Chapter 280

The room was quiet. The window was open, and a gentle breeze blew in, rustling the curtains. Other than the noise they had heard at the door, there was no sound.

Edward told Adeline to stay at the door, but she refused, following him in. She grabbed a vase from by the door. Edward walked slowly towards the bedroom. The living room was empty. If someone had been there when they came in, the most likely hiding place was the bedroom. There was a large bed with space underneath, and a closet. And a bathroom.

The bedroom door was also open, but Edward remembered closing it when he left. At the bedroom door, he refused to let Adeline in. They had a silent standoff, and in the end, Adeline gave in. It wasn't that she was scared, but she was worried she would be a hindrance if a fight broke out. She decided to stand guard at the door.

Edward went in.

Adeline waited anxiously for a while, and then Edward came out. He shook his head.

"No one's in there?"

"No."

"But we just heard a noise." Adeline said, baffled.

"It was this. The wind blew it over." Edward turned to the side, showing her the lamp on the nightstand that had fallen to the floor.

Adeline let out a sigh of relief. "As long as everything's okay. That really scared me."

"Don't worry, the hotel's security is very good. No one should be able to break into our room." Edward brought the laptop out of the bedroom and put it on the coffee table. "Use it as you please."

Adeline sat down and opened the laptop. Edward poured her a glass of water. "Thank you." she said, looking up.

Edward went back into the bedroom, closed the door, and walked to the window, his face grim. It was the second floor. The height wasn't that bad. There was a faint mark on the windowsill. A closer look revealed half a footprint. Unfortunately, it was only half a footprint, so there was nothing to go on. But it was certain that someone had been in the room. Nothing was missing, though. What had the person been looking for?

Night fell quickly. When Edward came out to the living room, he found Adeline asleep on the sofa. He carefully picked her up and carried her to the bed in the bedroom. As he turned, he noticed the laptop was still open. He was about to close it when he remembered something.

After the USB drive appeared, someone had tried to steal it. Then Adeline had had an accident at the beach. And then, after she had borrowed his computer, someone had snuck into his room. Edward didn't believe it was all a coincidence. He glanced at the bedroom. He hadn't wanted to look without Adeline's permission, but now it seemed he had no choice.

He opened the laptop and finally sent the message he hadn't been able to send that afternoon. He quickly received a link to a software. The software was simple but powerful. It could recover deleted files and retrace every action taken on the computer. Even if a file had been deleted from the recycling bin, this software could find it.

Edward just wanted to know what was on the USB drive. He put on his headphones and played the recording. After listening, his expression was unreadable. He permanently deleted the file and shut down the computer.

The next morning, Adeline woke up in Edward's room. She sat up and saw him asleep on the sofa. He was so tall, and the sofa was so narrow. He didn't look comfortable. Even in his sleep, his brow was furrowed. Adeline gently covered him with a blanket and slipped out of the room with her phone.

The moment she left, Edward woke up. He pulled the blanket to his nose and sniffed. It smelled faintly of Adeline, but the scent was already fading. He hugged the blanket tightly, as if to hold on to the fleeting fragrance.

In the afternoon, they were having lunch with Rupert at a restaurant when they ran into a client. They were familiar with him, and he came over to say hello. He started talking about the local attractions. "The most famous scenic spot here is Tidecrest Mountain. I came here this time to see it. They say the view from the top is amazing. You can see the whole city, even the ocean."

Rupert was interested. "I'd really like to see that. Edward, you'll come with me, right?"

Edward glanced at him. "Okay."

"Will Ms. Brown be joining us?" Rupert asked.

Adeline instinctively recoiled. She was about to refuse when Edward took her hand. "Come with us. You'll be bored in the room by yourself."

In the end, Adeline agreed. They set off after lunch.

Halfway up the mountain, Adeline was tired. Her leg had healed, but such strenuous exercise still had an effect. Edward noticed and squatted down in front of her. "Get on."

"I'm fine." Adeline said. "Just a little tired. I'll be fine after a rest."

Edward turned his head slightly. "Get on."

