere around her shifted, and the thick clouds rolled violently in the sky. Soon after, it began to drizzle, soaking her thoroughly.

Suddenly, Stephanie's eyes lit up when she saw a shabby tile house ahead. She then ran toward it excitedly.

"Is anyone there?" she shouted while cautiously looking back over her shoulder.

As Stephanie reached out to knock on the door, she realized it wasn't closed. She pushed the door open and looked inside. Because it was already dark and the sky was filled with dark clouds, Stephanie couldn't see clearly inside the house.

"Hello, I've been abducted here. Please help me..." She said in a panic as she stepped inside carefully.

Stephanie had been forcefully abducted by several men from the hospital to this secluded rural area.

Just moments ago, she seized the opportunity to grind the rusty hoe against the rough rope binding her hands to the wall. Immediately, she untied the rope from her feet and fled in a panic.

Now, Stephanie's wrists bore numerous bloody gashes from the hoe, and blood was trickling down her wound. Yet, she ignored her injuries and just kept running, fearing they would capture her again.

The rain fell and stung her wounds, causing her face to scrunch up in agony.

However, the moment Stephanie stepped into the silent tile house, her body froze.

She found that there was no one there, not a trace of life, just utter silence.

Stephanie looked around, her face pale as she stared blankly at the shabby, dirty tile house and the item's scattered all around.

Just then, a terrifying lightning bolt slashed across the sky, followed immediately by a thunderclap that made her tremble in fear. The rain outside poured down furiously as if the sky were collapsing, accompanied by thunder and lightning.

Stephanie kept shrinking back as she looked around fearfully.

She then felt discomfort in her abdomen and instinctively rested her right hand on it as she lowered her head, her complexion instantly turning pale.

At that moment, Stephanie recalled the harsh words Dominick had previously hurled at her, his voice cold and ruthless.

"There are plenty of women who could bear my children. And you, Stephanie, don't have the right. Remove the child from her

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Chapter 31

womb..."

"You heard it just now. Mr. Wellington ordered that the child to be removed. You'd better cooperate, or don't blus for being nasty!"

Stephanie's mind was a jumbled mess, filled with a constant interplay of these chilling voices.

Her eyes reddened, her right hand still tightly clutching her still-flat abdomen. Meanwhile, her heart was heavy with a sense of grievance.

Stephanie thought, 'I've been taken to this place against my will. I was threatened and intimidated by those ruthless thugs, and now have to flee in panic. I'm all alone and helpless in this dark, stormy night. It's all because of Dominick! That man is too ruthless, too heartless!!

She then watched as the rain poured down fiercely outside. The rolling torrents were so heavy it washed down the yellow soil from the mountains.

Just then, a figure hurriedly ran toward the house and shouted in alarm, "Cout! Hurry up and get out! The house is about to collapse!"

Stephanie was standing in the middle of the house when she turned around sharply.

Her body trembled violently and shook continuously. She saw many large boulders crashing down outside the door due to the mountain torrent, causing the house to start swaying dangerously.

Stephanie looked frightened, her heart tensing with urgency. She desperately wanted to move her feet, but her body wouldn't obey. She felt as if her legs were weighed down by a thousand pounds, leaving her powerless and her gaze hollow with despair.

At that moment, a thunderous roar suddenly filled the air, the deafening sound echoing across the sky.

Dominick suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked around with a grim expression. "What was that sound?"

22 22 SE As the thunder rumbled with lightning, the noise of the rain drowned out many other sounds. Someone speculated. "It might be a landslide knocking down a house."

Vincent frowned deeply. He turned anxious as he watched the weather worsen. "We mustn't go near the houses at the foot of the mountain. Stay safe, or we might easily get buried."

A portly man, who was standing next to Dominick, held an umbrella over him and said respectfully, "Mr. Wellington, we've already sent people to look around. This place is dangerous, you should go back first. We will notify you as soon as there's any news..."

"Dominick, this area is too big, we don't even know where to start looking. It's really dangerous to stay here, we should head back!" Vincent also shouted at Dominick.

With the thunder rolling and the downpour, the rain had destroyed Stephanie's tracks, making it even more difficult to start looking for her.

Dominick kept his lips tightly pressed together as he ignored them. His tense nerves seemed to be holding something back, his gaze sharply scanning the surroundings while his heart pounded uncontrollably.

11:22 Fri, 21 Jun Chapter 31

Suddenly, he looked startled and ran toward the left despite the rain.

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Seeing Dominick getting drenched in the rain, the person behind him immediately grew anxious and caught up. Dominick was already soaked through as he was crouched on the ground amidst the dirty mud where a lone woman's shoe lay.

He glared fiercely at the shoe buried in the mud and realized it was Stephanie's shoe.

