Avery was on her way to the airport, and her heart sank when she received the call from Emma.
She put the call on speakerphone so that Elliot could hear it as well. Unable to contain herself, she shrieked as soon as Emma
answered the call. "Emma!"
"Ms. Tate, | can't reach Layla at all! She won't answer her phone! | just escaped the mountain, and | don't even know where | am
right now... I've traveled so far to get a signal. There has been a horrible avalanche! I'm so scared!" Emma cried. "I don't know if
Layla is still on that mountain... It's hell on earth over there!"
When the avalanche took place, Emma was at the bottom of the mountain where there was a lot of space leading to different
roads.
The people around her instantly started running when they saw the avalanche, and since it was Emma's first tseeing such a
disaster, she did not know the severity of the situation and stood still for a while.
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She did not start running until she saw waves of snow bearing down on her, and she could not begin to imagine how people on the
mountain could escape the avalanche.
"Has the rescue team arrived?" Avery panted.
"I don't know... When | left, | only saw civilians gathering... | didn't see a rescue team at all... Ms. Tate, please help Layla!"
"We will be there soon! Emma, you need to call the police right now!" Avery said hastily.
"Okay! | will do it now!" she said before ending the call.
Two minutes later, Emma called again. "Ms. Tate, the police said that they are aware of the situation and have sent their entire
force over to help." Tears welled in her eyes. "There's no signal or electricity there. If they don't restore power by tonight, there's
no way they can proceed with the rescue! I'm going to cry myself to death if that happens, but there's nothing | can do!"
"Don't cry, Emma. Just try and get back to the hotel!" Avery forced herself to remain calm. "No one can predict a natural disaster
like this one. | don't blyou."
"Ms. Tate, | was supposed to follow Layla, but | didn't want to intrude upon her conversation with Eric, so | told her | wouldn't.
There's really nothing much to see on that mountain. There was an observation point on the mountain where people take photos. |
took a few photos and got down right away."
"How did you get up?"
"With the cable car." Seemingly reminded of something else, Emma burst into tears once again. "A lot of people tried to cram
themselves into the cable car when the avalanche cand many ended up falling from the mountain... It was horrible. I've never
seen something like that before..."
Tears rolled down Avery's cheek as she listened, and Elliot snatched the phone from her hand before ending the call.
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"Don't think about it." Elliot pressed her head against his chest. "Layla wouldn't try to get into the cable car like the others. Maybe
she wasn't on the mountain at all when it happened. We just can't reach her right now because there's no signal..."
"Elliot, if only we had agreed to her dating Eric, they would never have ended up on that mountain in Cambrode... It's so cold and
far from home. Layla would never have gone there if she wasn't upset."
Elliot did not know what to say. Even if he was to admit that he was wrong, it would not help Layla in any way.
After a while, Avery grabbed onto his shirt and said, "Elliot, I'm not blaming you. | just regret not letting Layla have what she
wants... As long as she's not doing something wrong, there is no reason for us to stop her!"
"Avery, there's no point in regretting it or feeling guilty about it. Right now, we need to find Layla and Eric, and we will handle
everything else after that." His expression darkened. "Despite all the obstacles we encountered in our search for Ivy, we weren't
disappointed in the end, were we? Don't give up hope until the last moment."
Avery's spirit was uplifted by his words.