Raul's heart began to beat faster than usual. He tried to stay calm but couldn't. Without responding to the waiter's words, Raul immediately left the place and headed to the parking lot. There, he saw his driver wiping the windshield of his car.
When he heard footsteps behind him, the driver turned around and found Raul walking toward him.
"Sir, do you want to leave now?" the driver asked.
"Give me the car keys, Colby," Raul said as he reached the driver. Colby looked confused, but he still handed the car keys to Raul.
"Get in," Raul said, making Colby even more confused. Raul entered the car, sat in the driver's seat, and started the engine. When he saw Colby hadn't gotten in, he rolled down the car window.
"I told you to get in, I don't have time anymore, god damn it," Raul swore impatiently. Colby panicked and immediately entered the car, sitting in the front passenger seat next to the driver's seat.
Before Colby could put on his seatbelt, Raul slammed the gas pedal. The driver reflexively grabbed the car's handle above the window. As soon as they left the mansion, Raul drove extremely fast. He no longer cared about his safety.
Because right now, all that was on Raul's mind was Starley. His heart was pounding rapidly. He tried to stay calm but still couldn't. So, he cursed under his breath.
.
.
.
After about fifteen minutes had passed, they were almost at the Bellamy Corp building, but they got stuck in traffic. The fire at the Bellamy Corp building seemed to be causing the congestion. Raul cursed, then said to Colby, "Colby, you drive this car. I'll run to the Bellamy Corp building."
Still not understanding what was happening, Colby nodded firmly in response to his boss's orders. Raul then got out of the car, and so did Colby.
As Colby took the driver's seat, Raul ran on the pedestrian path as fast as he could. Every minute passed was incredibly precious to him, and the pain in his shoulder was no longer noticeable. All he could think about now was finding Starley and ensuring her safety.
A few minutes later, he saw many fire trucks, and his gaze shifted to the Bellamy Corp building. Raul could already see the flames burning in the Bellamy Corp building. The lower floors were the ones on fire.
When he reached the scene, Raul saw a large crowd in front of the building. These people were employees and workers who had managed to leave the building. Some were sitting on the ground, exhausted from coming down the emergency stairs; some were busy with their phones, giving updates about the fire, and some were being treated for injuries. There were also ambulances on standby, with medical teams.
But Raul's eyes only searched for Starley, hoping to find her among the crowd. Finally, he spotted Lia, Starley's close friend who worked at Bellamy Corp. The medical team was treating Lia for an injury to her leg. Raul quickly approached Lia, who was still being treated.
"Miss Turner," Raul called. Lia, hearing her name, turned towards the source of the voice. She looked shocked when she saw Raul, but Raul didn't wait for Lia to respond. He immediately asked,
"Have you seen Starley?"
"She was with me earlier," Lia said immediately. But Lia looked panicked, which made Raul uneasy.
"Where is she now?" Raul asked.
"Starley and I were on the eighth floor when the fire broke out on the seventh floor. We ran together through the emergency exit. But when we got to the second floor, Starley suddenly told me to proceed. She wanted the mysterious letter from my office on the eighth floor."
"She said the letter was the only clue to find the person responsible for this fire," Lia explained. Raul felt his blood boil at that moment. A mysterious letter? What the hell could be more important than the life of that woman?
"Why didn't you stop her?" Raul snapped angrily.
"I tried to stop her! But she left first, and she's so stubborn. Plus, my leg is injured, so I couldn't chase after her," Lia answered, frustrated. Raul briefly glanced at Lia's injured leg. Yes, the woman's leg was hurt.
"I've told the fire department officers several times, but it seems like they won't listen to me—" Raul cut off Lia's words.
"When did she go up?"
"Not long ago, and she hasn't come down yet," Lia replied. Without further thinking, Raul immediately said, "I'm going upstairs."
"What?" Lia asked.
"Do you have any bottled water?" Raul asked the medical team who were treating Lia. He looked confused but immediately pointed to a box containing bottled water.
Raul took a bottle of water and ran toward the emergency exit. There, he saw many people who had just come out. They looked out of breath.
Raul immediately entered the emergency exit and began climbing the stairs against the flow of people coming down. The higher he went, the fewer people he encountered coming down; it seemed most had already gotten out.
Considering it was already night, most employees should have gone home earlier that afternoon. So, those still in the office were probably the ones working overtime on many tasks.
Raul climbed the stairs quickly. His legs started ache, his breath was uneven, and his shoulders were sore, but he kept climbing. He had now reached the fifth floor and felt the temperature rise more than before. He no longer met anyone else.
He climbed the stairs faster now, and finally, he reached the sixth floor, heading to the seventh floor, where the fire had started. Unfortunately, the fire had already reached the emergency stairs. Raul was trapped; he couldn't go to the eighth floor because the fire blocked the emergency stairs.
"Dammit!" Raul cursed.
But he was so close to finding Starley. Raul took the bottled water he had brought earlier, opened it, and poured it over his head. Now, his hair, face, and upper body were soaked.
Raul threw the bottle onto the floor. Then he took a deep breath, and with great speed, he charged through the flames and climbed the stairs to the eighth floor. Finally, he reached the emergency exit on the eighth floor.
When Raul opened the emergency exit door, he was shocked to find Starley, who was also about to open the door. They both stared at each other in surprise.
"Raul? What are you doing here?" Starley asked, startled.
Raul felt overwhelming relief when he saw that Starley was still breathing. Without thinking any further, Raul immediately pulled Starley into his embrace.
"Please, never do that again, cupcake," Raul said, his voice pleading while hugging Starley tightly, as if afraid that if he let go, she would look for danger again.
…