"Frostpine news update: Today, a black Bentley encountered an unidentified attack on Jewel Road, and the vehicle fell off the edge of a cliff."
"It's reported that the Bentley's license plate number is AXX88, belonging to the CEO of Pegasus Global Holdings, Gabriel. Pegasus Global Holdings has now dispatched all security personnel to search for the Gabriel and vehicle. At present, Gabriel's fate remains unknown—"
In a room.
"Mommy, why isn't he waking up?" Four-year-old Danielle stood in front of the bed, her face full of curiosity.
"How should I know? You insisted on bringing him who was covered in blood. He might end up like that rabbit you brought home last time; it didn't last two days."
Jessica Jenner took a thermometer, pressed it against the man's forehead, and then lifted it to check the reading, casting a sideways glance at her daughter, who was peeking around her leg, "Can you read the number in the thermometer?"
Danielle Jenner, looking up in defiance, protested, "I'm four years old! I can count to a hundred!"
Jessica, with a smile, showed her the thermometer.
"Mommy, it says 102 here?" Danielle blinked her blue eyes.
"102 degrees Fahrenheit," Jessica glanced back at the man on the bed, half-dead, "With such injuries, running a continuous fever, and refusing to go to the hospital, if he dies on us, you know I'll have to take you to spend a vacation at the police station."
"Mommy." Danielle started to hug Jessica's leg, her voice tender, "Please, save him..."
"How can I save a grown person? Since you were two and a half, starting with that nearly dead stray cat you brought home, you've been bringing home little animals every few days. Now, this, you even bring a dying man! Do you realize we're in trouble?"
Danielle turned and squatted back by the bed, giving Jessica an innocent blink, her small hand resting on the injured man's.
Just like the small animals she would usually rescue, Danielle was afraid her mommy would throw them away.
Jessica rubbed her temples with frustration.
It was really her fault for not being clear-headed. If she had been even slightly sober, she would not have brought home a person of such unclear origins.
Two days earlier, Danielle's kindergarten had a summer camp activity. Jessica was supposed to pick up her child that evening but encountered an unexpected situation. She unwillingly had a few drinks and called a designated driver to pick her up. By the time she arrived, she was a little later than the agreed time.
Danielle waited too long and suddenly announced she needed to use the bathroom. Since the summer camp was located in a wilderness at the base of a cliff, with no restrooms nearby, Jessica had no choice but to lead her to a nearby thicket.
There, lying in the grass, was a person.
A man covered in blood. It was unclear whether he was dead or alive.
A towering cliff loomed nearby, complete with a mountain road above. Jessica guessed the man must have fallen from there and died. She covered Danielle's eyes with her hand, intending to leave the scene quickly.
As she turned to go, a sudden tightness gripped her ankle. An icy, bloodied hand had seized her, and she froze, her body breaking out into a cold sweat.
"Don't leave," came a weak, hoarse male voice from behind and below her.
She'd had a few drinks earlier and wasn't thinking clearly. Danielle, perhaps too accustomed to helping small animals in need and too young to grasp the situation fully, wasn't scared at all. Instead, she pleaded with Jessica to help the man. In a moment of impulsivity and with adrenaline coursing through her, Jessica dragged the man out from the underbrush.
The designated driver had stepped out of the vehicle to smoke and didn't notice the new passenger due to the darkness.
The next morning, when Jessica sobered up, she saw the man who could expire at any moment in her house. She was nearly dumbfounded.
Somehow, she had also managed to clean all the blood off the man and changed his clothes while under the influence the night before. How had she managed that?