Alec's concerns for Jenny were unfounded. Jenny, who grew up in a village, adjusted immediately to life in Clearwater and even took a liking to it because the village reminded her of her old life in Orchid Village."Dr. Walter, this is your accommodation. Let me know if you have any issues with it." The village chief brought Jenny to a hotel—the only one in the village. She checked out the old but clean hotel and said, "I'm happy with it. Sorry for the trouble.""No, it's no trouble at all!" The chief shook his head. He heard from the higher-ups that the doctor who volunteered this time was skilled, and because of that, he was attentive to her needs.After Jenny had placed her luggage in her room, the chief informed her, "We don't have Internet in the village. Come to my house if you want to make calls. I have a landline."Before arriving at Clearwater, Jenny had learned about the internet situation. She wasn't surprised and replied, "Sure. I'll come to you if I need anything."
The Blooms would only help the Dickmans if Yvonne married Sam as soon as possible. Dickman LLC wouldn't last long under the current circumstances otherwise.Although the wedding venue was magnificently decorated, one could tell that it was hastily set up. Alec attended the event upon receiving the invitation out of respect for the Blooms, even if he couldn't care less about the Dickmans.The Blooms were as influential as the Fausts in Parrington. Not only that, the family had a long history of doing business. The Fausts started to build their empire from Old Mr. Faust's generation, but it was nothing compared to the Blooms, who had hundreds of years of history and owned countless assets just like the Fausts.At the event, Alec listened to the conversations around him with a glass of wine in his hand. Most of the guests were mocking the marriage.Max and Gilbert were among the guests as well. Even though they were in a bitter fight with the Dickmans, they attended the event out of c
Max leaned backward as he chuckled. "Don't worry. Jenny and I are friends. How could I turn against my friend?"Alec snickered at the notion and thought, "A friend? He must be keeping her around as a 'friend' that would be of use one day."The conversation between them ended at the same time as the wedding ceremony. The bride and groom went around greeting and toasting their guests. Soon, the newlyweds arrived at the table where Alec was seated."Mr. Bloom, huge congratulations!" Alec raised his glass at Sam. Although the two were not close, there was no bad blood between them, and Alec would like to show him respect.Sam laughed heartily. He was obviously in a great mood. "Thank you! Enjoy the feast, Mr. Faust! Make yourself at home!"During their conversation, Max sourly remarked, "Mr. Bloom, you're quite cool about it, eh? You know Alec and Yvonne were so close to getting married." Sam Bloom was more of a simpleton than a generous spirit in his eyes. How could he marry a woman
A while later, Sam finally let go of Yvonne. He appeared hesitant to speak."What's wrong?" she asked, sensing his hesitance. After some thought, he decided to be upfront with her. "My dad had a talk with me just now. He said that…we probably can't bail out your family.""Why?" Yvonne gasped in shock. She married Sam because she needed their financial support. Without it, the Dickmans would go bankrupt. She didn't do all of that out of love for her family. She merely understood that she had to protect them, for she would lose her standing in the Blooms if the Dickmans went down.Feeling guilty, Sam couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes. "Alec talked to my dad before, and he said he'd bring down your family if we were to help you out. If we did nothing, he'd hold back too."All color drained from her face. She bit her lip hard and hissed, "Alec Faust!""Yvonne, don't lose sleep over it. We should feel glad that Alec promises not to hurt your family. Perhaps your dad coul
It was 9 pm at Faust Mansion. Alec came home early, which was a rare occurrence. He had wanted to take a good rest in bed, but a bad hunch plagued him. He had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen. He took out his phone to call Jenny but was reminded of Vincent's words. Jenny was in a village with no phone service, so it was impossible for his call to go through. Filled with anxious energy, he hopped out of bed and went to the balcony. Suddenly, his phone buzzed incessantly, prompting him to rush back to his bedroom to take the call."Mr. Faust, we just got the news of a huge earthquake in Elmwood District. Clearwater Village, where Miss Walter is posted, is one of the epicenters. The entire village has lost contact with the outside world," Vincent reported in a great hurry.An earthquake? Looking pale, Alec forced himself to calm down. "Get the helicopter ready. Bring medicine and aid supplies. We're going to fly there.""Yes, sir."After the call, Alec's heart
Clutching her first-aid bag, she started the rescue mission with the other villagers. Since they had no technology, they could only shout and wait for responses from beneath the rubble. Once they detected a response, everyone would stop and dig through it.Even though some victims were rescued successfully, the rescue mission was too slow to be effective. Jenny felt anxious as the clock ticked away. However, there was nothing she could do about it."Chief, is the landline connected?" After performing first aid, Jenny went up to the village chief to ask. In their situation, they needed to establish contact with the outside world as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the chief shook his head, looking despondent. "No. We only have one landline in the village. But the cables were damaged, and we couldn't find anyone to repair them right away. I'm afraid we'll be cut off for a while."Jenny frowned and stared at the collapsed houses they had yet to check. She was sorrowful and pleaded, "
Crawling through the hole, Jenny followed the sounds of crying and quickly located the kids, who were lucky enough to be hiding in the corner of the wall, forming a triangle of life that spared them from being crushed by the rubble.She walked over and called out softly, "Lilian, Justin, are you hurt?"The kids were shocked to hear someone speaking, and they broke into tears when they recognized Jenny. "Jenny!"They crawled out and quickly ran to her, finally crying out loud when they were safe in her arms. She comforted them until their crying softened. Then, she confirmed with them again, "Are you hurt?"The kids shook their heads, but tears welled up in their eyes again. "Daddy and Mommy are still in there…"Her gaze followed the direction they were pointing. She saw nothing but a collapsed wall and guessed that the couple must have been in another room when the earthquake struck. Since she hadn't heard a sound from them after entering the house, she knew things weren't looking
"Dr. Walter? Is that Jenny Walter? What happened to her?" Alec's expression became serious, and he stared intently at the chief. The chief froze upon seeing the grave look in Alec's eyes, but he soon recovered. "She's buried under a collapsed house."Alec almost lost his balance from hearing that. "What?"Despite his speedy arrival, he was still too late for her. Standing in front of the rubble where she was buried, he immediately commanded people to start digging. As he had gone in a hurry, he only brought some simple tools instead of huge excavating machines. Even so, using the tools was much better than having the villagers dig with their hands. The villagers immediately jumped into the rescue mission after receiving the tools. Underneath the rubble, Jenny and Justin huddled in a corner. She ignored the pain in her right calf and scanned the area for a way out. She was discouraged when she realized they were trapped without any chance of escaping."Jenny, am I going to die he