Chapter 129 Life and Death on the Line
Grant's forehead burned with pain.
But his first reaction was to check on Amelia.
"Amelia, are you okay!"
Amelia shook her head.
She had grabbed the door handle in time, so she hadn't hit anything.
"Grant, how are you?"
"I'm fine, just scraped a bit of skin, nothing serious."
Amelia nodded. "When we get back, I'll get some ointment for you."
Holden, in the driver's seat, turned around apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Richardson, Ms. Richardson. The car in front braked suddenly, and I was afraid we'd hit it, so I braked too. It's my fault for not keeping enough distance."
"It's not your fault. This is the fast lane - it's the car in front that's the problem."
As she spoke, she looked ahead.
She noticed it wasn't just one car that had stopped - there were more than ten cars.
Both lanes were blocked, and they couldn't get through.
"Come on, let's go see."
Amelia opened the car door and got out, wanting to know what had happened up ahead.
Grant quickly followed.
At that moment, the wind and rain picked up again.
Amelia walked through the wind and rain to the front.
She saw more than ten cars in a chain collision up ahead. A typhoon had knocked down a large tree by the roadside, and the first car was trapped under it.
The cars behind couldn't brake in time and crashed into each other one after another.
It was only because Holden reacted quickly that they didn't join the pile-up.
Grant patted his chest in relief. "Thank goodness Holden was driving. If it had been me, we'd definitely have crashed."
His driving skills were pretty average.
Otherwise, after picking up Amelia in the countryside and seeing how fast she drove, he wouldn't have screamed so much that Amelia knocked him out.
To this day, he still thought he'd fainted from fear.
Amelia wasn't really listening to what Grant was saying, because her attention was on the car at the very front, crushed under the tree.
Through the wind, Amelia smelled a burning odor in the air.
"Amelia, let's go back and wait in the car to avoid the rain. When it lets up, we can cross over and get a taxi home. We'll let Holden stay here and wait for the traffic police to clear the road."
Amelia stood still, her eyes still fixed on the fallen tree.
"Amelia?" Grant waved his hand in front of her face, wondering what she was staring at.
Amelia raised her hand and pointed ahead.
"That car might catch fire."
Grant was startled but quickly calmed down.
"It's okay, the people in the car should have gotten out already."
But then someone shouted: "Help! There's still someone in the car!"
Amelia frowned, and her feet moved before her brain, running forward.
She added, "You get in the car first."
How could Grant get in the car alone?
Without hesitation, he immediately chased after her.
But he wasn't as fast as Amelia, who quickly left him far behind.
By the front car, many people got out to check the situation as the driver shouted.
But after just one look, they returned to their cars.
The wind and rain were too strong, and the onlookers figured the traffic police would handle it - they didn't need to help.
But Amelia didn't hesitate at all, running against the crowd toward the car.
It was an electric car.
Amelia saw the Crawford Group's logo.
She recognized it as the Crawford Group's first-generation electric car. Grant had been called in to design the second generation.
The Crawford Group planned to promote electric cars more aggressively this year.
But after just a glance, Amelia stopped caring what kind of car it was.
She saw the car door open with a woman trapped inside. The driver alone couldn't pull her out.
Amelia smelled an even stronger odor.
She rushed forward in a few steps to help pull the person out.
"Thank you, thank you..."
The driver thanked her while pulling.
Amelia said nothing, just kept pulling with all her strength.
The woman screamed in pain.
Her seat was right where the tree had hit, and the roof was severely deformed, caving inward.
That's what had trapped the woman.
"It hurts!"
The driver was too scared to keep pulling.
But Amelia didn't stop.
She stared at the back of the woman's head and said, "Bear with it. The car might catch fire, and then you'll be burned to a crisp in less than a minute."
Electric cars burn very quickly once they catch fire.
The woman seemed frightened and stopped crying out in pain, just kept gasping for breath.
But after pulling for a while, they'd only moved her out a tiny bit.
Amelia got a clear look at the woman's face.
It was the mother of the little boy who had collapsed that day.
The woman also saw Amelia, with obvious surprise in her eyes.
But the surprise lasted only a few seconds before being interrupted by flames from under the car.
The car was on fire.
"Quick! Run!"
Drivers from the cars behind kept shouting toward them.
If they didn't run now, they'd be in trouble too.
Grant ran over at that moment.
But when he tried to rush over to help, bystanders held him back.
"You can't go! The car might explode!"
"Let me go!"
"You can't go!"
Grant was physically restrained. No matter how he struggled, the people around him wouldn't let him go.
