Charlotte Cooper wiped the sweat off her forehead. Despite having run up so many flights of stairs, her energy was already depleted.
Yet with every passing second and her mother-in-law's safety at stake, she had to force herself to climb higher, her legs heavy with exhaustion.
She took a deep breath, relieving her discomfort slightly. At that moment, Charlotte's cell phone began to vibrate in her pocket. She quickly pulled it out.
"Check it. Is it them?" Cloud Russell, noticing the movement, asked anxiously.
Charlotte nodded at her, and sure enough, it was the two kidnappers, again calling with a video call.
She hesitated. Could they have found them? If that was the case...things were horribly wrong. They needed to hurry upstairs as fast as they could, and she needed to buy them some time.
So, Charlotte quickly composed herself and modified her breathing to sound normal.
Feeling Cloud's collective gaze upon her, Charlotte suddenly had another idea.