Dominick's heart raced. He looked up and dashed forward in the direction the shoe tip pointed in, ignoring the people behind him.

But he hadn't run far when he suddenly stopped.

Dominick was utterly stunned when he saw the house before him, which was now buried under mud and reduced to ruins.

"This... This tile house must be what we just heard collapsing. I wonder if anyone was buried inside..."

Vincent and the others rushed over, looking at the ruins in shock. "Regardless, we should leave this place as soon as possible..." Someone immediately suggested.

Yet, something seemed to strike Dominick, causing him to abandon all caution. He hurled himself towards the ruins, forcefully lifting the broken door plank, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Stephanie!"

His frantic voice mingled with the thunder made everyone's hearts tremble with unease.

The people behind Dominick immediately jumped into action and hurriedly joined in to dig through the debris.

Vincent looked at the desolate surroundings in surprise and recalled the discovery of her shoe just now. He wondered, "Is Stephanie in this house? If she really chere, with the heavy rain just now, she must have run inside to take shelter. So...she must be buried underneath...

He then disregarded his usual elegant and privileged image and immediately joined in to help move slarge objects, an anxious look on his face. At that moment, everyone was braving the heavy rain while calling out Stephanie's name, each one fraught with panic.

Dominick suddenly crouched down. He was overwhelmed with too many emotions and pounded his fists fiercely into the muddy ruins.

He kept on punching as his eyes filled with unbearable anxiety. They all knew that under such conditions, rescuers wouldn't be able to arrive in time, and those buried beneath were likely already....

Dominick was filled with regret and helplessness. He despised himself for being unable to do something, which rarely happened. He couldn't let this happen, he couldn't...

Vincent was shocked to see him like this.

He didn't expect the usually cold and indifferent Dominick to care so much about a woman.

Meanwhile, the rain continued to pour, and the thunder didn't cease. But Vincent suddenly heard sfaint noises behind him.

Because of Dominick's panic and anxiety, even the servants who followed them were frightened, each digging frantically without hesitation. Only Vincent turned to look behind him.

Chapter 31

Fri, Suddenly, Vincent's expression looked as if he had seen a ghost.

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The next second, he rushed forward and grabbed Dominick's shoulder, speaking excitedly and somewhat incoherently. "Dominick, look... Look behind you...."

Dominick ignored Vincent until he shouted anxiously, "Stephanie isn't dead!

She's right behind us!"

His body then jolted, and he looked up in astonishment at Vincent m hovering above him Vincent looked most startled at that moment as he saw Dominick's eyes turn red.

Before Vincent could regain his composure, Dominick had already scrambled up and run toward the back.

Dominick was covered in yellow mud and looked utterly disheveled by the rain. His steps were chaptic in a way that had never happened before, and his eyes were filled with shock and complexity and a hidden joy that was hard to read.

He stood in front of Stephanie and reached out to caress her cheek. Stephanie froze momentarily, startled by Dominick's sudden approach.

Just as she was about to speak, Dominick stepped forward and embraced her tightly.

"This body is warm," he thought as he tightened his grip around Stephanie.

Stephanie felt extremely uncomfortable in Dominick's tight grip. With their bodies pressed tightly together under the firstinder the pounding rain, her was to push him away.

But then Stephanie noticed something unexpected. As Dominick held her tightly, his body trembled as if he was suppressing intense emotions that seemed like fear.

She pondered, 'Fear? How could a man like Dominick understand the meaning of fear?!

Stephanie found it quite amusing, especially after remembering Dominick's previous cold and merciless words.

"Let go of me! Don't touch me!" she said with disgust, her eyes filled with repulsion toward Dominick.

Vincent and the others cover with umbrellas. "It's good that you're okay, Stephanie. We all thought you had been buried in that tile house..."

As their voices reached him, Dominick seemed startled and suddenly snapped back to reality.

He quickly let go of Stephanie as a hint of embarrassment flashed past his usually stern face when he realized his earlier loss of composure.

She took a step back and coldly turned her head, no longer looking at Dominick.

As the heavy rain and thunder continued, the atmosphere in front of the desolate ruins felt strangely awkward.

Someone held an umbrella over Stephanie's head and smiled, trying to lighten the mood, "Now that we've found Mrs. Wellington, let's leave this place..." Suddenly, an unfamiliar yet sincere voice called out. "You guys can't leave just yet!"

Stephanie turned around immediately upon hearing the voice. "Ryan." She had indeed been in that tile house just moments ago,

11:23 Fri, 21 Jun Chapter 31

and she was grateful that the villager, Ryan Bennett, had saved her.

She took the initiative to approach him and spoke with a soft and gentle tone. It was a stark contrast to the coldness she had shown Dominick.

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