My Darling, My Dearest
Chapter 95

Jack kicked the man hard. He dropped onto the floor, writhing in pain.

Seeing this, Rachel was overcome with emotion. Jack approached, bent down, and removed the tape which covered her mouth.

Both of her hands were tied behind her back. With a straight face, Jack carefully but swiftly removed the shoelaces that bound her. When the laces were removed, an overwhelming feeling of relief came over her. Her eyes welled up with tears.

She felt so lucky. Jack had come just in time.

She remembered how terrified she had been when the three men had said that they would leave her here to die.

She thought about the horrible reality of being thrown away like garbage and with no one knowing where she was.

After successfully freeing her, Jack helped her to her feet. Rachel croaked, "Thank you."

In a low voice, he said, "Seriously? Why so formal with me?"

Rachel opened her mouth and looked up only to replace his sour face. He put his arm around her waist, and together, they walked toward Michael. That was when he noticed that something was wrong with her feet. ■d

Frowning, he asked, "What's the matter with your feet?"

Rachel tried to rotate one foot, and a sharp pain shot up her body. It turned out that she had sprained her ankle.

Determined not to be a burden, she clenched her teeth and tried to move her foot again. It hurt even more than it had moments ago.

Awkwardly, she explained, "I think I sprained my ankle. It hurts too much. I can't walk."

Michael kicked the man who was on the floor. When he was sure that the man was unconscious, he turned his head. He saw Jack putting Rachel's arm around his neck and then carrying her with both arms. Although he knew that it was inappropriate at the moment, Michael couldn't help but let out a loud whistle.

'That's my bro. Way to go, Jack!' he thought.

"Let's go," Jack said.

"Are we going back the way we came?" Michael asked.

Jack replied, "That's our only way out. The gate is locked."

He had found out, while they had been searching for Rachel, that there was no way to open the gate. "Let's go downstairs first."

They left the three assailants on the floor. Jack, still carrying Rachel, headed down the stairs with ■d

Michael.

When they had gone up to get Rachel, the fire was small. It had only been burning up to the door of the banquet hall. Now, after the short moment that they had spent upstairs, everything on the first floor was in flames.

Thick, black smoke billowed around them. All the curtains that had been on the windows had burned and fallen down, setting the carpet on fire.

The path that they had walked through earlier was now engulfed in flames. Choking on the smoke, Michael fell back in shock. Coughing, he yelled, "Damn it! What the hell is this? How did this happen?" Rachel released her hold on Jack and said softly, "Put me down."

Jack glanced at her. He stepped back cautiously before setting her down and letting her stand on her feet. Holding onto his arm to maintain her balance, she said, "We have to go back upstairs."

She pointed to the carpet and said, "I don't know what they've poured over here, but it ignites upon contact with fire. The three men upstairs are responsible for this."

This meant that everything outside was now surely in flames. There was no way for them to escape this way.

The only way out now was to run back up the stairs. A worse fate awaited them if they stayed here.

Jack made the call. "Let's go. It's still possible ■d

to go through the flames now. Let's go upstairs and contact the others."

Michael nodded. Without another word, Jack lifted Rachel off the floor. Together, the three rushed up the stairs.

Much to her annoyance, Rachel could not help but blush. She knew what she was feeling was highly inappropriate at the moment. In an attempt to hide her flushed face, she lowered her head and pressed her face against Jack's chest.

What was happening? Why was she feeling this way?

Fortunately, the two men didn't notice a thing. Jack walked as fast as he could with her in his arms. When she pressed her face against his chest so quietly, he felt something strange.

Finally, they were back to where they had encountered the three men. One of the men was conscious now and was anxious to wake his companions but did not expect Jack and his companions to be back. Before he could even panic, the three simply ignored him and passed him by. They headed straight to the balcony.

Moments later, they found themselves at the entrance to the most conspicuous balcony. Shards of glass, from the window they had broken, were scattered on the floor. Jack and Michael carefully made their way past the sea of glass and approached the railing.

It was dark outside. The three were relieved upon hearing fire truck sirens from a distance. Outside the villa, a crowd had formed and was steadily growing.

Unfortunately, the balcony where they stood was some distance away. The crowd could not easily see them, and there was no guarantee that anyone would hear them if they shouted. Realizing this, Michael hurriedly took out his phone and called Marcus.

