Chapter 20
Chapter 20:
The security guard suddenly raised his hand and added, “That reminds me, I heard some employees discussing on their way out that Nina gave Annabel a hard task, causing her to stay back after closing hour. I think she might be in there. Perhaps she was too tired and fell asleep p>
In a flash, Rupert barged into the company and went upstairs to have a look.
The security guard ran after him with a torch in his hand.
“Annabel? Annabel p>
Rupert called out several times. However, the only response he got was his own voice echoing in the hallway.
The first thing he saw when he got into the secretarial department was Annabel’s bag on a desk. He looked down and saw her feet.
Rupert squatted in a hurry, and the security guard pointed the flashlight underneath the desk.
Annabel was curled up like a fetus. Her face was deathly pale, and her sweaty body was trembling.
“Hey, Annabel? Annabel?” Rupert called, holding her in his arms and gently patting her face. “What’s wrong with you? Are you hurt p>
Still shaking with her eyes closed, Annabel murmured, “It’s so dark… I’m scared. Don’t leave me… Don’t go p>
Dark. It turned out she was scared of the dark.
Rupert’s heart softened at this realization. As he looked at Annabel’s face, he recalled the little girl who had huddled beside him with a pale face years ago. A sense of pity brewed in his heart.
Holding her hand, Rupert said, “Don’t be scared. I’m here now. It’s all right. I’ll take you home p>
His assuring words worked like magic. Annabel stopped shaking. She kept mumbling, but Rupert couldn’t make out what she was saying. He just stood upright with her in his arms.
“I’ll never leave you. You are safe now. Don’t be scared, okay p>
He continued to comfort her on the way out.
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Rupert gently put her in the passenger seat. When he tried to fasten the seatbelt for her, he saw that she was gripping his shirt with both hands.
The woman in front of him was totally different from the one who had told him off yesterday. His heart ached to see her like this.
Rupert blamed himself for not coming sooner. If he had saved her number when Bruce sent it to him, he would have rescued her earlier.
Anyway, it was better late than never. He couldn’t even bear to think of what would have happened to her if she had stayed in the dark the whole night.
Rupert drove home at high speed and carried Annabel to her bedroom. He wiped the sweat from her forehead with a wet towel and then tucked her in.
Just as he turned to leave, a hand grasped his pants.
He turned around, only to find that Annabel’s eyebrows were knitted as she slept uneasily. Her face was still a little pale.
He tried to loosen her grip, but she caught his hand instead.
“Don’t go… stay with me, please p>
Her voice was shaky, not indifferent like it usually was. It was like that of a child who needed to be comforted.
Suddenly, Rupert imagined Annabel’s face changing into that of the little girl. He blinked several times.
From the first day he saw Annabel, he had felt that she bore a striking resemblance to that girl. The feeling was even stronger now.