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…”

now. Mr. Wellington ordered that the child to be removed. You’d better cooperate, or don’t blame us for

filled with a constant interplay of these chilling

her right hand still tightly clutching her still–flat abdomen. Meanwhile, her heart was heavy with a

and intimidated by those ruthless thugs, and now have to flee in panic. I’m all alone and

down fiercely outside. The rolling torrents were so heavy it washed down the

the mountains.

house and shouted in alarm, “Come out! Hurry up

of the house when she turned around

shook continuously. She saw many large boulders crashing down outside

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

filled the air,

around with

22 22 SE

noise of the rain drowned out many other sounds. Someone

anxious as he watched the weather worsen. “We mustn’t go near the houses at the foot of the mountain. Stay safe, or we

sent people to look around. This place is dangerous, you should go back first. We

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

the rain had destroyed Stephanie’s tracks, making it even more

tightly pressed together as he ignored them. His tense nerves seemed to be holding something back, his gaze sharply

11:22 Fri, 21 Jun

Chapter 31

looked startled and ran toward the left despite

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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

in the mud

dashed forward in the direction the shoe tip pointed in, ignoring the people behind

he hadn’t run far when

he saw the house before him, which was now buried under mud and reduced

just heard collapsing. I wonder

the others rushed over, looking at the ruins in shock. “Regardless, we should leave this place

causing him to abandon all caution. He hurled himself towards the ruins, forcefully lifting the broken door plank, and shouted at the top

frantic voice mingled with the thunder made everyone’s hearts tremble

Dominick immediately jumped into action and hurriedly joined in to dig through the

wondered, “Is Stephanie in this house? If she really came here, with the heavy

usual elegant and privileged image and immediately joined in to help move some large objects, an anxious look on his face. At that moment, everyone was braving

many emotions and pounded his fists fiercely into the

ruins.

filled with unbearable anxiety. They all knew that under such conditions, rescuers wouldn’t be able to arrive in

despised himself for being unable to do something, which

to see him like

usually cold and indifferent Dominick to care so

rain continued to pour, and the thunder didn’t cease. But Vincent suddenly heard some faint noises behind

servants who followed them were frightened, each digging frantically without hesitation. Only

Chapter 31

Fri,