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…”

just now. Mr. Wellington ordered that the child to

mind was a jumbled mess, filled with a constant interplay of these

her still–flat abdomen.

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

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

the mountains.

toward the house and shouted in alarm, “Come

the middle of

body trembled violently and shook continuously. She saw many large boulders crashing down outside the

She felt as

filled the air, the deafening sound echoing across the

in his tracks and looked around

22 22 SE

rain drowned out many other sounds. Someone speculated.

go near the houses at the foot of the mountain. Stay safe, or we might easily get

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

too big, we don’t even know where to start looking. It’s really dangerous to

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

kept his lips tightly pressed together as he ignored them. His tense nerves seemed to be

11:22 Fri, 21 Jun

Chapter 31

looked startled and ran toward the left

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grew anxious and caught up. Dominick was already soaked through as he was crouched on the ground amidst the

at the shoe buried in the mud and

and dashed forward in the

he hadn’t run far when he

before him, which was now buried under

house must be what we just

“Regardless, we should leave this place as soon as

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

thunder made everyone’s hearts tremble with

and hurriedly joined in to dig through

of her shoe just now. He wondered, “Is Stephanie in this house? If she really came here, with the heavy rain just now, she must have run inside

in to help move some large objects, an anxious look on his face. At

overwhelmed with too many emotions and pounded his

ruins.

knew that under such conditions, rescuers wouldn’t be able to arrive in time, and those buried beneath were

being unable to do

to see him like

cold and indifferent Dominick to care so much about

rain continued to pour, and the thunder didn’t cease. But Vincent

even the servants who followed them were frightened, each digging

Chapter 31

Fri,