Hayden put on a serious face when he hung up. He came to Derek’s side and whispered in his ears.
Derek was listening carefully to a report.
Derek suddenly stood up, his eyes wide. “The meeting ends!” He commanded.
The staff whispered at once.
This was the first time that Derek had stopped the meeting in the midway! He was a workaholic who always put his work on the top!
The meeting ended.
Derek strode off the conference room and Hayden immediately followed with papers in his arms.
“Is that true?”
“Yes. There’s news from the crew. Ms. Serina disappeared this afternoon. I have tried to contact her but couldn’t get through!”
“Send more people out!”
Derek gave the order.
It would have taken more than an hour to get to the spot from the company, but Derek arrived half an hour later.
Tom came up to Derek as soon as Derek got out of the car. “Mr. Derek!”
“Bastard, didn’t I tell you to protect her?” Derek shouted.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Derek! It was my fault. I would have followed Ms. Serina, but she said it was safe to be with the crew, so…”
“Alright. Stop wasting time. Find her!”
“Yes!”
The crew had sent all the females back to the hotel, leaving only a few men to continue looking for Serina as it got dark. And they had called the police.
However, this mountain was big and tangled. It was not easy to find Serina at night.
Derek snatched a flashlight from a person beside him.
“Mr. Derek, it’s too dangerous. Please wait at the foot of the mountain.”
Derek ignored but headed into the mountain directly.
“Serina!” “Ms. Serina!”
The calls echoed in the mountain.
Serina rolled down from the steep slope. Her foot got hurt and there were many cuts on her body.
Near her, there was a small cave, so she climbed into it. The cave looked much safer than outside.
Her foot was getting more and more painful. When it was dawn, it was all swollen.
Because she kept calling for help, Serina was impotent now, unable to utter a single word.
The mountain was shut because they filmed here, so no one could get into it except her crew.
She was too careless!
Although it was summer, the wind in the mountains at night was cold. A gust of wind blew and Serina hugged herself more tightly.
‘Am I going to die here?’ She wondered.
There was no signal. She had tried several times, but she couldn’t call out.
‘What am I going to do?’ Serina thought to herself.
Derek walked for a long time. He kept calling Serina’s name as he walked. Unfortunately, only the cold wind responded to him.
“Serina!” Derek roared.
There was still no response.
“Mr. Derek, there are wolves in this mountain. It’s late at night…”
“Shut up!” Derek glared coldly at the person who closed his mouth at once.
“I’ll look over this way. You go over there. Don’t follow me!”
“But, Mr. Derek, you…”
Derek did not reply but walked to the other side alone.
Time passed and he still saw no sign of Serina. No one noticed when she left, nor did they know how long she had been missing.
The sweat dripped down his cheeks.
His heart was pounding as if it was about to jump out of his chest.
He felt very panicked and his palms were sweaty. A terrible fear took hold of him.
It was so overwhelming.
He felt he was losing her and lost her ever.
The last time he had the same feeling was when Marco left.
“Serina!”
Derek roared in the darkness desperately.
In the cave, Serina opened her eyes suddenly because she vaguely heard someone calling her.
There was someone outside.
Serina moved her body a little toward the entrance, crying as loud as she could.
“I’m here! Help!”
She hadn’t drink water for more than ten hours. Her throat was dry and sore.
Although she tried hard, her voice was faint.
“Serina!” Derek shouted again.
“I’m here! Help!”
Serina tried to respond.
“Serina, is that you?” Derek stopped. He seemed to have heard a faint voice.
He held his breath and listened carefully.
“It’s me! I fell into the cave!” Serina called.
Derek followed the sound and walked to the cave where Serina was. He looked down and did not see Serina.
“I am in the cave!”
Serina strained her neck and called out.
“Derek, is that you? I heard your voice!”
“It’s me! How are you?”
“My foot is injured!”
“Wait for me. I will think of a way to pull you up!”
Derek took out his phone and shook it. There was still no signal.
He was too anxious to forget to take the walkie-talkie!
He looked around and saw nobody. What should he do?
“Derek, I’m so cold. It’s so dark here. I’m scared…”
Serina was finally relieved when she knew Derek was here. She burst into tears.
“Don’t cry! I’ll go down and be your side!” Derek checked his surrounding with his flashlights and found a slope.
He tore a cloth from his shirt and tied it to the tree beside him.
Then he slowly clambered down, then jumped onto a tree, and moved to the cave where Serina was.
“I’m here.”
Serina watched Derek in front of her and hugged him.
“It’s okay now. Are you hurt?” Derek asked as he hugged Serina in his arms.
He examined her with his flashlight.
“Just minor injuries, but I can’t move. My foot hurts.”
Derek checked Serina’s foot with his flashlight. Her foot was swollen. He touched it gently and Serina let out a cry.
“It hurts!”
“Your bone is okay, but your ankle is twisted.”
“How should we go up now?”
“Most are searching in the opposite direction. When Hayden finds out that I’m missing, he should come and find us.”
Serina nodded and snuggled into Derek’s arms.
“Why did you fall down?”
“I didn’t! I was pushed down by someone!”