Chapter 224 In This Moment, Fate's Circle Closes
"Sir!"
Mark's eyes were red as he tore off his jacket to beat out the flames on Alexander's body. Together with a firefighter, he desperately dragged him out of the fire.
The ambulance was already waiting.
After a bumpy ride, Alexander regained a trace of consciousness as he was being lifted onto the stretcher.
He opened his eyes slightly, red from the smoke, and through his blurred vision saw Mark's anxious face.
He moved his lips and spoke hoarsely, "Why... did you... save me..."
Why save him?
Wouldn't it be better to let him disappear along with that sinful cage?
Mark gripped his hand tightly, tears streaming down his face. "Sir! Please! Don't do this! Mrs. Hamilton is already gone, you can't... If you torture yourself like this, if she's watching from above, she'll be heartbroken! Please, sir, for her sake, you have to live!"
For Caroline?
Alexander's lips twitched, wanting to laugh.
If she was watching from above, she probably wished she could strangle him with her own hands.
Heartbroken? She would only feel satisfied, feel he got what he deserved.
Then why wasn't he dead yet?
He suddenly yanked out the IV needle from the back of his hand, pushed away the nurse treating his wounds, and stumbled to roll off the gurney.
"Sir! What are you doing!" Mark and the medical staff rushed to hold him down.
"Let... go... of me..." Alexander rasped. "Let me... go..."
"You can't move! You need treatment!" The doctor tried to restrain Alexander.
Alexander found strength from somewhere, violently pushed everyone away, and staggered toward his car.
"Sir! Don't!" Mark shouted hoarsely, rushing over to pound on the car window.
Alexander slammed his foot on the gas pedal, and the car shot forward.
"Quick! Follow him! Notify everyone, we have to find him! Quick!"
Mark jumped into another car and floored it in pursuit.
Alexander weaved recklessly through traffic and soon lost Mark and his team.
"We lost him!" came a report through the earpiece.
Mark slammed his fist hard on the steering wheel.
"Track him! Get his location! Quick!"
Night fell quickly, and at some point, dark clouds covered the sky, blocking out all the starlight.
Alexander dragged his injured leg, limping into the forest.
It had been a night just like this, just like tonight, with no starlight, a storm approaching.
He had once thrown Caroline, barely out of the fire and covered in wounds, into the depths of this forest where wild beasts supposedly roamed.
"As long as you don't die, anything goes."
That's what he had said then.
Now, he was here.
He crashed through the forest like a man possessed.
He waited for those legendary ferocious beasts, waited to be bitten, torn apart, and devoured by sharp teeth.
But there was nothing.
Nothing at all.
Enduring severe pain, he deliberately made loud noises and used stones to reopen his barely healed wounds, making the smell of blood stronger.
But still no beasts appeared.
Why?
He remembered when his men reported back, they clearly said there were signs of wild beasts in the forest.
But now, covered in blood and wounds, having walked for so long, he hadn't even seen a rabbit.
A terrible thought suddenly emerged.
What if there had never been any wild beasts in this abandoned maze forest?
The beasts that appeared that night were deliberately released by someone.
It was Celeste!
Only she had the motive and ability to escalate things beyond the punishment he had sanctioned!
She wanted to kill Caroline. She wanted Caroline to leave no body behind!
And he, this fool who thought he loved Edith deeply and wanted revenge for her, had become her perfect accomplice.
Alexander laughed bitterly at himself.
"Caroline... Caroline... I... I'm such a fucking monster... worse than a beast..."
He laughed and cried at the same time, stumbling forward.
If not for her luck, if not for meeting Daniel, Caroline would have died long ago, killed by his own hands!
What... how much evil had he done to her?
"Ah!"
Alexander roared, his body swaying.
He staggered a few steps, then suddenly stepped into a trap and fell, losing his balance.
The moment his body hit the ground, a sharp pain shot through his right leg.
"Ugh!" Alexander's face instantly turned pale.
He tried to sit up but couldn't move.
His left leg was broken.
Was this... retribution?
Alexander lay at the bottom of the pit and suddenly laughed.
Yes, retribution.
When he had his men throw the injured Caroline into the forest, Caroline had fallen into just such a trap and broken her leg.
Now he was here too, even the same leg broken, in the same position.
A thunderclap suddenly exploded overhead.
Then strong winds rose, and raindrops pounded down.
Just like that night, a torrential downpour began.
Rainwater quickly gathered, flowing down the pit walls. Water began accumulating at the bottom, gradually rising over Alexander's body.
Alexander closed his eyes, feeling the icy water rise past his chest, neck, chin...
Then he lost consciousness.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in a hospital.
He had been saved again.
Alexander closed his eyes, unable to even manage a bitter smile.
Wouldn't they even let him die?
"Surprised you're not dead yet?"
A familiar voice suddenly spoke nearby.
Alexander stiffly turned his head.
By the bed stood a man.
He had an extremely handsome face, but his left cheek bore deep, penetrating scars that cruelly tore through his handsomeness.
It was Daniel.
Caroline's geologist friend, who had twice saved Caroline from the brink of death, the man he had nearly forced Caroline to kill.
Fate had come full circle at this moment.
Alexander had set a fire, escaped from the flames, rushed into the forest, fell into a trap, nearly drowned, and in the end, just like Caroline, was also saved by Daniel.
Daniel held a glass of water, limping over.
"Drink. You're severely dehydrated. If you really kill yourself, that would truly be letting Caroline down."
Alexander looked at him without moving.
"What? Mr. Hamilton, do you need someone to help you drink water?"
Daniel's lips twisted. "Or do you think water touched by a lowly geologist like me isn't good enough for someone as important as you?"
Alexander continued to look at him silently, his eyes empty.
Daniel stared back for a few seconds, then suddenly slammed the water glass on the bedside table and grabbed Alexander by the collar.
"Alexander, listen to me carefully. You want to die? Fine. But not now, and not this easily!"
"Caroline was tortured by you for five years, five whole years!"
"She survived it all! She was in so much pain, so much despair, but she held on for five years, until finally... finally she couldn't take it anymore!"
Daniel's eyes reddened.
"So what gives you the right? What gives you the right to act all remorseful and loving after driving her to death, and then just die and escape the pain? What gives you the right to die so easily?!"