Chapter 22
The person said with a smile, “You’re not only young and talented, Mr. Atlas, but your heart is also in the right place.”
The conversation then took a sharp turn. “The locals here earn a living through farming and herding sheep. They don’t know a thing about managing homestays and other businesses.”
The villagers enjoyed a rustic life and spoke in their own dialects. It would not be easy for them to run eateries and homestays.
Zane’s years of experience in the corporate world gave him an inkling of what was on the official’s mind.” The Atlas Group has a**igned a team of experts to show them the ropes and live a decent life.”
For once, the high-ranking official smiled with delight.
The group had lunch together before seeing the official off. Kept on their toes, Lianne and Lam went with Zane to survey the situation around the site.
There was an asphalt road leading from the airport to the tourist destination, and along the road were several depilated houses and rugged mountain paths.
The homes of the villagers were scattered around. While the houses looked close together, it took at least half an hour to travel uphill and downhill between places.
Zane visited each home of the villagers, not minding the long walk and dirt path. He went directly to the source, finding out more than he could get from Willow.
The time came for them to head back when the sun reached over the horizon. A loud noise suddenly
came from on top of the mountain.
Amid an earthquake, the loose soil and rocks came crashing down on them.
“Watch out, Mr. Atlas Lianne cried.
It would rock the Atlas Group to the core if anything were to happen to Zane. Lianne could potentially lose her high-income job.
With her reflexes working faster than her brain, she swiftly pounced on Zane and tried to shield Zane from the falling rocks with her body.
Since Zane was to the front left of Lianne and had his back facing her, he was one step too late at
discovering the danger.
Hearing her cries, he cocked his head back and saw Lianne coming at him with her arms spread wide
open.
Out of instinct, he put his hands out to catch her. Her supple flesh fell into his arms, and all he could feel was a rock hitting her on the shoulder before smashing to the ground.
The rock would have smashed his head if Lianne had not taken the blow for him.
Silence ensued seconds later.
Lianne immediately got out of the way. “Are you alright, Mr. Atlas?”
Feeling stickiness on his hand, Zane looked down and noticed the blood.
His eyes deepened. “Where are you hurt?”
Lianne could not move her left arm due to the agonizing pain. Still, she smiled as if nothing had
happened Tm blessed The injury isn’t fatal, and I only hurt my arm”
“Shut up. Liam, phone the doctor right away.” With a sour face, Zane scooped Lianne up and carried her to a nearby leveled ground to be safe.
Liam’s survival instinct kicked in in the face of danger, and he hid behind a boulder.
He was humbled to see Lianne getting hurt from saving Zane. T’ll get right to it, Mr. Atlas”
Liam pulled out his phone, but there was no signal. “I can’t get a signal to make a call, Mr. Atlas.”
“Get someone at the hotel Zane calmly instructed Liam before tearing his white shirt. “Lianne, I need to remove your jacket to bandage your injury Bear with me
Lianne was injured badly, so the task at hand was to stop the bleeding She remained calm. “Don’t worry. Mr. Atlas. The pain doesn’t scare me ”
Truth be told, Lianne always had a low tolerance for pain Nevertheless, she did not want to be dramatic in Zane’s presence Plus, Lianne did not do well with the cold too. So she wore a long down jacket paired with a sweater and a thermal shirt.
Since it was difficult for her to unzip her jacket with her uninjured right hand, Lianne had to pa** the task
to Zane
Zane initially wanted to remove Lianne’s right sleeve to patch her up. At least then, Lianne would not be exposed to the harsh elements. However, there was no way to remove her sleeve without risking further injury to her left arm.
