Chapter 281: Chapter 281: "Upstairs Is My Wife.

A few police officers retreated from the second floor, with the one in the lead stopping Sean Harrison.

"President Harrison, the situation inside is complicated. We suggest you first—"

"How is she?"

Sean Harrison had no intention of leaving.

He hadn’t seen Rory Linden’s condition yet.

Besides, judging from the grave expressions on the faces of the retreating police officers, he knew the situation on the second floor was anything but ordinary!

Several officers who had already run out were organizing the evacuation of other personnel.

The officer blocking Sean Harrison looked grim. "President Harrison, the situation on the second floor is very complicated. For your own safety, please don’t go up."

Sean Harrison pressed on. "Is Rory Linden up there?"

The officer hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yes."

Sean Harrison asked again, "What’s her condition? Is her life in danger?"

Just then, a fully geared bomb disposal expert carrying a tool kit rushed up the stairs.

The officer glanced at his colleague from the bomb squad, his expression grave. "She seems to be unconscious, or perhaps asleep. She’s alive, but..."

"I’m going up."

Sean Harrison turned to head upstairs.

The officer moved to block his path again, hesitating for a moment before saying, "President Harrison, there are a lot of time bombs up there. If they go off..."

"I’ll take full responsibility for whatever happens to me." Sean Harrison looked up the stairs. "My wife is up there. The mother of my child. I can’t leave her to face this danger alone."

The officer could see the unshakeable determination in his eyes.

After a moment of silence, he stepped slightly to the side, clearing the path to the second floor.

"Thank you."

Sean Harrison strode forward.

By now, many of the police officers had evacuated. One officer stood at the top of the second-floor landing, while two bomb disposal experts were already on the floor.

The officer at the top of the stairs had heard Sean Harrison’s words but still blocked the way. "Mr. Harrison, you can go in, but please, don’t do anything rash. Don’t touch any of the wires. Leave everything to the bomb squad."

"Okay, I understand."

Sean Harrison nodded.

As he stepped onto the second floor, he saw the only room there.

It was just a bare-framed space, with no door installed.

Sean Harrison’s gaze fell upon countless bombs bundled together inside, all wired in a series.

He couldn’t see Rory Linden anywhere yet.

He stepped into the room, and when he saw what was inside, his breath caught in his throat.

Rory Linden was lying on a sofa that had its backrest removed. Her body was densely wrapped in countless time bombs, large and small, with all their wires and detonators linked together, stretching from the sofa down to the floor.

Each bomb had a small display screen showing a timer.

The timer showed...

The countdown displayed the numbers: [13:46].

minutes, 45 seconds.

minutes, 44 seconds.

minutes, 43 seconds.

...

’What does this mean?’

"These bombs... they’re going to explode in thirteen minutes?!" Sean Harrison’s voice trembled as he asked.

The two bomb disposal experts hadn’t started their work yet; they were still inspecting the bombs.

"It looks that way for now," one of them replied.

Sean Harrison understood why they hadn’t started. With so many bombs wired together in an unknown configuration, acting rashly would have unimaginable consequences.

A thorough inspection was necessary.

But with every second that passed, they were running out of time.

’Unless, after their inspection, they can confirm that disarming a single, specific bomb will allow them to get Rory out of here!’

Sean Harrison’s gaze shifted to Rory Linden.

The woman lay perfectly still, unmoving, except...

A single tear trickled silently from the corner of her eye.

Rory Linden had been awake for a while.

She knew what had just transpired downstairs.

She had already carefully examined the bombs strapped to her and had found no glimmer of hope for survival.

The reactions of the bomb squad and the police only confirmed her fears.

It was impossible for them to disarm all these bombs in fifteen minutes.

She.

Was going to die. There was no doubt.

She didn’t want to die, but what she wanted no longer mattered.

’Thankfully, Sean Harrison was a trustworthy man.’

She believed he would take good care of Leo Linden.

After this incident, he would surely protect their son and never let him get kidnapped.

At this point, all she wanted was to die alone, without dragging anyone else down with her.

She didn’t want to face Sean Harrison, either. She just wanted to pretend to be asleep and endure the last fifteen minutes of her life in peace.

’Once they realized the bombs couldn’t be defused, they would leave anyway.’

After inspecting the setup for a while, the two bomb disposal experts shook their heads helplessly, having reached a conclusion—

There was no way to separate her from the device in such a short time. If they were to disarm it, they would have to do it one bomb at a time.

One of the experts declared, "It’s absolutely impossible to finish disarming all of them in just over ten minutes." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

The other expert fell silent.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to save her.

It was just that...

In this situation, staying to disarm these bombs was no different from waiting to die.

Rory Linden’s eyelashes fluttered, and she decided to speak. "You all..."

"You all should go. I’ll stay here."

A voice spoke at the exact same time as hers.

It was stronger than her own, and it was the first to capture the attention of the two bomb experts.

One of the experts cursed, "I can’t believe this bastard was so vicious, using this many bombs. This wasn’t put together in a day; this was premeditated!"

Bomb disposal is delicate work. You can’t rush it. Otherwise, if one goes off, they all will.

The officer standing at the entrance also spoke up. "I’m sorry, Mr. Harrison. Our policy is to do everything we can to save every citizen, but this situation is too complex. We can’t disarm these bombs in just over ten minutes."

"It’s fine. I know. This isn’t on you. You all should go now."

Sean Harrison looked at the LCD screen on one of the bombs.

There were only ten minutes left.

With so many bombs, even if each one didn’t contain a lot of explosives, the combined blast would be immense.

To guarantee safety, one would need to be at least five hundred meters away from this room.

Of all the time bombs, the three strapped directly to Rory Linden contained the most explosives.

They weighed down heavily on her body.

The three countdown displays were a horrifying sight.

The officers hesitated.

Rory Linden was showing signs of life; she was clearly still alive.

If they left, they would be abandoning a life!

But staying would be futile.

Rory Linden finally opened her eyes slightly and spoke weakly, "Thank you, but these bombs can’t be disarmed. You all need to go. You have families waiting for you to come home. If you lose your lives because of me, I won’t be able to rest in peace."

She didn’t dare to move, her gaze shifting to the two bomb disposal experts.

Then, she turned her eyes to Sean Harrison and said calmly, "Sean Harrison, please take care of Leo for me. He’s a good, sensible boy. His birthday is August 8th. He likes Legos, the colors blue and white, and pork ribs—especially sweet and sour..."

She paused, then continued, "If you ever get married someday, I hope you’ll remember he has no family other than you and spare him some of your care. Don’t let him always be alone..."