Smoke from the downstairs windows rose up and reached them where they stood. Choking and with watery eyes, they had to move backward. The fire was quickly consuming the building. Rachel, realizing that Jack had been holding her this whole time, felt embarrassed.

She said in a low voice, "Put me down."

Jack bent slightly. He stretched his right arm down toward the floor and supported her back with his left hand until she could steady herself. When it was clear that she could stand without falling back down, he let her go.

Perhaps it was because of the situation they were in or for some other unknown reason, but Jack's thoughtful gestures were magnified infinitely in Rachel's eyes.

When Michael reached Marcus, he informed him that Rachel had been found. He then filled him in on their position.

Rachel looked back on her narrow escape. The palm of her hand still hurt slightly. When she turned to look at it, she found several bloody abrasions.

Noticing her swollen ankle, Jack was alarmed. ■d

He asked, "What happened to you? You are seriously injured."

It seemed that everyone else had successfully left the villa. She was the only one who was unfortunate enough to be left behind.

She lowered her head and looked at her hand. She said, "I fell down. It was an accident."

How careless of her!

Jack realized the magnitude of what had happened. If everyone had been busy trying to get away, and no one had known that she was still here, she might have perished in the fire.

He could not replace words to express his anger.

It was clear that he did not want to talk about it now. Without a word, he held her. Feeling nervous, she struggled slightly.

He stretched out his arms and steadied her. "Your feet hurt. You can lean on me."

Marcus was among the crowd downstairs. He and those with him breathed a sigh of relief. The fire truck had arrived. Upon learning that they were fine, Rick felt glad. It was as if it was he himself who had escaped death. Without delay, he ran to the firefighters to figure out how to rescue the three.

Lea glanced expectantly at Marcus' phone as he held it to his ear. When he noticed the nervous look in her eyes, he asked Michael to hold on. Then he handed the phone to her.

"Hello, this is Lea. How is Rachel? I want to talk to her."

"She's fine," Michael said. He looked at Jack ■d

and Rachel, who were leaning against each other. He cleared his throat and handed Rachel the phone. "Your friend wants to talk to you."

She reached for the phone. Reflexively, she wanted to stand straight, but Jack stopped her with a firm grasp on her arm. "Don't."

She did not argue. The pain in her ankle was too much to bear. She rested most of her weight on Jack.

When Lea heard the familiar voice, she began crying.

Choked with sobs, she apologized, "Sorry, Rachel."

Rachel smiled bitterly and said, "You don't have to apologize to me. I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"I shouldn't have left you alone."

There were two men beside her, and she felt too embarrassed to comfort Lea. "It's not your fault. Don't cry," she whispered into the phone. "Come on. I'm not a kid.

I don't need to be supervised all the time. It was an accident. I fell down and didn't get out in time."

If the two men didn't know that it was Lea on the other end of the line, they would have thought that Rachel was trying to comfort her boyfriend.

After a few more comforting words, Lea finally calmed down. With a whine, she said, "Okay. I'm waiting here for you. They have informed the firemen of your position. But it's too dark where you are. They're trying to locate you. Can you see me waving?" ■d

It hard for Rachel to see the people below too. Flashing lights and people walking around made it more difficult for her to spot Lea.

The second floor was not that high, but there was some distance between the balcony and the crowd.

"Yes, I see you. Alright. Don't worry. We'll be downstairs in no time."

Puzzled, Michael looked in the direction of Rachel's gaze. It was pitch black, with a few flashes of bright light now and then. He couldn't see anything.

What did she see?

Michael and Jack didn't expect that such comforting words would come from such a cold woman. It made Jack jealous of Lea.

'Wait. Jealousy?'

Jack's facial expression changed subtly. He turned his head and pretended to look out the balcony. However, smoke coming up from downstairs and from the front of the house choked him. Rachel stood straight and leaned on the handrail. From the other end of the line came the clear voice of a man. "Rachel, how are you feeling now? Are you hurt?"

"Lucas?"

"Yes, it's me. I..."

She interrupted him. "I'm fine. There's no need to apologize to me." ■d

"Okay. We can talk about it once you're safe and sound downstairs."

"Okay." Rachel returned the phone to Michael.

He continued to talk on the phone. More and more smoke rose from the lower floor, and the rescue operation was yet to be completed.