“No!”
Sylvia’s eyes widened as she ran desperately toward the fire, while the rope had already descended rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, Franklin leaped in front of the EMPEROR, raising his hand to strike him.
Sylvia charged into the flames, the tongues of fire engulfing her, but she threw herself in without hesitation.
It was as if she felt no pain.
Meanwhile, with a loud bang, Sierra kicked open the tightly closed door. She had been waiting outside for hours, until night fell, but Sylvia and her group still hadn’t come out.
Her anxiety grew unbearable, and she finally rushed in with a handgun.
The moment she kicked open the door, she saw her son falling into the fire. It felt like she had plunged into an endless ice cave. She raised her gun and fired at the EMPEROR standing on the platform.
“Give me back my son’s life!”
“You murderer!”
Her voice was hoarse as she screamed, firing several shots frantically.
The EMPEROR, in his madness, saw Sierra standing at the door. He was shocked, his eyes wide with disbelief as he looked at her. “Honey?!”
“You’re alive?”
He sat in his wheelchair, unable to dodge. Everything happened in an instant.
No one expected a woman to suddenly burst in and shoot at the EMPEROR.
Three bullets hit the EMPEROR in the chest and arm.
Blood gushed from his wounds, but he seemed to feel no pain. His eyes were fixed on Sierra. “Honey… am I dreaming?”
He reached out to her, falling from his wheelchair and crawling towards her, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
“Honey… you’re not dead… you’re still alive.”
“Why… why am I only finding out today…”
Blood flowed from his mouth and nose, but he ignored the pain, crawling towards Sierra with tears streaming from his bloodshot eyes.
“My child… my child… my child!” But Sierra didn’t even glance at him. She dropped her gun and rushed towards the fire. She called out hoarsely for Alex, “Alex! Alex! I’m here! Mommy’s here!”
The EMPEROR couldn’t help but laugh at Franklin. “It’s my fault, all my fault! My fault!”
Now he understood everything.
Alex was his son, Clark’s son. His biological son had been hidden by Franklin and Sylvia. He had thought Alex was the enemy’s child and had killed his own son.
He couldn’t bear this truth and let out a heart-wrenching scream that echoed through the abandoned factory. This truth nearly destroyed him instantly.
When his mother died, he didn’t despair. When he learned of Winter’s death and their child’s stillbirth, he didn’t despair.
But now!
At this moment, he hated himself for not being dead yet, for still clinging to life!
What had he done!
“Oh God! Why are you doing this to me!”
Sylvia had already found Alex in the fire and quickly carried him out.
Little Alex’s hair and clothes were singed, his face blackened by smoke. He had long been unconscious from the fumes.
Sylvia held him tightly, checking his breath. Fortunately, he was still breathing; there was still time.
Franklin and Jaden rushed to save Peter, who was more severely injured than the child.
The EMPEROR’s men had scattered in chaos when he was shot, becoming a disorganized mob.
“The gunpowder will explode in a few minutes. We need to get out.” Franklin looked around at the panicked men in black and said to everyone he had brought with him, “Everyone move! Evacuate immediately! This place is about to blow!”
Sierra breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Sylvia holding her child. She followed everyone out. As she passed by the EMPEROR, she stomped on his chest in hatred. “I had no quarrel with you, yet you did this to my son! Die!”
The dying EMPEROR summoned his last bit of strength to grab Sierra’s ankle tightly. He looked at her with sorrowful eyes, tears of regret streaming down. “Winter, my wife… it’s me, Clark! I’m sorry… I’m sorry, I didn’t know he was our son.”
Hearing his hoarse voice, Sierra’s mind went blank. She stared at the unfamiliar face of the EMPEROR in disbelief. “What did you say… you’re Clark? You’re alive? You had plastic surgery?”
