CHAPTER 236: CHAPTER 236: ALREADY DEAD INSIDE

Mr. Miller’s words made all the workers, including the foreman, nod in agreement.

In the middle of the night, with thunderstorms pouring down, they wouldn’t be willing to leave their warm beds to get drenched at this godforsaken construction site if it weren’t Caleb Lockwood and the orders from the management.

Caleb Lockwood remained silent for a moment, then signaled the bodyguards, who didn’t dare move, to get some rain gear.

Next, he pushed the umbrella in front of him towards Mr. Miller.

"President Lockwood?"

"I’m fine."

Caleb Lockwood, soaked in rain, took a step and walked around the construction site again.

His face was cold as ice, looking no different from usual.

But Caleb Lockwood’s pace was getting faster and faster, even Mr. Miller couldn’t keep up.

He could clearly feel Caleb Lockwood’s inner anxiety and urgency...

And fear.

Mr. Miller was also worried.

By now, Serena Jennings had been missing for nearly a day and a night.

Upon learning of Serena Jennings’s disappearance, Ethan White, Lana Xavier, Peter, and Ian Blackwood either personally or sent numerous personnel to search the places she might have gone.

Currently, the surveillance only captured Serena Jennings leaving the Cultural and Creative Park by car, but the footage after that was damaged by the thunderstorm, requiring time to repair, and there’s no guarantee it can be fully restored.

The only clue is indeed this construction site.

But Mr. Miller’s primary job was to ensure Caleb Lockwood’s safety.

Staying at a construction site during a thunderstorm in the middle of the night is certainly not safe.

"President Lockwood..."

Mr. Miller accompanied Caleb Lockwood to rows of containers.

Beyond this point, it’s a dead end.

Caleb Lockwood was already soaking wet, Mr. Miller felt for him, so he offered his umbrella over Caleb Lockwood’s head even if Caleb didn’t want it.

"President Lockwood, you must head back. Staying like this will get you sick."

Caleb Lockwood also understood that staying here was futile.

Even though all the lights were on at the construction site, visibility was still poor during the heavy rain.

Perhaps...

He should give up.

Serena might really not be here.

He was indeed no more professional than the police.

Rationality told Caleb Lockwood this.

However...

Caleb Lockwood stood unmoving in the rain, standing on the site.

The rain-drenched suit and shirt clung to his freezing body, accelerating the loss of body heat.

If he doesn’t find Serena tonight...

Just the thought of this contingency filled Caleb Lockwood with unease and dread.

"Keep searching."

Caleb Lockwood barely moved his lips, which were turning purple.

"President Lockwood..."

"Keep searching."

Caleb Lockwood repeated the words.

He couldn’t allow himself not to find Serena tonight.

Mr. Miller no longer dissuaded him.

When Caleb Lockwood repeated something twice, it wasn’t just a statement but an absolute command.

As Caleb Lockwood was about to turn around, he caught a glimpse of something in the corner of the container.

His steps paused.

Mr. Miller saw Caleb Lockwood bend down, seemingly trying to pick something up from the puddle in the corner of the container.

He didn’t manage to retrieve it the first time.

Because it was stuck.

Pressed under the container, with only a small part visible.

Caleb Lockwood tried twice, and finally pulled out the exposed part with force.

Mr. Miller drew closer and saw that in Caleb Lockwood’s palm was a heap of plastic beads.

He wiped the rain from his eyes, observed carefully, and thought these plastic beads were broken, as they might’ve formed some shape when intact.

Caleb Lockwood stared at the plastic beads in his palm, his eyes growing wider.

"Open these containers!"

Caleb Lockwood’s urgent shout cut through the pouring rain.

Everyone was startled, and they heard Caleb Lockwood change his tune:

"No, move these containers, quickly!"

The thunderstorm grew more intense.

The night got darker.

As if the next day would never come.

Serena once feared the dark.

And was scared of the sound of doors closing.

A slightly heavy closing sound could make her tremble all over.

At thirteen, she was sent to the juvenile detention center in City A without judicial procedures, under charges of "intentional harm".

Less than a week into the center, she was put in the confinement cell for arguing with an instructor.

The confinement cell was different from other classrooms, not even located in the regular school building.

Serena still remembers that confinement cell was triangle-shaped.

With just one vent too small to reach through.

A small bulb never lit up.

The walls were full of peeling paint and moldy spots, with stains of unknown bodily waste or vomit.

There was nowhere to rest in the confinement room, not even a bench, let alone a bed.

Just a plastic bucket as a toilet.

In the depths of winter, there was no heating, and Serena was so cold her limbs went numb, curling up into a ball.

But the cold wasn’t the scariest part.

Being in a dark, cramped environment for an extended time with no airflow, only hearing her heartbeat like a drum, nausea and dizziness repeatedly made Serena’s stomach acid rise.

She couldn’t tell day from night.

In the confinement room, devoid of any concepts of time or space, Serena sometimes even hallucinated—

She wondered if she had already died inside.

Died in the coffin called the confinement cell.

Still able to think because she turned into a ghost.

Suffocation, panic, despair...

Near a large iron door of an abandoned power distribution room, Serena, on the verge of fainting, seemed to be back in the juvenile center.

Her face was pale, lips bluish, breath weak.

Even hearing the jarring sound of metal scraping, she dared not believe it wasn’t just her imagination.

Because she had heard it many times before.

Hopeful someone would finally open the door and let her out, only to be met with more disappointment.

Over and over, over and over...

Until her numbed body felt warmth.

That was the temperature of a living person.

The rain stopped, night cleared, and surprisingly, stars were visible.

Mr. Miller was stunned when he saw Caleb Lockwood emerge from the basement carrying Serena.

He was not only shocked that Serena was indeed here but even more astonished that Caleb Lockwood took off all his clothes.

Caleb Lockwood’s suit was drenched, both the suit and shirt soaked through.

Unable to warm the frozen Serena with his own clothes, he simply removed his upper garments to warm her with his body heat.

Serena’s eyes were closed, her face still pale without color.

But incredibly, she regained some awareness.

She felt she was being held in someone’s arms.

The warmth and breath were unmistakably familiar to her.

"President Lockwood!"

Mr. Miller rushed back to the car to fetch a spare suit for Caleb Lockwood.

But Caleb Lockwood didn’t care about his bare chest.

He carried Serena swiftly toward his car, the white Lexus’s headlights illuminating his silhouette.

"Serena!"

Ethan White and Lana Xavier got out of the car and saw Serena in Caleb Lockwood’s arms.

Ethan immediately pulled out a blanket from the car, and he and Lana hastily transferred Serena from Caleb Lockwood’s embrace.

Caleb Lockwood watched as Ethan White and Lana Xavier wrapped Serena in the blanket, placed her in the car, and the white Lexus sped away.