Three Years Forgotten, Why Go Crazy When I Say Goodbye? novel Chapter 476

Faced with this overwhelming scene, the most terrified person of all was undeniably Vivienne.

When she plotted this, she never imagined it would trigger a localized apocalypse.

In her mind, Willow was just a nobody employee at Merit Biotech. Even if she was sleeping with Arthur Vance, she posed zero threat. After all, Arthur was just a high-paid corporate lackey.

Besides, even if the kidnapping went off, she assumed Merit would just send a couple of people to do a token search. People went missing in these remote mountains during storms every single year.

Vivienne had even mapped out the ideal aftermath. The best-case scenario: Willow vanished off the face of the earth, never to return and ruin her life again.

The backup plan: Even if she miraculously survived and returned, her reputation would be dragged through the mud. A massive corporation like Merit Biotech hated bad PR. They would undoubtedly fire Willow to save face.

But before she could even pop a bottle of champagne, the reality unfolding before her eyes utterly shattered her delusions.

This wasn't a standard search party. This was a full-scale military-grade invasion.

A fleet of private helicopters locked down the airspace, their sweeping searchlights slicing through the pitch-black night, turning the jagged valleys as bright as day. Amphibious and ground tactical teams were fully mobilized, while a convoy of luxury SUVs snaked up the winding mountain roads. It looked like every law enforcement officer and rescue vehicle in a hundred-mile radius had been drafted.

Watching this cinematic display of power, Vivienne felt a cold sweat drench her spine.

They were absolutely hell-bent on saving Willow, no matter the cost.

Willow stepped forward, running her fingers over a faint sliver of light filtering through a crack in the rock, then glanced down at the shallow water trails on the ground. She immediately formulated a plan. "Don't panic. There's a logic to this."

"After a massive downpour, the runoff always flows downhill. Wherever the water goes, it's bound to lead to an opening, an exit connecting to the outside."

Using the subtle environmental clues, Willow bypassed the suffocating dead ends. She navigated with precision, following the faintest glow of light on the walls and the continuous trickle of water at their feet. Her pace was steady and unhurried; every judgment she made was dead-on, entirely devoid of the frantic panic of blind guessing.

Leo stuck close behind her. Watching her deduce their way out with nothing but water trails and ambient light, the tight knot in his chest dissolved, replaced by absolute awe.

Within minutes, the claustrophobic tunnel suddenly widened. A rush of cool night air and sweeping illumination slammed into them. The sealed mouth of the cave lay open right before their eyes.