“It’s my fault… I thought… I thought he was Sylvia’s child. I thought you were dead; I thought Sylvia killed you… so I sought revenge on Sylvia and Franklin… it’s too late now.” Clark trembled as he pulled a bank card and a key from his pocket. “This is all my savings over the years… for you… the password is your birthday. This is the key to my Swiss bank safe deposit box… you go…”
He trusted no one, so he always carried his assets with him.
Sierra took the bank card and key, still in shock.
Another massive explosion occurred in the southwest corner, causing people to flee in all directions.
Clark spat out a mouthful of blood. “You must go; this place is going to explode! I’ve been shot several times; I won’t survive. Go! I’m sorry to Sylvia and Franklin… tell them I’m sorry… I’m sorry to everyone!”
“Take good care of our child… forget… forget about me!”
He stared at Sierra with wide eyes. “Go!”
Sierra took two steps back, holding her head in her hands. “I killed someone! I killed Clark! I…”
Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
“You killing me is what I deserve! Go! I’d rather die by your hand! I… love you!”
Clark urged her to leave repeatedly. Sierra shook her head and finally turned to run towards the door.
Clark’s mind flashed with countless images: her appearance when she first married into the Wilson family, how he bullied her mercilessly, her pregnant figure… If only life could start over… A tear slid down his cheek and fell to the ground.
I’m sorry, Winter! I’m sorry, my son! If there’s a next life, if there’s a next life… Winter, don’t ever meet me again or the Wilson family…
Finally, his head drooped, and he died.
The continuous explosions echoed around them. The factory was already abandoned and dilapidated; beams and old machinery collapsed onto him as he lay lifeless.
After Sylvia got into the car with an unconscious Alex, she realized Sierra hadn’t come out yet. Jaden noticed too.
He turned back without hesitation and ran towards the factory. “Sylvia, I’ll find her!”
At that moment, Sierra had just reached the factory door when a massive beam fell in front of her, blocking her path.
She jumped back in fright and took two steps back. She looked at the blocked path ahead and then at the mushroom cloud rising from the explosions behind her.
As she hesitated about climbing over the beam, a familiar figure leaped over it and rushed towards her.
A warm, rough hand grabbed hers, and a hoarse male voice said, “Come with me!”
“Jaden?” Sierra was stunned but instinctively followed him.
“There’s a small door here; we’ll go through it!”
The man held her hand tightly as they moved forward without looking back. Sierra followed closely behind.
She stared at his tall figure in a daze as an unknown emotion quietly emerged within her.
This feeling… safety and security were things she had never experienced before.
For some reason, she hoped this small path would never end so she could follow him forever…
As they neared the end of the path, Sierra heard police sirens.
“The police are here?” Jaden stopped and craned his neck to look ahead.
Sierra looked at him with joy. “That’s great!”
Earlier that morning, Franklin had contacted Darius to bring the police for a raid on Jade Dragons.
It seemed they had finally arrived.
At the end of the path were several large stones piled up together.
Jaden climbed onto two large stones about two meters high and then bent down to extend his arm to Sierra. “Grab my hand.”
Sierra bit her lip and grabbed Jaden’s large hand, climbing up with all her strength. Suddenly, the stone she stepped on shifted unexpectedly; she lost her balance and started to fall.
The small stone dislodged completely. Jaden quickly lay flat on the large stone and pulled her up with one strong tug. The next second, she fell into Jaden’s warm embrace.
The man looked at her wrist anxiously. “Your hand is injured; we need to bandage it quickly.”
Sierra then noticed that her right wrist was scraped and bleeding.
“It’s okay; it doesn’t hurt.”
She climbed out of his arms awkwardly. “Let’s go quickly; Miss Andrews and the others will be worried.”
Jaden also awkwardly clenched his fist and coughed lightly into it. “Alright, let’s go.”
The warmth of her body seemed to linger in his arms.
His bronze face flushed slightly with heat as his heart raced faster than usual…
They hurried forward; Jaden held her hand tightly to prevent another fall as they made their way out together.