Adeline was silent for a moment, then she climbed onto his back. He carried her steadily, one step at a time. His steps were firm and slow. She didn't feel any bumps.

Rupert saw this. "When we get back, we'll have a wedding for you two."

Adeline felt a sense of disconnect. Just yesterday, Rupert had been warning her at the beach not to be with Edward.

"There's no rush for a wedding." Edward said calmly.

Adeline looked at him. He didn't turn back, just gave her a glimpse of his indifferent profile. "I'm not planning on getting married right now."

Adeline looked away.

Rupert looked at Edward in surprise, then smiled. "Okay, you don't want to get married, I won't force you. If you want to date, then date. But be mindful of the impact on the child. You're a father, after all."

"I know."

They finally reached the summit. Adeline got off Edward's back. Seeing the sweat on his forehead, she reached out and wiped it away.

Edward smiled. "Don't be afraid."

Adeline was stunned.

But Edward was already looking at Rupert, walking over to join him in admiring the vast scenery. What did he mean by that? Adeline still didn't understand. When they were setting up camp, Rupert was sitting on a nearby rock, drinking water. Adeline went over to Edward and hesitated before saying, "I'm not afraid."

"I know. You're very brave." Edward said, busy with the chicken wings.

"Then why did you say that?" Adeline asked directly. "Edward, you're being really strange today."

Edward nudged her with his elbow. "Haven't I always been like this? Don't stand here, you'll get the smell of barbecue on you."

Adeline was shooed away. She stood to the side and watched for a while, then went back to her tent.

Before she went to sleep, she peeked out of the tent. Edward was cleaning up. He must have heard her, because he looked over. "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"I'm going to sleep now. You should get some rest too." Adeline went back to her tent and got into her sleeping bag, but she couldn't sleep. The wind was strong outside, and she had a bad feeling, as if something was going to happen tonight. But what could happen? It was just her, Edward, and Rupert on the mountain. If something happened to her, the other two would be suspects. She didn't think Edward would do it, but Rupert… he wouldn't be that stupid, would he?

Night. The tent flap was gently lifted. Edward stood at the entrance, looking at Adeline's sleeping face, and sighed. Her legs and hands were outside the sleeping bag, and it was cold on the mountain.

"You can't even sleep properly." he murmured, walking over and tucking her hands and legs into the sleeping bag. He sat down beside her, looking at her peaceful face, his fingers gently stroking her cheek. He was careful not to wake her. He had thought they had all the time in the world, but it was just a fantasy. Maybe they had never had a chance, not since that accident years ago.

Adeline woke up with a start. Her heart was pounding. She put on her coat and went out of the tent. The two tents next to hers belonged to Rupert and Edward. The lights were off. They seemed to be asleep.

Adeline pulled her coat tighter and was about to go back to her tent when she saw a figure flash by in the distance. She rubbed her eyes and walked over with her phone. The sky had become overcast, and the moon and stars were gone. The small light from her phone could only barely make out the person's back. It looked like Edward, but it also looked like Rupert.

"Edward…" Adeline had just started to speak when she saw another person walk over, just as tall. She instinctively covered her mouth and hid behind a tree. The two of them seemed to be talking, but Adeline couldn't hear what they were saying. All she knew was that as they were talking, the one standing by the cliff suddenly made a move. The two of them started fighting.

Then one of them was pushed off.

Adeline gasped, but she quickly covered her mouth, not making a sound. Who pushed who? She couldn't be sure who had fallen.

Just then, there was a commotion from down the mountain. Adeline turned and was blinded by a flashlight.

"Adeline." Aaron said.

Adeline swallowed hard, her limbs stiff, her heart racing. She didn't know if Edward had pushed Rupert, or if Rupert had pushed Edward. She didn't have time to think. "Someone fell off the cliff." she blurted out.

Aaron sighed. "He really did it."

"Who? Who did it?" Adeline's heart pounded with fear.

Aaron just looked at her. "It's okay. It has nothing to do with you. You go back and get some rest. I'll take care of it." He led his bodyguards over.

How could Adeline go back at a time like this? She hurried after him. Aaron's men all had flashlights, like powerful beams of light, that gradually illuminated the cliff's edge.

