True Love Waits novel Chapter 1429

Matthew gave it everything he had. He struck the door with mighty kicks more than a dozen times. He'd studied fight science, so he knew how to kick with maximum effect. Each of his attacks was more powerful than a car crash. But it was all to no avail. After all, the gangsters had anticipated this. The iron door was reinforced by welded steel rebar, and while he could shatter the iron lock, they had ordered a special padlock in case he tried. The modern lock had a tensile strength of more than six tons. They wanted Matthew and Erica to burn with the house.

There was no water in the house. The previous residents pumped water from the well in the yard. Even if they could get there, it took time to pump any appreciable amount of water. But because of the iron door, they couldn't even try.

The thugs were rather thorough. They didn't want to leave anything to chance. And Erica and Matthew were at their mercy.

Taking a deep breath, Matthew turned around and hugged the woman squatting on the floor, and tried to comfort her. "Don't be afraid, Rika. Dad and Owen are on their way. We'll be okay."

Leaning against his shoulder, Erica said, "I'm not afraid as long as you're with me. But the kids..."

"Don't worry about them either. They're brilliant. If anyone could survive this, it's them!" Although Matthew tried to reassure Erica that the children would be fine, in fact, he was also worried. After all, no matter how smart the children were, they were still three years old.

Matthew was never a man to sit and wait for death. He guided Erica to a relatively safe spot. Then he racked his brain for ways to escape the blazing house.

The temperature in the room was rising. It was getting hard to breathe, which made them panic. A smoky haze filled the air, obscuring their vision and stinging their eyes. Erica took off her coat, stood up and tried to smother the fire with her coat.

Before long, the material in her coat caught fire. It was devoured and quickly burnt to ashes by the hungry flames.

Soon, Erica was overcome by a coughing fit. She coughed violently and glanced at Matthew.

Even Matthew was coughing, but he fought the urge and was desperately going from one corner to the next, trying to find a way to escape.

He was also a man, not a god. He was usually good at solving all kinds of normal problems. But now he was facing an iron door and barred windows. Death loomed closer. Even though he was actively trying to find a solution, a few minutes later, he still couldn't figure it out.

Two minutes later, Erica shrank into a corner where the fire was not burning. She put her hands to her soot-covered face and gasped for breath. Matthew, on the other hand, was still studying the door and windows. She wanted to ask him to come over and hide with her, but when she raised her head, she saw a blazing beam about to fall from the ceiling.

She stared at it for two seconds and was sure that the beam was shuddering, trying to give way.

Matthew had smashed a door in the kitchen, and was using the wood, trying to put a hole in the wall. 'Oh no! If the beam falls, it'll crush Matthew!' Erica thought to herself, startled. She stood up, heedless of the danger, and sprinted towards him. "Matthew, look out!" she yelled.

But it was too late. Erica leapt at him, knocking him over. The burning beam struck her across her back. "Aaargh..."

Bang! The beam slipped from her back and fell to the floor with a loud noise.

Erica felt as if her spine was on fire. It hurt so much.

The beam was so heavy that when it struck Erica, Matthew felt it too. 'It must have been really heavy, ' he thought. 'Oh God, is she...?'

Hearing the loud noise, Matthew crouched down. Then he quickly gathered the soot-covered woman in his arms. "Rika, are you okay?"