Hiding Behind Her Superficiality

Chapter 45

Chapter 45 Take a Bet

“Fire! Fire!” someone shouted in the office, and the entire staff panicked as they rushed toward the door.

The office was on the eighth floor. Due to the fire, they couldn’t take the elevator. As the crowd stormed down the stairs, they found that the fire had spread to the fourth floor. They couldn’t see the situation ahead due to the dense smoke that spread in the stairway, which was suffocating, so they were forced to turn back.

Elspeth didn’t run down the stairs with them. Instead, she turned around and saw that Callum was standing beside her with two wet towels in his hand. “Cover your mouth with this. Don’t breathe in smoke.”

She took out her phone to call 911. Then, as she looked at the chaotic employees, she raised her voice and shouted, “Guys, calm down! Panic would do you no favors and may bring you danger. If you don’t want anything bad to happen to you, calm down and listen.”

The people raised their heads and looked at her. Although they were terrified, they chose to believe in her.

“Now, grab the towel or cloth around you, wet it, and cover your mouth and nose. Next, wet yourselves as much as possible to avoid being burned by the fire and lower your body temperature. Finally, everyone, please line up in an orderly fashion and go down slowly. Don’t rush down the stairs in a group. If the fire is too big, we’ll stop and think of other ways.”

Thanks to Elspeth’s instructions, the originally chaotic staff began to move in an orderly manner.

They were about to evacuate safely when the timid young girl in the last row panicked and lost her handkerchief when she saw the fire was burning. In an instant, she breathed in the dense smoke, rolled her eyes, and coughed violently.

Elspeth frowned and handed her towel to the girl.

“Thank you, Miss Lynwood. What about you?” The young girl gratefully covered her mouth and nose with Elspeth’s towel, but she was worried as she looked at Elspeth while covering her face with her hand.

“Don’t worry. I’m in better shape. I can pull it through.” Despite that, Elspeth obviously felt a great discomfort tickling her throat and had the urge to cough.

Callum shoved his towel into her hand and said dispassionately, “Use mine.”

She shook her head and pushed the towel back to him. “No, I don’t want the one you used.”

“I don’t want to repeat my words.” His voice was mixed with a hint of irrefutable insistence.

She pursed her lips in resignation and took his towel.

As she covered her mouth with the towel, a faint scent of mint filled her nose. It smelled like the scent of the toothpaste he often used. Oh my, I’m using his towel. Is this considered an indirect kiss?

At the thought of this, she shook her head lightly. What the hell am I thinking about at a moment like this?! Focus, Elspeth, focus!

As they walked down the stairs, she could clearly feel that Callum was walking unsteadily and couldn’t keep up with the pace.

“Hey, are you okay?”

He couldn’t speak, so he reached out and squeezed her hand, indicating that he was conscious. Before he could retract his hand, she grabbed his hand and held it tightly. Her hand was small yet slender. As her warm fingers tightly clasped his big hand, he felt inexplicably relieved.

“Come on,” Elspeth said softly. “Don’t be left behind.”

She held his hand and walked down the stairs step by step.

Under Elspeth’s practical and logical guidance, everyone successfully evacuated the building.

As soon as he walked out, Callum felt highly dizzy and slid directly onto the stone bench beside the road.

“Are you alright? Hold on. The ambulance will be here soon.”

He nodded. “I’m fine.” His voice remained steady, although a little weak.

“This fire happened so suddenly. I bet that Houston was behind this.” Elspeth’s glare turned cold and vicious when she mentioned Houston.

Callum lowered his eyes to converge the coldness on his face. “Don’t worry. When we find out the source, we will—”

Before he could finish, he felt an abrupt burst of pain in his body. The pain was so intense that he almost fainted.

When she noticed his abnormality, she looked at his back and found that there was a large burn on his shoulders. The burn wound and flesh were bloody. The clothes melted and stuck to the flesh. It was a very horrible sight.

Elspeth’s expression suddenly became serious, and she chided him in agitation, “Callum! Why didn’t you tell me that you were scalded?!” Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

He was so severely injured, yet he didn’t even say a peep and forced himself to walk out of the building.

As she looked at the wound and thought about the towel he gave her, she felt distressed and guilty.

“What’s there to say?”

“What the hell?! Have you ever taken your body seriously? Do you really think you’re invincible?”

Callum didn’t know what to say when he saw her going berserk.

Fortunately, the ambulance came just in time to defuse the intensified atmosphere between them, and he was rushed to the nearest hospital.

After the doctor examined his wound, he frowned tightly. “This is a severe burn. There is no way to fully recover, and you may have a permanent scar here. However, it will fade if you apply some ointment to it.”

Callum nodded indifferently. It wasn’t a big deal to have one more scar on his body anyway.

Elspeth looked at Callum, who was sitting on the bed, and commented seriously, “I can completely heal your scars.”

He hesitated for a moment and blurted, “You can?”

She observed the degree and size of the burns and automatically generated a treatment plan in her mind.

When the doctor heard this, the doctor couldn’t help bursting out in laughter. “Miss, I know and understand that you are eager to save your sweetheart, but you can’t bluff.”

Callum’s heart skipped a beat when he heard the word “sweetheart”.

“I’m not bluffing.” Elspeth insisted.

The doctor was taken aback and said with a hint of mockery, “No offense, but I don’t think you’ve ever practiced medicine. Even if you did, you should know that it is impossible to fix his skin according to current medical technology.”

“Doctor, just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean others can’t. You’re too narrow-minded.”

Her remarks instantly provoked the doctor’s desire to win. Thus, he sneered, “You know, you can’t take back what you’ve said.”

“Yes, I know.”

The doctor was enraged by her calm and relaxed appearance. “What an ignorant and cocky brat! How can you be so confident?!”

“If you don’t believe me, why don’t we make a bet?” Elspeth smiled politely at the doctor. “If I can’t cure him, I’ll apologize to you, but if I can cure the burn on his body…”

“If you can cure him, I’ll retire immediately,” the doctor interjected.