Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

Chapter 2343

Elias frowned deeply; his worry etched onto his face.

"We've been shouting Ms. Alyssa's name the whole way. With so many of us calling out, she should've heard us by now if she were nearby!"

In a deep voice, Jasper said, "The wind is too strong, and then there's the heavy snowfall. Our voices are being drowned out. Lyse might not hear us at all.

Lyse.

Her nickname slipped from his lips before he even realized it.

"I'm just afraid she's injured-or worse, fainted. If she blacks out in this cold..." Elias trailed off, his voice heavy with dread. "On a day like this, she won't survive long. She'll freeze to death."

The group exchanged uneasy glances, the reality of his words tightening their chests.

It wasn't that Elias was being a doomsayer. Rather, this was the cruel reality that might actually happen.

Crater Mountain claimed lives every year. Danger lurked unpredictably in the woods on the mountain-anything could unfold.

"Let's split up," Jasper commanded, his eyes fixed on the shadowy forest. His voice carried an edge of desperation. "We're not leaving until we find her."

Elias hesitated. "But what if-

voice trembling with fierce determination, 'I'll make this place my grave.

anyone could respond, Jasper turned and strode into the darkness, his figure

him disappear, exhaling a heavy sigh. "They're right when they say aristocratic families raise people with

trudged through the snow, his

past. If he were Alyssa, where would he go? Jasper's

he stared into the empty cave, memories of that day surged back-the harrowing brush with death, the suffocating fear,

protect you,

just words; it was carved into his heart. He had not forgotten it. He had remembered it. Jasper's world swirled in dizzying chaos. A heavy thud echoed as his strength gave out, sending him crashing to his knees. His eyes, bloodshot and weary, glistened

I have to

at the frozen ground, forcing himself to stand. His muscles

hopelessness, the temperature

weather was as ruthless

the rock. The pure white snow blanketed her almost

chilling shade of purple as hypothermia took its toll. Disoriented and barely clinging to awareness,

would be frozen stiff,

as she curled tighter into herself. Lost in a daze, fragments of heartwarming childhood memories flickered

fade from her senses, replaced by an unexpected warmth. In the depths of her daze, her late mother had

sweet girl. Don't be afraid. I'm

"I know that you've been through a lot. Go to

"Mom... I'm exhausted...