Chapter 3

Before the firefighters could check anything, Ruby yelled and sobbed. "Why must you keep targeting me, Janice? There's a fire! Why are you still trying to stop me when there's something as urgent as a fire?!"

The firefighters looked confused and kept glancing between us.

Danny also stepped in front of her and pointed at me. "Let them go in for the evacuation! How long are you going to keep this up?!"

I was furious. They could target me all they wanted, but the people in that factory were innocent. They did not even care enough to perform basic fact-checking.

I ignored them and ran over. After a quick explanation, I brought the woman over.

"Please save my husband. He's still inside!" She cried.

I cut her off gently and put a hand on her shoulder, calming her. "He'll be alright. But you have to tell me how many people are still inside, and if there's anything flammable or explosive stored in there."

Her sobbing eased before she nodded repeatedly, then pointed with a shaking hand toward the far side of the plant. "Yes! There's a truckload of metallic sodium stored inside. The fire spread too fast, and they're all still stored in the back."

Metal sodium would react explosively with water, which meant that they did not have much time left.

I had already done everything I could, so the rest was up to the firefighters.

However, there was still one person who could not let it go.

When Ruby saw that the firefighters were starting to believe me, she tugged at her sleeve and said, "Who knows if you just hired an actress to lie for you because you can't stand me."

She raised her voice just enough so that everyone could hear her.

Danny's expression hardened as he raised his head. "Exactly! Ruby already checked, and I trust her! This woman is obviously working with you, so don't think you can fool me."

Ruby kept her head down, but I still caught that faint smile on her face.

The fireman in charge frowned and sternly asked, "Which of you is telling the truth? You're the person in charge here, so you'd better think it through carefully!"

Danny's shoulders slumped immediately while Ruby's eyes darted away, unable to meet the firefighter's gaze.

I let out a cold snort. "Actors? You two are the ones acting! Don't you care about those lives out there?!"

The female worker, who had been sobbing, snapped out of it and lunged at Ruby, wanting to scratch her as she recovered from being accused of being a hired actress by Ruby. "Are you really a reporter?! There are over a thousand people inside, yet you lied! Are you trying to get them all killed?!"

Ruby ducked behind Danny and acted soft and fragile. "I didn't mean to... I really didn't..."

Then, her eyes darted around before adding, "But… I'm still new! Janice inspected the scene! I just repeated what she told me!"

With one sentence, she threw me back into the pit in front of everyone.

This time, even the worker glared at me.

Without solid information, the firefighters could not go in. They had already sent someone to check as soon as they realized the report might be wrong, but time was too short. There was still no evidence of who was telling the truth.

They were at a deadlock.

Ruby had too many tricks, and Danny kept on defending her by using the fact that she was new.

Unfortunately for her, that was exactly what I had been waiting for.

I smiled and stared straight at her. "Ruby, are you really saying you didn't inspect the scene?"

Danny jumped in before she could answer. "Of course, you inspected it. Otherwise, why are you even here?"

The two of them were practically announcing that I wanted the workers to die.

I pulled my phone from my bag and tapped open a video.

"Ms. Janice, let me cover the scene."

"Let Ruby handle it..."

Their voices played back, one after the other. In the footage, you could see Danny leading Ruby away at the end.

I raised my eyebrow and looked at Ruby's pale face. "So, who did the inspection? Don't tell me you have no idea who did that!"