A servant ran frantically to the second floor. “It’s bad! Madam, madam! There’s a bomb on the first floor!”
Another loud “boom” followed, and over a dozen bombs exploded simultaneously on the first floor, shattering all the walls and windows. Flames shot up into the sky.
The villa had five floors in total. The first floor was a reception hall and some servant rooms, while they lived on the third and fourth floors. The second floor was the dining room.
Everyone was in the dining room when the first floor was blown flat, causing the entire villa to lose its support and start tilting towards the ground.
After the explosion and tilting, the servants and bodyguards in the villa began to scream in panic. Chaos ensued.
Jaida, holding onto a wall, shouted angrily, “Protect Cedric! Quickly, get them out!”
“Madam, the whole house is about to collapse. We’re all going to die,” a bodyguard reported loudly before running away in despair.
“Damn it! Why are you running?” Jaida cursed angrily. “If we don’t work together, we’ll all die. Everyone, follow my orders. Protect Cedric and get Miss Anto out first!”
Evie and Jasper were also frightened. Jasper held Evie with one arm and protected Cedric with the other. “Those bastards blew up the building. They’re insane.”
He cursed as he pulled Evie and Cedric towards the less tilted side. “Check the stairs! If we can use them, we’ll go down that way.”
With their skills, jumping from the stairs to the first floor shouldn’t be a problem.
Survival was paramount at this moment.
As the towering villa began to fall towards the open courtyard, everyone was terrified. A group of hidden mysterious figures closely monitored everything happening at the villa.
Blowing up the building was a severe warning from the Hogan family to Jaida. If she died inside, so much the better. If not, there were assassins waiting outside for her.
She had no escape.
After such a violent upheaval, it was unlikely that the villa could remain intact.
Jaida’s bodyguards would certainly lose their combat effectiveness directly.
Jasper simply picked up Cedric and ran up the stairs. The villa was teetering and would bury them all in rubble if it collapsed completely.
Holding Evie with one hand and Cedric with the other, Jasper ran desperately forward. The stairs broke at a corner, so Jasper handed Cedric to Evie and jumped down himself, rolling as he landed.
He extended his arms towards Evie. “Throw the child to me.”
Evie nodded, comforting Cedric in her arms. “Jasper will catch you safely. Don’t be afraid.”
Cedric’s little face was tense. He had recently experienced a plane hijacking, a gunfight yesterday, and now a bombing. His young heart was almost scared out of him, but he held on.
As he jumped down, he turned to look at Jaida and Urijah not far away.
“Mommy!”
Jaida waved at him with a loving yet reluctant smile. “Go! Quickly!”
“We’ll go together!” Evie said as she tried to pull Jaida along. Jaida shook her head. “Don’t waste time. This building is about to collapse. You have skills; you can jump down without dying. We can’t; even if we survive the jump, we’ll be crippled and drag you down.”
Evie was shocked and looked at Jaida in disbelief. “Mrs. Hogan… go!”
She held onto Jaida’s hand tightly, but Jaida forcefully pulled her hand away and shoved Cedric’s suitcase into her arms. “Protect this suitcase and go quickly!”
Evie glanced at the teetering villa. Jasper urged her from below, “Evie! Jump!”
She couldn’t hesitate any longer and jumped down directly.
As she jumped, there was a deafening “boom,” and the villa collapsed into rubble.
The entire villa went from an explosion to complete ruin in just five minutes.
Those five minutes were also the last moments of life for many people inside.
Jasper’s buddies successfully jumped down. Jasper coldly ordered them, “See if there are any survivors; save whoever you can.”
As long as they weren’t hit in vital areas, there might still be a chance to escape and survive.
It was like experiencing an earthquake.
The villa’s collapse kicked up clouds of dust, walls cracked everywhere, but surprisingly most of the glass remained intact despite such a severe shock. It showed how much had been spent on renovations; yet such an expensive house turned into ruins in an instant, which was lamentable.
Soon after, many servants struggled out of the rubble.
Evie and Jasper were covered in dust but still protected Cedric in their arms.