And Adeline's heart sank. The person standing at the edge of the cliff was Rupert. It was obvious who had fallen.

Aaron immediately organized a team to go down and look for Edward, and at the same time had Rupert restrained.

Rupert saw this and a thoughtful look crossed his eyes. Then he suddenly smiled. "As expected of someone I trained. He's clever. He's willing to use himself as bait."

Adeline was confused, but she had no time to worry about him. All she wanted was to save Edward. She recklessly followed the search party down the mountain.

"Edward told me to take good care of you." Aaron said, trying to stop her. "Don't get involved in this."

"I'm going."

"The cliff is high, and it's not safe down there."

"I'm going."

Aaron frowned. "Why are you so stubborn? You don't listen to me, and you don't listen to Edward? Edward has already fallen. We don't know if he's alive or dead. Don't forget, you two have a daughter. You can't have something happen to you too. What about the child?"

Adeline was silent for a moment, then she said, "I have to go down."

Aaron was silent. Fine, go. They couldn't delay the rescue. He immediately led Adeline down the cliff with the rescue team. He had come prepared, with professional equipment.

"When did Edward call you?" Adeline asked before they went down.

"8 PM tonight."

Adeline tightened the rope around her and didn't ask any more questions. 8 PM was just before they had started their barbecue, right after they had reached the summit.

The cliff was high, and below was a bottomless pool of water. The further down they went, the more despair Adeline felt. From such a height, even landing in water, a person couldn't survive. The force of the fall would make the water feel like concrete.

Aaron noticed her hands were trembling. "Don't worry," he said, trying to comfort her. "Edward is tough. He won't die easily."

But no matter how tough he was, he wasn't tougher than concrete. Adeline suppressed her anxiety and started searching with the rescue team at the bottom of the cliff. They searched for nearly two hours and found nothing.

Then it started to rain. The rain would wash away any traces. The longer they took, the harder it would be to find him. But no one gave up. They searched in the rain. Adeline refused to go back. She stumbled along the edge of the pool, her mind in a daze. She almost fell in once.

Aaron was scared to death. He grabbed her arm. "Are you okay? This pool is deep. You could die if you fall in."

Adeline swallowed hard. "I'm fine. I'm just a little thirsty." The intense search and the tension, and not having had a drop of water for two hours, had left her lips chapped. Her throat burned when she swallowed.

"Go back."

"I'm not going back."

Adeline turned and continued searching. She got a bottle of water from the rescue team and took a few sips, but she felt nauseous. It took a while for her to recover. Aaron couldn't do anything with her, so he just followed her. The rescue team also didn't stop. They gradually moved into the forest.

The rain had come suddenly, and it left just as suddenly. Just as they entered the forest, the rain stopped. The ground was wet, but they could still see faint traces left before the rain. A footprint.

Aaron was the first to spot it. He immediately compared the size. It was about the same as his. And the pattern on the sole looked like a leather shoe. The kind Edward would wear. The footprint was like a shot of adrenaline, reviving everyone's flagging spirits.

Adeline stared at the footprint. Only now did she finally understand the unease and conflict she had been feeling. She stood up. "Let's follow the evidence."

Aaron looked at her. "Let's go."

They found more and more evidence, and soon they found a smoldering fire. The fire was out, but it was still smoking. So they split up to search. Adeline stumbled through the mud, calling Edward's name until her voice was hoarse.

She turned and saw a cave. The entrance was covered in thorns. In the dark, it would be easy to miss. Adeline immediately ran over. She pushed aside the thorns.

And there was Edward, lying inside.

"You're here." Edward said, forcing his eyes open. His vision was blurry. He had a fever. He had fallen from the mountain, and though a tree had broken his fall, he was still seriously injured. He had even been dragged away by a wolf. He was lucky the wolf hadn't eaten him while he was unconscious.

After saying that, he passed out.

Adeline immediately turned and shouted, "I found him! Edward is here!"

Aaron and the rescue team rushed over. They carefully lifted Edward, made a makeshift stretcher, and rushed him to the hospital.