Jiayi’s steps did not halt; instead, they quickened.

Only to hear his cold voice drift over: "I heard you are my subordinate now."

These words clearly packed a punch for her.

Her steps halted, and she stopped, turning around: "Do you have any instructions, Mr. Huo?"

Using the status of the boss to suppress her?

Fine, no problem. As for work demands, he can give as many as he likes!

She would just make sure to fulfill them; what’s the big deal.

"The film crew has some costumes that need altering. Go to the set immediately and after you’re done and the director is satisfied, you can leave work."

He didn’t mince his words, speaking as any severe capitalist boss would to their subordinates.

She thought it was some big deal, but it’s just making her work overtime on short notice.

Jiayi glanced at the time; it was not early, nearly eight in the evening. Driving to the pier and then to the film crew on the island would probably take even longer.

She didn’t delay further, her tone still laced with a hint of retaliatory provocation: "Okay. No problem. I’m leaving now, and I ensure the task will be completed."

With those words, she turned and left.

**

By the time she finished altering the costumes for the crew, it was past midnight.

Movie crews operate 24 hours with no fixed working hours.

Today, there happened to be a night scene at midnight, so even though it was late, many people on the set were still busy.

Jiayi put the finished costumes in a clear plastic bag and took them to the wardrobe director’s office, but no one was there.

A member of the production crew said the director had gone to the night scene shooting location and asked her to take the clothes there.

Tonight’s shoot was a hilltop fight scene, located on an open area on a hill on the other side of the island.

If she waited for the crew’s shuttle bus, it would take another hour or two.

Jiayi knew there was a shortcut she could take through.

If she walked quickly, it wouldn’t even take ten minutes.

After asking for directions, she decided to take the shortcut.

Seeing her come to work so late, the production crew member couldn’t help but say, "Miss Chu, these costumes are not that urgent, and there’s no need to deliver them to wardrobe director today."

Of course, she knew the director was not in a hurry, but it was that man’s directive.

She didn’t want even the slightest mistake, to avoid giving him another excuse.

She didn’t hesitate much longer: "It’s fine, they are already altered, just need to deliver them."

After speaking, she walked out, took the shortcut, and headed towards the shooting location.

This path was one of the many hill paths on the island, with patches of woods lining the roadside.

Before taking the shortcut, the production crew member reminded Jiayi it was better to wait for the island shuttle bus to go together.

The island, though already developed, wasn’t necessarily dangerous; it was just that hill paths are always inferior to city roads—it’s not easy to walk at night, pitch-black.

Jiayi just thought about getting the clothes approved by the director quickly to avoid spending a night on the island.

Besides, she had come to this island seven or eight or ten times—it wasn’t very big, and she was quite familiar with it, so she didn’t care much.

During the day, it appeared to be a scenic spot, perfect for pictures.

At night, the scenery was not as good due to the dim light.

Although temporary street lights had been set up by the film crew along the road, it still looked somewhat eerie.

Jiayi regretted her decision after not walking very far.

She was most afraid of the dark.

But now that she was already here, there was no point in turning back. After all, it would only take ten minutes to get there.

With a determined bite of her teeth, she continued on her way forward.

After walking for a few minutes, she reached the densest part of the woods on the hill, where the crew had said that passing through would lead to the filming location on the other side.

There were no streetlights in the woods, and as she ventured deeper into the dense forest, the light grew darker and darker.

Jiayi switched on her flashlight and slowed her pace.

The path here was naturally formed and hadn’t been artificially repaired, so there were many pieces of loose rock and natural pits, making it difficult to traverse.

She hummed a little tune to bolster her courage as she walked towards her destination, telling herself it wasn’t much further now.

Suddenly, she felt something unusually soft under her foot. Before she could retract her step, she was lifted into the air.

"Ah—" With a cry of alarm, she plummeted downward.

Darkness fell before her eyes!

She took a fall!

It was only after she had a moment to recover that she realized she had accidentally fallen into a small natural pit.

She rubbed her sore bottom, got up, and called out for help a few times.

But no one answered.

The pit was one of the many small fissures on the mountain, not too deep, but still about one and a half times the height of an adult.

The walls all around were wet and slick with mud, making it nearly impossible to climb out without any aid.

"Damn it... Such bad luck."

She had merely gone to deliver clothes and ended up falling into a pit.

She sighed, then quickly realized what she should do. Fumbling around on the ground, she found her handbag that had fallen with her and took out her phone.

She dialed several times, but the call wouldn’t go through.

The film crew was on an island far from the city center, and the signal was always weak. Moreover, now that she had fallen into a pit, there was absolutely no signal, not even for emergency calls.

And there was no need to even think about 3G or 4G networks.

Jiayi could only hug her knees, finding a relatively clean spot to sit down.

Although she told herself that by daylight, someone from the crew would certainly notice her absence, or even if nobody did, once her daddy and mommy found that she hadn’t returned, they would surely come looking for her, and she would be fine, but...

But to endure a night in the pit still required a great deal of courage.

She kept her phone screen lit, bringing some light to the pitch-black environment for a bit of reassurance.

She also intermittently flipped through photos of Zaizai in her phone’s gallery, gazing at his chubby little face to distract herself as best as she could.

The phone’s battery was nearly dead, and she didn’t know how much time had passed before it finally turned off completely and automatically shut down.

With the only source of light gone, Jiayi felt the silence around her was terrifying.

The night wind blew, bringing a chill, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around herself.

She had only taken the shortcut thinking it would take a few minutes, and bracing herself, she had clenched her teeth and pressed on.

But who could have expected to be trapped here for so long?

She took a deep breath, buried her head between her knees, and could only grit her teeth and wait for daylight.

*

In the early hours of the morning, Nie Yixiao received a call from Xia Tingxuan.

As soon as he answered, he heard Aunt Xia’s panicked voice: "Yixiao, did Jiayi come looking for you tonight?"

Nie Yixiao’s sleepiness immediately evaporated: "No, what’s wrong, Aunt Xia?"

"Jiayi had dinner at my place tonight. She usually calls me after dinner when she gets back to Green Island Garden to say she’s safe, but she didn’t call today. I tried calling her but got no answer. I had Jiayi’s daddy drive to Green Island Garden to check, and she hasn’t returned at all. I also called her shop, her colleagues, even Fang Yao, and they all said they haven’t seen her. I’m getting worried."

Xia Tingxuan’s voice began to tremble.

"Did she meet anyone or answer any calls before she left your place?"

Xia Tingxuan hesitated for a moment and said, "Huo Zhenyang came over... but I heard from our community garage security guard that Jiayi left by car afterward, Huo Zhenyang also left, so she shouldn’t have been taken by Huo Zhenyang. Yixiao, do you think something could’ve happened to Jiayi? It’s already the middle of the night..."