Chapter 951 Charles Goes to Crystal Blue Lake
Charles was tearing down the highway, gunning it to get to Crystal Blue Lake before dawn.
On the way, he hit up Wyatt, asking him to scope out the guest list at the resort.
They found Hannah's name on the list, staying in the same villa they used to crash at.
Hearing that, Charles finally let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Tears started to blur his vision.
Hannah was actually at Crystal Blue Lake, the first spot they ever went to together.
It was after that trip he knew he was head over heels for her.
He'd once told Hannah that if they ever got the chance, they had to go there alone. It wasn't where they made it official, but it was their special place.
He never thought Hannah would go back to Crystal Blue Lake on her own.
Thinking about it made his chest feel tight and his hands shake with excitement as he gripped the wheel, wishing he could teleport there.
But Crystal Blue Lake was a haul from the city. And it was pitch black out, so Charles had to keep it slow. He was terrified something might go wrong before he could see Hannah.
He had so much to say to her and a whole life to live with her!
He couldn't let anything happen to himself; he had to get there in one piece.
It took Charles a grueling four hours to finally reach Crystal Blue Lake, and by then, it was the dead of night.
Even though he was dead tired, he didn't dare to rest. He parked the car and bolted to the villa where Hannah had checked in, only to find it dark and empty.
He whipped out his phone and tried calling Hannah again.
"Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."
Her phone was still off.
Charles thought, 'If Hannah isn't at the villa, where the heck could she be? And it's nighttime; what if something happened to her?'
With no other options, he had Wyatt get the admin's number and asked them to check the surveillance footage.
The footage showed Hannah arriving at the resort around 11 a.m.
She chilled in the room for about two hours and then left with a backpack around 1 p.m.
She walked to the left after leaving the villa resort.
Once she left the camera's view, they lost track of her.
"Mr. Watson, that's all the footage we have. Once Hannah left the surveillance area, we couldn't track her anymore. I'm sorry we couldn't help you further."
Charles stared blankly at the screen, his eyes getting redder, his fists clenched, and his chest heaving.
That was the road to the mountain.
Without thinking twice, Charles took off.
Hannah had gone up the mountain.
The mountain road was rough, and Charles had to take it slow. It took him half an hour just to get halfway up.
But he could only drive so far; he couldn't take the car to the top. The cable cars and sightseeing rides had stopped running, so the only way up was on foot.
There wasn't a soul on the mountain at this hour.
It was pitch black all around.
Charles turned on his phone's flashlight. Thinking he was about to see Hannah soon, he didn't feel scared at all. Instead, he picked up the pace.
It was already late autumn.
Cold winds whipped around him.
The higher he climbed, the colder it got.
Some spots were iced over, with a thin layer of frost covering the ground and trees. One wrong step, and he could wipe out.
For safety, Charles had to slow down, pulling his collar up to block the biting wind. He found a thick stick on the ground to help him climb.
Even though his legs had mostly healed, he couldn't push them too hard and needed to take it easy.
He hadn't rested all day while searching for Hannah, and now his legs felt like they were being sawed in half, hurting like hell.
He knew he should find a place to sit and rest. But to see Hannah sooner, he gritted his teeth and pushed through the pain.
The pain in his legs got worse with every step.
He forced himself to keep going. By the time he was near the top, he was drenched in cold sweat from the pain. His legs were shaking so badly that it slowed him down, so he had to find a rock to sit and rest.
Climbing from halfway up, his legs felt like they weren't even his anymore.
Charles gently massaged his legs to get the blood flowing.
The wind howled, and the leaves rustled.
There was no moonlight tonight.
At that moment, Charles realized he was the only person on this vast mountain.
Except for the spot where he was sitting, lit by his flashlight, everything else was pitch black, and he couldn't see a thing.
The human fear of darkness made his heart race.
He couldn't even see how far the road ahead was, like it had no end.
He took out his phone, wanting to call Wyatt to see if he could get the resort staff to send a sightseeing car up.
But when he looked at his phone, he saw there was no signal at all.
The mountain was super high and not fully developed yet.
Although some people chose to hike up, most took the cable car or sightseeing car and walked down. Very few people actually climbed up, especially at this time of night.
With his leg condition, he might not reach the top even by dawn at his current speed.
He had been too eager earlier, only thinking about finding Hannah quickly, and completely forgot to leave himself a way out. Now he was truly stuck, unable to find Hannah and unable to go back down.
Charles thought, 'Do I really have to stay here for the night? No. Even if my legs break and I become completely disabled, I have to find Hannah.'
This belief gave him renewed energy. He gritted his teeth and stood up again. As soon as he stood straight, a sharp pain shot through his legs, and his tall body swayed, almost falling to the ground.
He steadied himself with the stick, lifted his foot with difficulty, and continued to walk up the mountain step by step.
As he walked further, his legs became numb from the pain. He moved like a robot, only knowing to keep moving forward, ignoring everything else.
There was no end in sight ahead and no way to turn back.
Charles seemed to see Hannah standing not far away, waving at him.
It was this belief that kept Charles going.
He didn't know how long he had been walking.
It felt like he had walked forever.
Charles was completely numb.
Just as the sky began to lighten and the first rays of dawn broke through the clouds, Charles finally reached the top of the mountain, standing at the spot where he and Hannah had watched the sunrise for the first time.
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