Chapter 24
“Help! Help! Someone… Please…”
“The fire’s so big. I’m so scared…”
Kids’ desperate cries filled the air.
Romina gritted her teeth and charged inside without a second thought.
Two kids were trapped under a big table, and they were very close to the door.
She hurried over and ushered them out. But as they reached the door again, a child’s cries rang out from inside.
“Ma’am, our friend is still in there…”
The two kids pointed at the fierce flames, crying even harder.
“You can’t go in there again, or you’ll die!”
“Indeed. It’s too dangerous!”
“But what about the kid?”
The staff members’ frantic whispers escalated the chaos.
Before anyone could react, Romina charged into the fire again.
To avoid inhaling toxic fumes, she held her breath along the way, only daring to gasp when her lungs burned for air.
But each gulp only filled her with thick smoke.
The child’s cries seemed to come from deep inside the warehouse, faint and muffled.
Following his sound, she groped her way amid the thick smoke.
Just then, a deafening crash came from above her head.
She instinctively stopped in her tracks and looked up.
The massive circular light fixture, its supports devoured by flames, wrenched free from the wooden ceiling and plunged straight toward her.
She widened her eyes, reddened from the thick smoke, her heart filled with unwillingness. Was she going to die? But she hadn’t gotten her revenge yet. Those who hurt her hadn’t paid their price.
No! She didn’t want to die!
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As the idea occurred in Romina’s mind, a pair of broad hands suddenly gripped her arms.
Something hard on the person’s right index finger pressed uncomfortably into her arm.
She was yanked aside before she could turn around.
He collapsed together with her.
In the next second, a thunderous crack rang out.
The giant circular light fixture landed next to her feet.
The flames surged outward right away, catching the hem of her dress and scorching her ankles.
She let out a soft groan in pain.
Just then, someone yanked her again, dragging her to a safe spot.
Then he stood up, took off his suit jacket swiftly, and smothered the flames on her dress.
Looking up, she saw his handsome face through the thick smoke.
Joaquin?
What was he doing here?
Suddenly, the boy’s desperate cries rang out from deep inside the warehouse again.
Snapping back to reality, she snatched the suit jacket from his hands.
“I’m fine. Go save the boy!”
Joaquin looked down. Seeing that the flames on her dress were dying down, he stood up and rushed toward the boy.
Meanwhile, a security guard sprinted inside.
“Ma’am, I’m here to help.”
He took off his uniform jacket to smother the remaining flames on her dress.
Thick, acrid smoke filled her lungs. Twice now, she’d charged into the burning warehouse. Even though she’d been trying to hold her breath, she’d still inhaled a great amount of toxic fumes.
She kept coughing, finding breathing incredibly hard, her nostrils filled with dense smoke.
It felt like many pairs of hands were locked around her throat, choking her to death at any second.
Her heart kept pounding faster and faster, almost leaping out of her throat.
The feeling was worse than dying.
She hadn’t felt this desperate back then when she was drowning.
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Ghapter 24
She was lucky, escaping the fallen light fixture.
But the thick smoke had become the very air itself, haunting her till death prevailed.
Though the flames on her dress were smothered, she couldn’t muster the strength to stand up. Her entire body went limp.
“Ma’am? Ma’am? Don’t fall asleep!
“Hang in there! I’ll get you out!”
The security guard’s panicking shout reached her ears, so close yet so far away…
Her hearing faded away gradually, followed by her vision and then her consciousness.
Eventually, she closed her eyes.
At the same time, Joaquin had found the boy and led him out.
Upon seeing her again, she had collapsed to the floor.
The security guard faltered anxiously, “M-Mr. Bowman, she passed out…”
“Get the boy out of here,” Joaquin ordered calmly.
“Alright.”
Joaquin handed him the boy’s hand.
He quickly led the boy out.
Joaquin picked up his suit jacket and draped it over Romina’s thigh. Then he crouched down, picked her up, and strode out.
By the time he reached the entrance, a batch of rescuers had arrived.
Everyone quickly gathered around them as he placed her in a safe zone.
Then he crouched down to check on her. As he felt beneath her nose, checking for signs of breath, his brow furrowed slightly.
“Mr. Bowman, how is she?”
Erick stood aside. As his gaze fell upon Romina on the ground, his heart sank to the bottom.
“Clear the area now!” he growled.
Erick and the executives immediately.started to disperse the crowd.
Only Joaquin, Romina, and Erick remained on the second-floor corridor now.
“Mr. Bowman, has her heart and breathing stopped?” Erick asked tentatively.
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Joaquin didn’t reply. Instead, he straddled her slender waist, knelt over her body, and pressed down on her chest re- peatedly.
Her body heaved along with his movements.
But after a few seconds, nothing changed.
His forehead was drenched in sweat. Staring at her delicate face, he braced his hands on either side of her face.
After pondering for a while, he lifted her chin, pinched her nose, and leaned down without hesitation.
When he administered CPR to her, Erick’s pupils dilated.
Was this really happening?
Thanks to Joaquin’s relentless efforts, Romina’s heart and breathing restarted at last.
He straightened up and glanced at Erick.
“Is the ambulance here?”
“In two minutes, Mr. Bowman.”
***
It was 8:00 p.m. when Romina came around.
She opened her eyes, only to see pale white walls.
Her nostrils were filled with pungent disinfectant, and she couldn’t help but cough lightly.
“Romi? Are you alright?”
Elliana, who had been dozing off, immediately jolted awake.
Looking around, Romina didn’t see Joaquin.
But she remembered clearly-he was the one who had rescued her out of the fire…
“Yes. I’m fine now.” She nodded. Then she asked curiously, “How did you know I was in the hospital?”
“I called you, and a man picked up. He was leaving when I arrived. I think he had to deal with something pressing,” Elliana said.
Romina asked urgently, “Was it Joaquin?”
“Joaquin? The CEO of Prima Group? Jericho’s uncle?”
Elliana seemed surprised.
Only then did Romina realize something.
Everyone in the business world was famili
with Joaquin’s name, though few had ever met him face-to-face.
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Elliana said, “All I know is he’s tall and incredibly handsome. He’s about 1.88 meters tall, dressed in a white shirt and black suit pants, and there’s a black ring on his right index finger. Anyone can tell how expensive it is…”
Every word she said matched Joaquin’s description perfectly.
The black ring left no doubt-it was Joaquin.
She couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
He was fine…
She nodded slightly, her heartbeat steadying.
Elliana said worriedly, “Romi, the nurse told me there was a fire at the orphanage. You rushed into the flames to save the children, and your heart even stopped once.
“It sounded so serious. I was worried sick! What exactly happened?”
Romina then told her everything that had happened.
She held Romina’s hand. “That was such a close call. Without Joaquin, you might not have been so lucky.”
“I think so, too.” Romina nodded.
Just then, someone pushed open the door.
Romina instinctively looked up.
Then she was surprised.
What were they doing here?
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