Chapter 169



Instantly after saying these words, the fire inside the kitchen abruptly became more vigorous. Not caring how dangerous the situation was, Hayden rushed in and the people at the door unconsciously tried to stop her, but failed.

“Miss Downey…”.

Thick smoke had filled the air. Hayden yelled into the kitchen, “Stella…”.

The scene in the kitchen was chaotic. Pots and pans were smashed all over the floor. The place where the fire initially formed was the storage room. By this time, the fire had spread to the spice rack located in the middle of the two rows of burners. Smoke and sparks were swirling in all directions, this caused Hayden to gag and cough continuously.

With the vigorous flames in the center, Hayden saw a pink figure lying in the corner. Without even thinking about it, he pounced on her, took off his jacket and wrapped Stella tightly. Then he carried her in his arms and ran in the direction of the exit.

The fire was getting more and more vigorous. A wall of fire that suddenly formed almost engulfed people. Hayden felt his face burn and hurt slightly from the flames.

The moment he ran out of the kitchen, he felt he had narrowly escaped death.

Voices from outside were filtered through Hayden’s mind.

“He’s gone out.”

“Miss Downey, the ambulance has arrived.”

As he carried Stella in his arms, without another word, he hurried toward the direction pointed by a waiter in the crowd, he pointed the way to the ambulance. As he walked, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure standing in the crowd. The person looked terrified and was cowering, totally unlike the appearance he had seen before.

He had no time to think about it and rushed to the hospital with Stella.

After waiting anxiously for a long time, the doctor in charge came out of the emergency room and comforted her.

“There is nothing serious. The smoke has clogged her nose and throat, she’ll have to be hospitalized for a few days for observation.”

Hayden let out a sigh of relief, “Thank you, doctor.”

“Come in and see the girl. She’s awake now.”

“Okay.”

After watching the doctor leave, Hayden hurriedly pulled back the curtain separating the emergency room. The tiny figure was lying under the white sheet, revealing only her face, which was as gray as a small tabby kitten with a puzzled look on her face.

“Mommy…” When she saw Hayden, her eyes became clearer. But, his voice was very hoarse and he coughed as soon as he spoke.

“Mommy’s here. The doctor says you need to rest, don’t talk if it’s hard for you.”

Hayden hurried to sit by the bed and took Stella by the hand.

Stella nodded. She looked at the spot behind Hayden and after hesitating for a moment, she said diffidently in a muffled tone. “Where’s Noah?”

“He’s at the hotel. The head waiter says Noah was in the bathroom when we left. Mom didn’t have time to inform him before she came to the hospital.”

Hearing this, Stella’s eyes suddenly widened as if she wanted to say something, but she coughed violently.

“What’s wrong?” Stella was a little startled. Hayden was quick to pat her shoulder, “Don’t be anxious, Stella.”

“Mommy… ahem, ahem, ahem…”. Stella spoke intermittently, “Noah, Noah, Noah, cough cough…Noah…in the kitchen, the fire is very strong…”.

“What do you say, where’s Noah?”. Hayden’s brain exploded immensely, “In the kitchen?”.

Stella nodded and was on the verge of tears. She pushed Hayden, “Mommy, go save Noah…”.

Hayden nearly lost it. It had been almost two hours since she had rescued Stella from the fire. She didn’t dare imagine what the situation would be now if Noah had been in the kitchen all this time and hadn’t been discovered.

After getting out of the cab, he ran to the hotel. The fire truck was already doing the final work. A large number of hotel guests and staff were standing in front of the hotel. When she saw Jeff from afar, she ran to grab his arm.

“Where’s Noah?”

Jeff was startled to see Hayden’s out-of-control look. He froze for a good while before regaining his presence of mind. He stammered. “They…they sent him to the hospital.”

“What hospital?” Hayden’s tears escaped him. His miserable appearance attracted the attention of the surrounding people. In full view of everyone, her image was totally ruined as she grabbed Jeff’s arm and continued to question him like a madwoman.

Stunned, Jeff explained to her in fright. “Chief, calm down. He’s fine, little Noah had been hiding in the freezer in the kitchen. The reason they sent him to the hospital was to get him checked out. A moment ago… I called you, but you didn’t answer. Just after you carried Stella in your arms and left, Addison suddenly rushed to the scene of the fire and pulled little Noah out.”

Addison?

Hayden instantly remembered the panicked figure in the crowd as he left while carrying Stella in his arms.

“Chief, I’m sure little Noah is fine.”

Jeff thought Hayden was enormously frightened, so he continued to dwell on the situation when he saw Noah emerge from the kitchen. “There’s nothing wrong with him, except his hands and feet are cold. They’re worried about him getting a fever or a cold, they sent him to the hospital.”

Hayden finally had a weight off his shoulders. His legs grew weak and his whole being was on the verge of collapsing. He could barely keep his balance with his last bit of energy.

After calming down, he listened to Jeff talk about the fire management situation.

Fortunately, it was discovered that there were no injuries or deaths.

But the subsequent handling of public opinion would probably have big problems. After all, the safety and danger issue would cause a lot of speculation.

“Manager Duncan has gone to headquarters to debrief – what do we do now?”

Hayden wrinkled his brow. “First find a way to control news and public opinion on the Internet. Set up a meeting with the public relations department.”

The meeting had gone on all afternoon. A preliminary public opinion check and a guideline were established. It was already dark when the meeting ended.

“Let’s set up a meal for everyone first, work more in the evening to suppress public opinion first, I’ll be right back.”

Hayden closed his notebook, grabbed his wallet and headed for the hospital.

Alayna had already gone to help her take care of Stella. The person she was worried about was Noah. Although Jeff repeatedly mentioned that Noah was fine, she would still be uneasy if she didn’t see him with her own eyes.

“It’s the second room after you turn right.”

After asking for the number at the information desk, Hayden hurried to walk toward the room.

Just as he reached the door to the room, someone opened the door and stepped out. After seeing the person who opened the door inside, Hayden was stunned. “How come you’re back?”

Joseph’s tall figure blocked most of the sunlight behind him. Like a huge sculpture, his shadow could inexplicably make others feel that he was frozen.

“I should be the one to ask you, why do you come here?”.

Hayden’s face stiffened, “I just finished taking care of the hotel business and I’m here to see Noah, what’s wrong with you?”

After asking, he could see in broad strokes another thin, weak figure inside the room. She vaguely thought of something, but was unwilling to believe. She clenched her fists in secret.

Joseph grimaced.

“Where were you when Noah was inside the fire?”

“I didn’t know Noah was in there.” Hayden furrowed his eyebrows and his voice was tempered.

Perhaps before he came, Addison had already described everything backwards. Since Joseph was blinded because of the love he felt for his son, it was no wonder he had that reaction.

“Calm down. If I had known Noah was inside, how could I not save him, I…”.

“You don’t need to say anything else.” Joseph interrupted her. His attitude was cold and indifferent, “You’re Stella’s biological mother, so it’s your natural instinct to save her in a situation like this. But, you shouldn’t have left Noah behind, apparently he had already made the wrong decision before. Now, it seems you’re not suited to be Noah’s mother.

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