Chapter 285

Nathan Prescott climbed through the shattered window with Vivian Lockhart clinging to his back.

Each movement was agonizingly slow under their combined weight. His muscles screamed with the effort of maintaining his grip.

Flames licked at their heels while thick smoke choked the air around them. The inferno roared like a living beast hunting its prey.

Sweat poured down Nathan's face in rivulets, soaking through his shirt. His entire body trembled from exertion.

Veins stood out sharply on his flushed forehead. His breathing came in ragged gasps as his strength rapidly depleted.

They were suspended between the first and second floors - fire above them, concrete below.

Without Vivian's added weight, Nathan could have leaped to safety instantly. But with her precious cargo, every movement required deliberate caution.

Trapped in limbo, their options dwindled by the second.

Vivian's voice cracked with emotion. "Nathan...if you can't hold on, just jump. Save yourself!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Nathan growled through clenched teeth.

His arms shook violently as he scanned their surroundings. Finally spotting a potential escape route, he rasped, "Listen carefully - I'm putting you on that AC unit. You can climb down from there."

"But what about you? There's only room for one!" Vivian protested.

"Stop arguing!" Nathan snapped. "I can't hold on much longer with your weight."

With a final burst of strength, he maneuvered Vivian onto the narrow metal platform.

Vivian didn't hesitate. Every second counted now. She carefully lowered herself toward the ground.

Normally this descent would have been simple for someone of her athleticism. But protecting the lives growing inside her required extreme caution.

"I made it!" Vivian cried as her feet touched solid ground.

The open air provided some relief from the suffocating smoke. Flames still licked at the perimeter, but the immediate danger had lessened.

"Good! I'm right behind you!" Nathan called down.

As he prepared to jump, disaster struck. The weakened AC unit collapsed beneath him.

Nathan crashed to the ground with a sickening thud, the metal casing pinning his leg.

"Damn it!" he cursed through gritted teeth.

Vivian rushed to his side. "Come on, we're getting out of here!"

"Leave me!" Nathan commanded. "The fire's spreading too fast!"

"Shut up and help me!" Vivian countered fiercely.

She hauled him upright, their bodies swaying unsteadily as they stumbled forward.

Nathan's protests grew weaker with each step. "This is...humiliating...being rescued...by a woman..."

Through the thickening smoke, Vivian's slender frame seemed to radiate impossible strength. The sight stirred something deep in Nathan's chest.

"Save your breath!" Vivian panted. "I won't abandon you, just like you didn't abandon me! We're getting out of this together!"

As her determined words echoed in his ears, Nathan's vision darkened. Consciousness slipped away as the world faded to black.