Chapter 345

The loud wail of an ambulance filled the air. "Mr. Flynn! The ambulance is here!" The paramedics hurried to Yvette, providing life-saving aid before gently placing her on a stretcher. Yvette was injured; her condition was unknown. Josiah knew he shouldn't leave her, but he had no choice. Frantically, he grabbed his phone and dialed Howard. "Howard, I need your help."

After hanging up, Josiah turned to James. "To the dock!"

"Got it, Mr. Flynn!"

As soon as he was in the car, Josiah called Zach. "Zach, Sienna—"

"Mr. Flynn!" Zach's anxious voice interrupted. "The cargo dock is on fire! The flames are enormous! We can't get near!"

"On fire! How could that be? Andy!" Anger flared in Josiah's eyes, his jaw tightening. His heart pounded with frustration. "What about the firemen? Haven't they arrived?"

"They're here!" Zach replied. "The firefighters are trying to put out the flames at the cargo hold! Once the fire dies down, we'll rush in!"

"Wait? Can Sienna afford to wait?" Josiah's determination hardened. He frowned, piecing together his thoughts. Andy had said Yvette was at the cargo dock, while Sienna was at Emerald Ridge—one in the city's eastern district, the other in the west. He was certain he hadn't misheard, but now wondered if Andy had been mistaken.

The east dock blazed fiercely. "Hello! Is anyone there?" Sienna shouted, desperation lacing her voice. She grabbed a chair and struck the steel door with all her might, but it wouldn't budge.

"What can I do? Am I really going to die here?" Fear gripped her. Though she couldn't see the flames, thick smoke seeped through the cracks.

Her throat burned. With each cry, her strength ebbed as the smoke suffocated her. She slumped against the door, falling to the floor, gasping for air. Heat and lack of oxygen clouded her vision, turning everything red. In despair, Sienna closed her eyes, fearing she wouldn't survive.

She recalled fleeting moments of happiness as a little girl, surrounded by loving parents. But those joys were short-lived; her father's betrayal and her mother's early death shattered her world. Her grandfather died of grief, and though her grandmother was old, she raised her. Then came the day she lost her grandmother. The Flynn family took her in, but she always felt like an outsider, enduring their poor treatment without complaint. Her grandmother had instilled in her the importance of gratitude.

"So tired…" Sienna whispered, her eyes still closed. Twenty years of hardship weighed heavily on her. "Maybe leaving this world could be freeing," she thought. "Perhaps Heaven would be kind to me."

Suddenly, a loud crash jolted her awake. Firelight poured through a gaping hole in the iron door, the frame warped. That light, once a symbol of the end, now sparked a flicker of hope. "Joyce, Joyce!" Sienna called out her daughter's name, tears streaming down her face. She felt unloved, her life filled with struggles, but she couldn't allow herself to die. "What will happen to Joyce?" she thought. "If I were gone, my daughter would face the same tragic fate. Joyce is still so young…"

She couldn't let Joyce suffer as she had. She had to survive. As a mother, she couldn't afford to be selfish and die alone.

"Joyce, Joyce…" Sienna repeated, finding comfort in her daughter's name. Weakened, she crawled toward the gap, trying to pry it open. "Joyce, Joyce…" Fresh tears streamed down her face, but it was no use. Even weakened, the door was too much for her to open alone.

Sienna cried out, "Joyce, Joyce…" Despite her best efforts, she couldn't move the door. Her delicate fingers dug into the gap, her nails cracking, and blood seeped through. Soon, her fingertips were cut, and blood ran down her hands. "Joyce, Joyce…"

Outside, Cedric arrived to find firefighters battling the blaze and had sealed off the area. "Do not enter! The rescued people are by the ambulances; some have been taken to the hospital; you can ask there!"

Cedric rushed to check, but found no mention of Sienna's name and didn't see her among the ambulances. She was still inside. The firefighters wouldn't let him through.

Frowning, Cedric considered the cargo dock, which he knew well, as his family rented it. With the front blocked, he devised another route. He headed to the southeast corner, grabbed a wet blanket from his car, and dashed in. He braced for the worst, worried he wouldn't find Sienna. The cargo dock was enormous.

He had seen Sienna taken away; he couldn't stand idly by. If there was a chance, he had to try. That small hope might become a real chance for Sienna's survival.

Cedric plunged into the darkness, weaving through flames. Water poured down from above as firefighters fought the blaze. The flames had lessened somewhat. In the thickening smoke, Cedric quickly became drenched.

"Sienna! Sienna!" He lifted the blanket occasionally, calling her name. "Sienna, are you there? Can you hear me? Please respond!"