Chapter 218
Chapter 218 She Was About to Turn Eighteen
After hanging up, the men exchanged looks with each other and their gazes met for a short moment. However, they separated and left soon after that. As for Elise and Alexander, who were stuck in the burning building, they felt quite suffocated by the billowing smoke.
Elise was significantly affected and she started to feel her world spinning in front of her. Though they were safe from the flames at the moment, the amount of carbon monoxide that they had taken in was significant too.
"Hang in there! I'm about to break this door!" Alexander practically used all of his might to smash the door while comforting Elise at the same time.
However, in the next instance, she felt quite weak and collapsed to the ground in a heap.
Just then, Alexander was so frantic that he managed to kick open the door with all of his might. Then, he rushed out of the burning building with Elise in his arms.
Upon regaining consciousness once again, Elise found a snowy-white environment in front of her eyes. The smell of antiseptic was a strong reminder to her that she was currently alive.
She frowned slightly and moved her elbows slightly. She was just about to get up when both of her hands were suddenly held tightly in place.
"Don't move. You just woke up but you need more rest."
She lifted her head and suddenly became aware of Alexander's presence next to her. He looked quite haggard just then.
"Are you fine? I thought we were in the fiery building earlier?"
He quickly comforted her, "It's alright. Everything's fine. We're safe now."
Upon hearing that, Elise heaved a sigh of relief but at the same time, she found it quite strange. "Why did the place catch fire all of a sudden?"
At her words, Elise realized that Alexander's expression had darkened significantly, which was why she pressed on, "Did someone intentionally set the place on fire? Don't keep things from me. I heard footsteps outside last night."
Indeed, Alexander had intended to keep this from Elise to avoid her from fretting about it. At that point, however, he had to tell her the truth. "Yes, you're right. It was arson. This didn't happen by chance. This is attempted murder and the police are involved, so they will figure out who is the perpetrator. I'm quite sure that we will get the results soon enough, so don't worry too much about it. Your main priority right now is to rest and allow your body to recover from this ordeal."
Despite his words, Elise felt that this incident was perhaps not as simple as it seemed. Arson was a criminal offense, after all. However, Alexander seemed quite reluctant to continue this topic, so she ended up keeping her words to herself.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Shortly after that, Brendan walked into the room with a somber expression.
He had his work cut out for him following the fiery destruction of his office. After all, all of the work designs were burned to a crisp and there were quite a few urgent contracts ongoing, so he was quite burdened at the moment. However, he couldn't seem to focus on anything else right now.
"Alexander, Elise."
Upon hearing that, Alexander lifted his head and shot Brendan a look. They had a strong brotherly bond, which was they mutually understood each other with just a single look.
Just then, Brendan pursed his lips and spoke up "Alexander, the men who set the fire have been identified and the police are working hard to capture them. However, the person behind all of this..."
At that point, he seemed to become quite cautious.
On the other hand, Alexander directly instructed, "I don't care who it is. I won't budge on this at all! Just think about it-if Elise and I hadn't been lucky enough to escape from the place, can you imagine the consequences?"
Regardless, the answer was quite evident.
At that point, Brendan fully understood his words. "I understand, Alexander. I'll definitely deal with this properly; I won't let the perpetrator find a way out and get away with this."
As he spoke, he looked toward Elise. "Elise, take a good rest. I'll be more at ease with Alexander here by your side. I've got something else to attend to, so I'll be on my way now."
Elise, however, didn't quite understand the conversation between the two siblings but she asked anyway, "There's really no need to hide anything from me. You can be frank. After all, I'm one of the victims so I have the right to know too."
Upon hearing that, Brendan couldn't quite figure out how to put it in words and he glanced at Alexander.
Meanwhile, Alexander reached out and held Elise's hands tightly in his. "It was Ashlyn. She was the one who instructed those men to set the place on fire."
Elise's expression darkened instantly when she heard the name. "It's her again!" She gritted her teeth as she spit out those words and she silently clenched her fists tightly. This time, I won't give her a chance to get away with it! She must pay for this!
"How do you plan to deal with this?"
Elise asked in a cold voice, to which Alexander replied definitively, "Of course we'll hand it over to the police. Arson is a criminal offense, so she won't be able to get away from imprisonment." Nonetheless, Elise was not content with merely such an outcome.
"What if I can get hold of some more incriminating evidence on her? Does that mean we can put her behind bars for good?"
Unbeknownst to Elise, her suggestion was exactly the same as Brendan and Alexander's actual intentions. In fact, they had intended to collect more evidence on Ashlyn so that she could be put behind bars longer.
"Elise, you can hand me any evidence that you have. I won't let you down and I'll make sure that she rots in prison."
However, she calmly responded, "I'll hand you the evidence later. This time, I won't give her a chance to get away with this!"
Elise meant what she said and this was the first time ever that she was so serious about something. As soon as Brendan and Alexander left the room, she immediately dialed Jamie's number.
On the other end of the line, Jamie was hopping mad when he heard what had taken place. "What?! Boss, did that b*tch actually do that?! Are you alright? How are you feeling right now?"
"I'm fine. You just need to follow my instructions and collect incriminating evidence on her. Then, send all the information to the police."
Upon hearing that, Jamie reassured her, "Don't worry, Boss! I'll definitely teach her a lesson!"
As he was still quite enraged after hanging up the phone, he quickly started uncovering evidence on Ashlyn.
Meanwhile, Brendan suddenly found himself exceptionally busy after his office was destroyed by the fire. He had a lot of prior contracts to handle and finish off properly, so work came to a standstill for the time being.
As for Elise, though she experienced some minor carbon monoxide poisoning, it was fortunate that she had been sent to the hospital in time. Hence, she was fit to be discharged after staying at the hospital for a couple of days, with Alexander by her side of course.
The next time she heard the news of Ashlyn was from the newspapers. 'Ashlyn Lawson from the Lawson Group has been taken into custody under the suspicion of an attempted murder offense.' Meanwhile, Elise nonchalantly glanced at the heading but she didn't even bat an eyelid.
After being discharged from the hospital, Alexander sent Elise back to school.
"Don't worry about handing in your draft to Brendan for the time being. He's not in a rush for it. You should pay more attention to your studies, though. It's nearly time for your final exams."
Just then, Elise smiled impishly and stuck her tongue out. "Alright, alright! Why do I get the feeling that you're becoming more and more long-winded with each passing day?"
She spoke while she unbuckled her seatbelt. "You don't need to come pick me up after school. I'll go back with Danny."
Alexander affirmed with a grunt and watched on as she walked off. Then, he drove off slowly. Although they didn't get to spend too much time together lately, they were evidently closer than before. Just then, Alexander casually swept a look at the calendar in his car, and he recalled that Elise was about to turn eighteen soon.