Daddy CEO's Beloved Wife

Chapter 576  Turning Point (1)

"Is something wrong, Xueyi?"

Ran Xueyi turned and saw that the group had stopped for her. Shaking her head, she scolded herself for losing her focus and letting other things distract her.

"I'm fine," she said. "Let's go."

The group continued walking inside the narrow tunnel. As they go deeper and further inside, the dimmer the lights become. Probably because the bunker hadn't been in use for a long time, there was even water leaking on the ground, and as they went to the deepest part, the bunker looked rougher as if the previous owner decided to give up on spending his money on it.

Fortunately, none of them was afraid of bugs as centipedes and spiders skittered around.

Or they probably didn't want to rouse the tiny creatures with many hands, so they kept quiet.

Just as they thought it would take them long to reach the end of the tunnel, Evgenia ordered them to stop.

Above them was another tunnel, but smaller. Only one person could pass through at a time and get out of that square manhole cover, which was located at the very top. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Get over there and open it," Evgenia instructed his men.

One man stepped forward, using the metal steps attached to the wall. After a minute, he pushed the manhole cover a few times but it wouldn't budge.

"I can't open it. The thick snow is pushing against the weight," reported the man.

This makes sense since this island snowed almost every single year. The snow covering the manhole must be thicker than it should be. However, Evgenia didn't think this was a problem.

After instructing the man to get down, Evgenia started to climb the steps. Using the entire forearm, he started to push and push. In the beginning, there didn't seem to be any change, and the manhole looked like it wouldn't budge. But after a few minutes, white light seeped through and snow fell through the gradually widening gaps.

Grunting loudly, Evgenia pushed with all his might. It had been a while since he used all of his strength, and he had never thought he'd use it to open a manhole cover.

Soon, the gaps turned bigger and bigger.

At his one final push, the manhole finally surrendered and opened.

Cleaning up a chunk of snow on the side, Evgenia got out of the hole and looked around him. Aside from the trees sporadically spread around the area, only snow filled his view. It seems their pursuers haven't found them yet.

"It's safe, you can all come up now," Evgenia shouted his order.

One by one, the group climbed up the hole.

When the last man finally got out, they restarted their journey. This time, their destination was towards the northern part of the island, where Evgenia remembered there was a shack where he stored some guns and a boat for fishing and hunting.

To get there, they must pass through the trees.

 But that wasn't the only problem they needed to think about.

When they left, they didn't prepare some clothes to wear. In this cold, they were bound to suffer the consequences. Ran Xueyi and Alina were the lightest, dressed in their group.

"It'll only take fifteen minutes for us to reach that place. Can you two beat with it for now?" Evgenia turned to the two women in the group.

Ran Xueyi nodded while her arms were folded across her chest. She was cold, but it was not as unbearable as she thought it would be.

Alina also nodded, but the lack of pants seemed to testify that she might not survive even a minute out in the cold.

"Take this," Evgenia took off his suit jacket and gave it to her.

"I'm not cold. Give it to Ran Xueyi." Alina tipped her head at Ran Xueyi.

Ran Xueyi held her hands out. "Thanks, but I'm fine. You need that more than me."

With no other choice, Alina took the jacket from Evgenia. The group started to walk forward. As soon as it wrapped around her form, she almost elicited a moan from the sudden warmth. Tugging it a bit closer to her body, Alina saw Ran Xueyi looking at her with an amused smile and a raised eyebrow.

Knowing exactly what she was thinking, Alina rolled her eyes. "It's not what you think."

Walking beside her, Ran Xueyi chuckled. "It is what I think it is."

There was no way a man would offer his jacket in this cold to a woman he didn't like. Besides, among the men in their group, Evgenia was the only one who gave up his jacket.

Initially, Ran Xueyi assumed Evgenia liked her. After all, what kind of man would go as far as to do the things he did just to get her? But it seems she was overthinking things too far.

The way Evgenia looked at Alina and Ran Xueyi was different. Ran Xueyi concluded that the only purpose Evgenia has on why he went as far as to do these things for her was because he was obsessed with revenge.

And it would've worked his way if this thing didn't happen.

The trees surrounding them became thicker and thicker.

Ran Xueyi slowed down from her steps so Alina could walk beside Evgenia. Ran Xueyi didn't want to match Alina to just any other man. She knew what Alina had been through all these years just to become the leader of her own gang and grow her reputation.

What Alina needed was not an ordinary man who could give her a temporary sense of peace. But a dangerous man who could match her own and perhaps scare away those annoying and pesky bugs who try to make her life difficult.

She was unsure whether Evgenia was such a man, but Ran Xueyi trusted the Evgenia of the past, the roguish boy who found her and gave her a safe place to stay when she most needed it.

'Click'

Ran Xueyi's steps halted at the sound. Her attention was now hyper-focused on the back of her head, where she felt a hard thing pressing against it.

She refused to believe this was happening to her right now, when just a couple of feet away, Alina and Evgenia were walking in front of her.

But there was no denying that what was pressing against her skull was a gun.

As she had suspected, the one holding the gun leaned close to her ears. His breath fans across her cheek and hair.

"Slowly back up," ordered the man. "If you scream or even try to make a move, I'll shoot."

"If you shoot, you'll die," Ran Xueyi countered, trying to make him see what the outcome of his situation would be.

The man snorted. "That's fine. If I fail, I'll die either way."

Fail? Ran Xueyi wondered what that meant.

---

Author has something to say: I had a fever this morning and was not feeling very well. For those who are reading my new novel "The Billionaire's Ex-Wife Returns!" there will be no chapter update today. I could only write an update for this novel because I promised my readers I'd write on Monday and Thursday.

In case you're wondering, these all will point us to the climax of the story.

Xoxo

Poisonlily 💋