Chapter 34 He Wouldn’t Let the Tragedy Happen Again
On the other side, Stefan was on the way to the Harrison Villa.
All the landscapes outside the window flashed, and quiet darkness was awaiting ahead.
Stefan became more irritable.
He didn’t understand why Marsha could not sense his kindness but fought against him stubbornly.
The next second, an idea popped up in his mind and he pressed the brake pedal immediately.
He pulled out his phone and dialed Martha’s number.
Meanwhile, lying on the art gallery’s floor, Martha was surrounded by smoke.
The vibration on her phone woke her up gradually.
Feeling the sharp pain in the back of her head, Martha opened her eyes dizzily and saw the gray smoke around her. She coughed fiercely.
She pressed her hands against the door to stand up, but the next second, she hurriedly withdrew them due to the heat.
The fire burned fiercely around her, and more and more smoke gathered. All this made Martha’s heart sink.
Dizzily, she picked up her phone to answer the call that might help her.
As soon as she swiped to answer, Stefan’s cold voice sounded, “You want the Doyle Group’s shares, don’t you? As long as you…”
Before he finished speaking, Martha coughed fiercely.
She tried hard to repress it and used all her strength to interrupt him hoarsely, “Help, Stefan…”
Before finishing her words, she lacked the strength to hold the phone. It dropped to the floor nearby.
Staring at it, she wished to move over and pick it up to tell Stefan where she was.
However, she suffocated after inhaling too much smoke. Covering her chest, she couldn’t stop coughing at all.
On the other end of the line, Stefan didn’t hear Martha finish her words and became tense.
She coughed fiercely but didn’t speak for a long time. Stefan immediately started the engine and made a U-turn to return.
Within the following 20 minutes, Stefan ran several red lights before pulling up to the exhibition center.
As soon as he hopped off the car, he saw the fire in the exhibition center, above which was thick smoke.
Stefan panicked.
According to Martha’s voice earlier, he realized she must have been trapped inside.
Stefan hurriedly ran into the exhibition hall.
Unfortunately, the exhibition center was too large. He failed to find Martha after searching for 15 minutes.
As the smoke became thicker, he felt more uneasy gradually.
Suddenly, he thought of the art studio.
Stefan immediately turned around and ran towards it. His heart tightened as if it was squeezed by a big hand.
When he passed by the exhibition hall, the paintings on the wall almost smashed on him, but he only ran forward.
On the way, some burning pictures piled on the floor. Stefan dodged them and bypassed each corner.
Five minutes later, he finally reached the art studio and saw the familiar figure lying nearby.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
Martha was on the floor, and on the wall above were the burning and falling picture frames.
“Martha!” Stefan called her.
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Martha slightly opened her eyes and stared at the tall, sturdy figure in front.
‘Stefan?’
Was it her illusion?
“Bang!”
Something heavy smashed on the ground.
At that moment, she was lifted with a man’s suit jacket on her shoulders.
Martha was taken aback.
In Stefan’s arms, she looked at his face dizzily in confusion, wondering if it was her illusion before death.
Stefan lowered his head to check on Martha, only to notice her losing consciousness gradually. Panic flashed into his eyes. He encouraged her, “Hang on, Martha!”
“Is that really you, Stefan? Or just my illusion before death?”
Martha stared at him in a daze and wanted to touch his cheek. However, after raising her hand, she lost her strength and her hand dropped feebly.
Stefan’s pupils constricted. “I’m here. You won’t die.”
Four years ago, Martha died once. Now, he wouldn’t let the tragedy happen again.
The thought made him quicken his pace. He ran towards the entrance as fast as he could.
…
Onlookers had gathered around the exhibition center.
The firefighters tried to put out the fire. However, it was too fierce and spreading.
The exhibition center’s staff watched the scene while discussing it.
“There shouldn’t be anyone in the center, right?”
“How horrible! Why is the center suddenly on fire?”.
…
Upon hearing their discussions, Joann curled her lips into a sneer, which became broader and broader.
Even if the fire was put out later, nothing should be left in the gallery.
‘Martha, you must suffer while watching this. You deserved it! How dare you show off! It’s your karma.’
With a delightful smile, Joann turned around and was about to leave the exhibition center.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated in her pocket.
Seeing the caller ID, Joann answered it joyfully.
“Ms. Lowe, we’ve done the thing you asked us to, but…”
Joann’s face changed. She asked anxiously, “But what?”
The man stammered, “When we set the fire, a woman was in the art studio. She came out after hearing our footsteps and saw our faces. We couldn’t do anything but knocked her out.”
Joann’s face changed dramatically. She tightened her grip on the phone.
‘A woman? Is it Martha?’
Her hands trembled, and she asked in a panic, “Where is she now?”
“We left her there, set the fire and left. She should still be in the art studio.”
Joann widened her eyes in shock. Martha was still inside. Was she burned to death?
She only wanted to destroy the pictures to teach Martha a lesson but never wanted to kill Martha.
Joann looked over at the exhibition center in a daze, panic filling her eyes.
The fire had spread and become too fierce for her to enter.
‘Martha, if you died, don’t blame me! I’ve never wanted to kill you.’
After hesitating for a long time, Joann decided to pretend nothing had happened and fled.
…
In the exhibition center, Martha could tell her energy was fading. She tried to focus on the man carrying her.
Stefan coughed in the smoke and stopped in his tracks.
Upon hearing his cough, Martha had mixed feelings. She muttered, “Stefan, I didn’t expect you to came to my rescue.”