Chapter 3

The howling wind slammed against the outer walls of the building, roaring like a wild beast.

The lights throughout the building began flickering on and off.

Mr. Parker and Mr. Collins led several others, going door to door from the first floor.

“Ryan! Ryan Bennett! Are you in there?”

Mom’s voice had gone hoarse from shouting. She was so weak that Dad had to support her as they walked.

First floor, second floor, third floor. We searched our way upward, one floor at a time.

Every time a neighbor opened their door, we received the same answer.

“No, I haven’t seen him. With a hurricane this strong, who would dare wander around outside?”

“He didn’t come to my place. Try somewhere else.”

Climbing the stairs and knocking on door after door took nearly an hour.

The higher we went, the more desperate my parents looked.

By the time we reached the sixteenth floor, with only two floors left before the top, Mom finally broke down. She collapsed onto the stairs and burst into tears.

“He’s not here! He’s really not in this building!

“He must have gone outside. He must have been swept away by the floodwaters…”

Dad’s eyes were bloodshot too. He turned around and glared viciously at me.

“Claire! Weren’t you so damn sure he was somewhere in the building?

“Where is he? Go on, make him appear!”

I pointed toward the stairs above us.

“We haven’t checked the seventeenth floor or the rooftop yet.

“There’s an illegally built glass room on the rooftop with electricity running to it. He could be in there.”

Mr. Parker’s expression changed immediately.

“The rooftop? Going up there in a hurricane this strong would be suicide!

“Could the kid have been upset about something and gone up there to take his own life?”

The moment Mom heard that, she let out a terrified scream and scrambled toward the top floor.

“Ryan! Don’t scare Mommy! Ryan!”

Everyone rushed up the stairs and reached the eighteenth-floor landing.

However, the heavy iron door leading to the rooftop was secured with a thick padlock.

A notice stamped by the property management office was posted right in the center of the door.

[Due to the approaching hurricane, the rooftop has been sealed and locked to ensure residents’ safety. Unauthorized entry is strictly prohibited.]

Seeing the lock, Dad rushed forward and desperately shook the iron door, but it didn’t budge.

Mom collapsed onto the floor, staring blankly at the lock.

Suddenly, Dad turned around and fixed his eyes on me.

His gaze was filled with resentment and madness.

“The door is locked! There’s no way Ryan could have gone up there!

“Claire, did you lock this door?

“You deliberately lied to us and brought us all the way up here just to waste time and stop us from going outside to look for your brother!”

I was so angry that I almost laughed.

“Dad, look carefully. The property management notice clearly says the rooftop would be completely sealed two hours before the hurricane makes landfall today.”

I sneered inwardly.

I understood everything now.

Ryan must have sneaked into the glass room early to avoid getting lectured.

He always wore noise-canceling headphones when gaming. He wouldn’t hear a thing even if an earthquake struck outside.

When the property management staff came to lock the rooftop, he was probably inside, busy yelling at his teammates.

He didn’t even realize he’d been locked on the rooftop!

Mr. Parker also tried to reason with Dad.

“That’s right, Mr. Bennett. About an hour ago, I went downstairs to buy cigarettes and happened to see a property management worker named Kyle Reed come up with chains to seal off the rooftop.

“There’s no doubt the property management office locked it!”

But Dad had completely lost his reason.

He stormed over and slapped me hard across the face.

Smack!

My head snapped to the side, and the metallic taste of blood immediately filled my mouth.

“How dare you argue with me!”

Dad’s voice was hysterical.

“If you hadn’t kept wasting our time and misleading us by insisting he was upstairs, we would’ve gone downstairs or outside to find him long ago!

“You’re deliberately trying to get your own brother killed!”

Mom also scrambled to her feet and pointed at me, cursing furiously.

“Claire, you ungrateful brat!

“If your brother dies, you’ll be a murderer!”

The neighbors around us began looking at me differently too.

Mr. Collins frowned and scolded me.

“Claire, you really shouldn’t have done that. The door is locked, so why did you insist Ryan was on the rooftop?

“How can you be so cold-hearted? That’s your own brother! How much precious time have you already wasted?”

“Kneel!”

Dad suddenly roared.

He grabbed my shoulders and forcibly tried to push me down.

“Kneel before your mother and apologize! Bow your head and beg forgiveness for obstructing the rescue and cursing your own brother!

“If Ryan doesn’t make it back today, I’ll break your legs!”

I clenched my teeth, every muscle in my body tensing as I planted my feet firmly against the floor.

I refused to kneel.

Just as we struggled—

BOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted overhead.

The entire building violently shook.

The raging wind, like thousands of monstrous beasts, slammed into the rooftop’s iron door with tremendous force.

The Category 5 hurricane had officially made landfall.