They were afraid of more casualties.
At that moment, the driver also became afraid, let go of the woman's hand, and backed away several steps.
Amelia turned her head and glared at the driver. "Why are you running? We're almost there - come help!"
But instead of coming forward, the driver backed away even further.
"I'm sorry, I have a family to take care of."
He kept backing away as he spoke.
Soon, he was far from the car.
The woman started crying.
She had a feeling she might die here today.
"Don't worry about me, just go!"
This girl had saved her son's life - she didn't want to drag her savior down with her.
"Stop talking! Hold on. I'll count to three, then pull hard. It's going to hurt."
The woman cried but said nothing.
Amelia began counting down: "Three, two..."
Just then, a tall figure suddenly appeared and grabbed the woman's other hand.
Amelia instinctively looked to the side.
She saw Samuel.
His chiseled, handsome face was now covered with rain, looking somewhat disheveled.
"Stop spacing out. Pull together."
Samuel's words brought her back.
She nodded and started counting again: "Three, two, one! Pull!"
With a scream and a thud, the woman was pulled out.
Her back was covered in blood.
Samuel immediately lifted her up and put her on his back.
"Run!"
Amelia didn't hesitate and took off running backward.
Just then, flames shot up from inside the car, followed by an explosion.
The car door was blown off, flew into the air, and landed in the landscaping.
Fortunately, neither Amelia nor Samuel was hurt.
They had run away five seconds before the explosion.
Everyone looked at the burning car, their hearts filled with fear.
Good thing they'd sensed something was wrong and backed away earlier, or if that car door had hit them, they'd be dead or seriously injured.
The traffic police arrived at that moment.
His car couldn't get through, so he came on a motorcycle.
Samuel had Amelia help look after the woman while he went to talk to the police.
Soon, Jeremy also arrived with several people.
Samuel wasn't someone who meddled in others' business - why would he negotiate with the traffic police on behalf of the injured woman?
As she wondered, Grant ran over.
"Amelia! You're not hurt, are you? I wanted to help, but they stopped me."
She paused, then added: "Don't worry, I'm fine."
Grant wanted to say more, but Amelia had already gone to check the woman's injuries.
Although there was a lot of blood, they were all surface wounds, nothing serious.
"After you go to the hospital, have them give you a tetanus shot, just to be safe."
The woman thanked her through tears.
"Ma'am, I owe you again."
Amelia shook her head. "It was nothing."
"Last time you said it was nothing, but this time you must accept my check." Without waiting for a response, the woman pressed a five million dollar check into Amelia's hand.
Five million dollars was a lot, but compared to her and her son's lives, it wasn't much.
Amelia didn't need money and pushed the check back.
"You keep it. My family has money."
Before the woman could speak again, Amelia asked about her son.
"How is your son?"
"He was discharged today. I was on my way to pick him up when this happened."
She sighed while also feeling grateful that she'd been on her way there; otherwise, her son would have been in the accident too.
Amelia consoled her: "After the storm comes the rainbow. You and your son are both blessed by God."
"We survived because we met you. Ma'am, you're our lucky star. If you don't mind, I'd like to be friends with you."
The woman took out her phone, wanting to exchange contact information with Amelia.
Amelia had to agree.
After saving the phone number, the woman asked: "Where do you live? After the typhoon passes, I want to bring my son to thank you in person."
Before Amelia could refuse, the woman added: "My son has been wanting to meet you. He says he wants to thank you himself."
Since the little boy had said that, Amelia couldn't refuse and told her the address.
The Richardson Manor was quite famous.
The woman listened, momentarily stunned, and asked: "Is your father Quinton?"
Now it was Amelia's turn to be surprised.
"You know him?"
"Not really... I've just heard of him."
The woman seemed hesitant to say more, and Amelia didn't press.
The traffic police arrived at that moment, needing the woman to cooperate with certain procedures.
The woman waved to Amelia.
"Ms. Richardson, see you another day."
Amelia nodded and left with Grant.
Holden didn't know what had happened up ahead.
The distance was too far - he only knew there was a fire with black smoke rising.
Seeing them return, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"I think I heard an explosion just now..."
Amelia nodded but didn't mention what had just happened, only saying: "The car at the front caught fire."
Holden's expression immediately became serious.
"It's not very safe here. Ms. Richardson and Mr. Richardson, you should cross over to the other lane and get a taxi home. I'll stay here."
"Okay."
The two didn't argue and were about to get out when a tall figure appeared beside the car.