She would absolutely change her attitude–never again would she be the way she was before.

This time, Grace truly recognized where she had gone wrong. She wasn’t a fool. Her daughter deserved more love.

Suddenly, someone shouted, “Hey! We found something!”

Everyone immediately turned toward the direction of the voice. Even Grace couldn’t help but pick up her pace. John held the detection device, as excited as a child.

“I found it! There’s a sign of life here!”

Hearing that, everyone surged forward in excitement.

But the rescue workers quickly held them back. “Everyone, stay calm. Don’t slow us down–we’re on a tight clock here. If we delay even a minute, it could cost someone their life. Can any of you take responsibility for that?”

With that, no one dared to move forward. No one wanted to risk interfering with a rescue effort. This was a matter of life and death–there was no room for error.

Now that they had pinpointed the location, all efforts were focused on that exact spot.

No one knew how much time passed before Lucas began to hear movement above. He slowly opened his eyes, his lips cracked from dehydration. He looked utterly drained, his skin pale and haggard. But as soon as he heard the noise overhead, his eyes lit up with a flicker of hope.

Still, the first thought that came to his mind was Aurora. She was positioned a bit farther away, with a thick section of debris separating them. She hadn’t heard anything yet.

But Lucas let out a soft cough, his throat still sore as he spoke. He quickly masked the discomfort. He called out to the still-sleeping Aurora. “Aurora, wake up. Aurora, are you okay? Wake up, if you can hear me, say something.”

Aurora felt cold all over, her body temperature dropping rapidly. In a daze, she heard someone calling her name, though it sounded faint and distant. The voice seemed to drift, sometimes near, sometimes far.

Her head felt heavy, making everything seem even less real. She let out a soft “Mm” sound, her delicate face flushed unnaturally red, covered in dust and dirt.

Even though her voice was faint, Lucas caught it immediately. He could tell Aurora wasn’t in great shape. Clearly, she was exhausted. Thinking it through, she was just a young girl–lasting this long had already taken everything she had. What more could anyone expect?

Lucas tried to raise his voice. He could hear more and more activity above them, which meant rescue was close. He had to make sure Aurora’s vitals were detectable. Otherwise, the equipment might miss her.

“Aurora, listen to me. You need to stand up or at least try to take deep breaths. Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep. Someone’s coming to get us. Just hold on a little longer.”

In her half-conscious state, Aurora finally heard Lucas clearly. She struggled to her feet.

In that brief moment, the detector’s readings shot up. John grew even more excited.

“Look, look! The signal just spiked–it means there’s definitely more than one person down there!”