Facade of Love

Chapter 281 An Earthquake?

Upon getting interrupted by Charlie like that, Inch reluctantly suppressed the words at the

tip of his tongue and grudgingly replied, “Okay.”

I found the way these two interacted with each other quite strange.

It was not exactly strange if I considered the fact that Charlie was Inch’s superior. Even if

they were friends, the difference in their positions was significant. They could not truly

interact like friends.

With this in mind, I decided not to dwell on it any longer.

We had been on the road since early morning, and the continuous journey of over ten

hours had kept my nerves on edge. Everyone had their limits, and after exchanging a few

words with them, my focus was diverted. Fatigue began to overwhelm me.

Besides, the warmth of the fire in front of me, coupled with the hypnotic sound of the rain

outside, made me drowsy. Before long, I fell asleep.

I did not sleep soundly, though. When I woke up, the rain outside was still pouring. Charlie

had his eyes closed, leaning against the wall, while Inch was tending to the dwindling fire.

When he noticed I was awake, he looked at me and whispered, “Did I wake you up?”

I shook my head and, noticing that the fire was dying out, glanced outside. It was still

dark, and the rain was still falling, though not as heavily as last night.

I asked, “Did it rain all night?”

He nodded. “The road today might be challenging. It’s not fully light outside yet. I’ll go out

to find more firewood. Let Mr. Yates sleep a bit longer, and when he wakes up, we can

have something to eat before we continue.”

Seeing dark circles under his eyes, I felt guilty. He probably did not get much sleep last

night. I said, “You rest a little more. I’ll go find some.”

He stopped me and gave me a reassuring smile. “You stay here. It’s not fully light outside

yet, and there are mountains all around. It’s not safe for a girl to go. I’ll go.”

Without waiting for my response, he went outside.

I felt a pang of guilt. This was originally my problem, yet they had followed me here,

suffering alongside me. We were practically strangers who had met by chance, yet they

were helping me in such a selfless way.

Thinking this way, I felt even more indebted. I made a mental note to treat them as true

friends in the future.

My mind drifted away for a moment, and Charlie beside me shifted slightly. I thought he

was waking up, so I glanced over, only to see him adjusting his position slightly and

furrowing his brow. Then, he remained still.

Looking at him, I reached out to touch his forehead, wanting to check his temperature.

However, as soon as I made contact, he suddenly opened his eyes.

I was startled by his alert and cold gaze.

Chapter 281 An Earspake

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Probably noticing that it was me, he softened his gaze a bit and scanned the surroundings.

When he did not see Inch, he asked in a hoarse voice, “Awake?”

I nodded, recovering from the initial shock of his abrupt awakening. I could not help but

notice his extreme vigilance, even when sleeping.

I took a deep breath and, still concerned about his fever, I asked, “Are you feeling better?”

Afterward, I could not resist touching his forehead again and realized that his fever

seemed to have worsened. I furrowed my brows and said, “You had medicine last night.

Why is your temperature still so high?”

He looked at me and did not shy away from my touch, allowing me to examine him. He

spoke gently, his voice carrying exhaustion, “It’s okay. I’ll be fine soon.”

His voice betrayed his weariness. Seeing this, I rummaged through the medicine box that

Inch had brought in the previous night, intending to find cold medicine and give it to him

again.

However, the medicine box contained numerous medications, most of them labeled with

their scientific names, mainly consisting of anti–inflammatory and pain–relieving drugs.

After a considerable search, I finally found the cold medicine and quickly followed the

instructions to prepare it.

Boom! Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and before I could comprehend what was

happening, I felt a sudden dizziness.

“Run!” Charlie’s voice reached my ears, and without giving me much time to react, he

forcefully pulled me toward the exit of the cave.

We had just walked a few steps forward when I noticed that large stones on both sides of

the cave entrance were tumbling down. The entire place felt like it was placed on a

violently shaking platform.

“An earthquake?” I exclaimed. I didn’t have time to look at Charlie’s expression and

instinctively walked outside.

However, Charlie was pulling me forward, and before we could reach the cave’s entrance,

a massive boulder suddenly rolled down. The cave entrance was not very spacious to

begin with, and in our rush to exit, we could not evade the rapidly approaching boulder.

In the blink of an eye, amid the thundering and trembling, Charlie suddenly pulled me

close. Then, in a hoarse, pained voice, he warned, “Be careful!”

I distinctly heard him stifling a groan. The tremors persisted, and Charlie shielded me with

his body. I struggled to free myself, but I could not move.

Fearing that I might cause more trouble, I finally stayed still. After a while, the intensity of

the tremors lessened, and I finally managed to lift my head from his chest. It was pitch

black around us.