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Chapter 173
Chapter 173
“Yeah, you don’t know you have a daughter, do you?”
“A daughter? I have a daughter? Olivia, how many secrets have you been keeping from me?”
William exclaimed, his surprise evident.
He had a daughter and he didn’t know about? How could Olivia keep such a monumental secret from
him? He thought, “If
it wasn’t for the life-threatening situation we’re in, who knows how much longer she would’ve kept this
from me?”
“You want to know the extent of my secrets?” Olivia asked.
“Absolutely.”
“If we make it out alive, I promise I’ll spill the beans,” she said.
“That’s a promise then!”
“Indeed, I promised!” Olivia a**erted, nodding earnestly.
William stared at her for a moment, a sense of acceptance crossing his face, making him smile.
“With just a couple of minutes left, I bet she won’t leave my side,” he thought.
“Olivia, can you trust me?”
Olivia replied with a tinge of sarcasm, “Trust a man’s words? That’s like trusting a mirage in a desert.”
She kept her head down and her body couldn’t stop trembling.
Even though she had been urging William to keep hope alive, deep down, she knew the odds.
That bomb was beyond her expertise.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes,” William said with a fleeting smile. Without warning, he shoved Olivia aside and
sprinted in the opposite direction.
She stood dumbfounded for a split second before the realization hit her.
“William Kinsman, you absolute fool!” she screamed internally, “Ditching me to face death alone?”
The shrill beeping of the countdown timer grew more urgent, signaling the imminent explosion.
William made a beeline for the stairwell as fast as he could and ran out of the building.
Since Olivia Clarke refused to leave, he would stay away from her with the bomb.
Even if she despises him for eternity, he’d ensure she lives.
“William!”
Olivia struggled to get up and chased after him.
However, before she could run upstairs, she heard a loud noise coming from outside.
The entire building seemed to shake violently at the sound.
The tremors caught Olivia off-guard. Losing her balance, she tumbled down the staircase.
As the shaking subsided, a profound sense of despair welled up inside her.
“The bomb’s gone off, and William… he’s probably gone with it,” she thought.
Lying on the ground, her world seemed to dim.
Despair. Endless despair!
The lights overhead flickered, mirroring her dwindling hope, before plunging her into utter darkness.
Lost in this black abyss, despair threatened to consume her.
Just when she felt that she was trapped in a dark abyss of despair and could no longer find an exit, a
soft, familiar voice pierced the darkness, “Mom, Mom, I’m here to save you!”
“Ezra? Why are you here?” Olivia muttered, dazed. Struggling, she saw Ezra, his little glowing safety
helmet on, reaching
out to her.
Was she dreaming?
12:03
“Don’t worry, Mom. I’m here to save you,” Ezra said, tugging her hand with all his might to pull her up.
Olivia cooperated. With Ezra’s help, and gripping the banister, Olivia managed to get up.
The pain from her fresh wounds stung sharply, but it also grounded her to the reality that she wasn’t
dreaming.
“Mom, it feels like this place is about to crumble. We need to get out now!”
“Okay, let’s get out of here!” Olivia nodded seriously. Bending down, she scooped Ezra into her arms,
grimacing from her own pain, and hastened towards the exit.
Reaching the first floor, it became evident that half of the hospital’s main building had been flattened
due to the explosion’s force.
Bricks lay strewn everywhere. The scene looked eerily like a war-torn city.
The wall near the basement where she was just moments ago was still standing, thanks to its distance
from the explosion.
“The explosion… Ezra, did you catch a glimpse of your dad?”
“Daddy?”
“William! William Kinsman!” Olivia spotted a deep pit created by the explosion from afar. Surrounding
the pit were men who looked like bodyguards of the Kinsman family, seemingly searching for
something.
Anxiety surged through Olivia. Setting Ezra down, she dashed over.
Before Ezra could continue, he watched, slightly bewildered, as his mother sprinted away like the wind
had taken her.
He swiveled around to see his so-called dad, chatting up Jameson.
“Daddy, what’s up with mommy?”
“She might just have a soft spot for me now.”
“Huh? Mommy has a soft spot for daddy? Then why did she dash to that pit?”
“Could she be planning to dig a hole and bury daddy?” he thought.
“That’s a good idea. Plant one and grow two.”
“Mommy, let me give you a hand!”
With newfound enthusiasm, Ezra sped off with his tiny legs trying to keep pace.
Jameson, having just tended to William’s wounds, couldn’t help but tease.
“Hey, Mr. Kinsman, you sure it’s wise to pull the wool over Olivia’s eyes? If she realizes you aren’t in
that pit, you might find yourself six feet under!”
“That’s just some playful banter between a husband and wife. You wouldn’t get it.”
As a bachelor for many years, Jameson felt as if he had suffered a great blow.
Jameson replied, “Alright, alright. I was scared out of my wits earlier. You can’t mess around like that
anymore. I’ve yet to tie the knot! If you keep this up, I might just kick the bucket before I even get
hitched!”
“Thanks for showing up, James,” William said, gratitude evident in his eyes.
At the time of the explosion, Jameson had luckily been nearby.
Outside, Jameson’s bracelet picked up a signal, allowing him to use an app on his phone to mimic a
heartbeat, successfully disconnecting William from the bomb.
Yet, knowing the lingering threat of the bomb, he strapped it to his phone, causing it to detonate safely
away from the premises.
“We’re practically brothers. No need for formalities.”
“But hey, my phone did bite the dust saving you. Can I get reimbursed?”
Poor phone, it has been with him for so many years and he hadn’t replied to the messages from ladies.
Considering the circumstances, William basically owes him a date!
“Ah, Olivia has been scouting the pit for me. I should probably check on her. Wouldn’t want her
genuinely mad at me,” William said, tactically changing the topic and making a hasty exit.
Jameson stood there, hair tousled by the wind, feeling slightly jilted.
12:03
William! Give me back the ladies!
Meanwhile, at the hospital’s fore, Olivia was in the large pit that the explosion had carved out.
She was frantically searching, mud staining her clothes and hands.
“William, show yourself!”
Her continuous muttering sp ooked the bodyguards standing watch.
Just recently, this pit was ground zero for the explosion. Mr. Foster had taken them to clean up all the
waste without stopping. What was Mrs. Kinsman looking for now?
They were at a loss but dared not ask.
After all, Mr. Foster had warned them, Mrs. Kinsman was the apple of William’s eye. Upsetting her was
a risk they wouldn’t take.
Approaching the pit’s edge, William made his way to Olivia. Wrapping her in his embrace, he
whispered, “My dear wife, were you looking for me?” NôvelDrama.Org holds text © rights.