Cedric looked at the ruined building with tears streaming down his face. He broke free from Evie and rushed towards the rubble, kneeling and desperately digging with his small hands. “Mommy! Daddy!”
“Mommy!”
The little boy’s heart-wrenching cries were moving.
Evie pulled him back with a pale face. “Cedric, we need to leave here quickly.”
She feared assassins would come to finish them off.
First an explosion, then an ambush for any survivors.
She didn’t want herself or the child to become captured prey.
Jasper’s buddies began digging through the rubble while Jasper told Evie, “Take the child and go first. I’ll cover here and see if I can rescue Mr. and Mrs. Hogan.”
Evie nodded at him, picked up Cedric with one hand and grabbed the suitcase with the other, running in the opposite direction of the main gate, fearing an ambush there.
About five minutes after she left, a group of men in black surrounded Jasper and his team. A cold laugh echoed suddenly. “Haha-The whole villa collapsed but didn’t kill you? Impressive!”
“Who?” Jasper turned to see a man leading dozens of black-clad men walking towards them.
Everyone stared at these men in shock; they were clearly assassins.
Jasper narrowed his eyes slightly; just as he expected, they had backup!
“You don’t need to know who I am,” said the bearded leader with a disgusting sneer. “But I must tell you that today next year will be your death anniversary!” He waved his hand. “Get them!”
Jasper’s face turned grim as he looked at these men in black. “Buddies, grab your weapons!”
The two groups immediately clashed.
The bearded man pulled out a handgun from his coat and fired wildly at Jasper, but his aim was poor, and Jasper was too agile to hit.
Jasper’s buddies picked up sticks and bricks as weapons, throwing them madly at their opponents.
Cries of pain erupted from those hit.
The bearded man fired again but was struck in the hand by a stone thrown by Jasper, causing him to drop his gun in pain.
Jasper quickly reached for the gun while the bearded man crawled towards it but had his hand stomped by Jasper.
A buddy ran over and tossed the gun to Jasper. “Jasper! Catch!”
Jasper caught it accurately and shot the bearded man dead with a precise headshot.
Outnumbered and outgunned with only one handgun among them, Jasper’s strong survival instinct drove him to fire mercilessly at their attackers.
His aim was deadly accurate; after a burst of shots, five or six men in black fell dead. Unfortunately, he ran out of bullets.
Seeing their leader killed and several comrades downed, the remaining men fled in panic.
But Jasper wouldn’t let them escape; he rallied his buddies to capture them all.
Afterward, they resumed digging through the rubble.
About ten minutes later, they found Jaida and Urijah barely alive and carried them away for evacuation.
Meanwhile, Evie had already started heading towards the airport with Cedric.
After such delays, they probably wouldn’t make their flight.
In the dark night under a blanket of stars, Cedric nestled in Evie’s arms with a dusty face but didn’t bother wiping it off.
He was tired and hungry but said nothing for fear of being a burden to Evie; he knew they were fleeing for their lives.
In a quiet alleyway, Evie’s phone suddenly rang loudly, startling her. She pulled it out and saw it was Jasper calling; she sighed in relief before answering.
“How are things? Did you get out?”
“The airport is likely out of reach; they’ll have an ambush there,” Jasper’s voice sounded hoarse with fatigue. “I’ve asked Master Franklin to send a private plane for us. Where are you now?”
Evie looked around at the dark surroundings and held Cedric tightly. “I’ll send you our location; we’ll wait here.”
She had found a secluded alleyway that seemed safe enough from Hogan family’s assassins.
Meanwhile in Aettosa, upon receiving Jasper’s distress call, Franklin immediately dispatched a private plane with extra personnel for support. “Ensure Jasper and Miss Anto return safely.”
“Yes, Master Franklin.”
Due to time zone differences, it was night in Middle Evroya but morning in Aettosa.
Franklin thought for a moment before calling Sylvia. “We’ve located Evie; Jasper encountered some trouble.”
Sylvia was stunned. “Trouble? Is their life in danger? Do we need to go get them ourselves?”
“Probably not necessary; I’ve sent more people,” Franklin reassured her gently. “Don’t worry; you’re still in recovery with Jenna needing you close by.”