After a minute or so, the story number indicated on the screen in the elevator began to change again.
Just when it seemed as if the elevator was back to normal, the number on the screen began to change rapidly and the elevator started to plummet.
XU Weilai’s expression changed and she subconsciously tightened her grip on the handrail. However, after the elevator plunged down a few floors, it began to judder again. Being caught off guard, Xu Weilai inevitably stumbled forward.
Realising that her head would soon slam against the elevator door, she let out a cry of dismay.
But right at that critical moment, someone grabbed her by the waist and yanked her back. Xu Weilai staggered a few steps back before she fell into Gu Yu arms, which were all too familiar to her.
Xu Weilai’s heart raced and she couldn’t tell if she was merely terrified by their precarious situation or if she was nervous because of his embrace.
Xu Weilai could feel Gu Yu tighten his arms around her as the elevator continued to freefall and judder violently. “Xu Weilai, grab onto the handrail!” Gu Yu ordered in a deep voice.
Xu Weilai quickly nodded before she reached out her arms and clung onto the handrail for dear life.
The feeling of freefalling was extremely uncomfortable and Xu Weilai was terror-stricken. Although she was holding onto the handrail with both hands, she could barely manage to stand firm. Meanwhile, as Gu Yu was supporting her with one arm, he could only hold onto the handrail with one hand and his body was swaying slightly.
If the elevator plunged all the way to the bottom, Xu Weilai knew that Gu Yu would certainly fall and injure himself if he could not stabilize himself.
Glancing back at him, she said, “Gu Yu, let go of me. I can stand steadily on my own. You should hold onto the handrail.”
However, Gu Yu merely continued to support her with his arm as if he did not hear what she had said or that he simply couldn’t be bothered to entertain her request. The falling elevator began to accelerate and, without further ado, Xu Weilai freed one of her hands before she turned around with much difficulty to hug his waist.
Gu Yu’s body quivered violently and he eventually looked down at her with a distant, unreadable expression in his eyes.
However, Xu Weilai couldn’t be bothered to explain herself. It wasn’t in her nature to rely on others to protect her or suffer on her behalf and since Gu Yu was reluctant to let go of her, she knew that she could only try her best to protect him.
If both of them supported themselves on either side of the lift with their one free hand, they could both stand firm. Even if they did fall, it would cushion their impact and they would avoid any serious injuries. In the worst-case scenario, they would both be mildly injured.
Xu Weilai simply lowered her head and remained silent as she avoided his gaze.
By a stroke of luck, the elevator came to an abrupt halt mid plunge. However, neither of them dared to move until they confirmed that the elevator would not continue to plummet half a minute later. Xu Weilai heaved a secret sigh of relief.
She couldn’t help but wonder if they were saved by the bell.
Gu Yu then pushed Xu Weilai away from him and shoved her to the corner of the elevator before he stepped forward to press the emergency buzzer again. This time, they finally received a response.
“CEO Gu, are you trapped in the elevator? I’m sorry, I had a stomachache just now and had to make a trip to the washroom. I only realized that the elevator had malfunctioned upon returning. I’ve already contacted someone to fix it. Please wait for the time being. We’ll settle this as soon as possible.”
When Xu Weilai heard this it finally dawned on her how lucky she was to have survived the ordeal.
Raising her hand up, she wiped away the beads of cold sweat on her forehead. If the maintenance man had returned later and failed to control the elevator in time, both Gu Yu and Xu Weilai would have plunged right to the bottom and might suffer from broken limbs. The mere thought of this sent shudders down Xu Weilai’s back.
However, before she could fully loosen up from her tension, the lights in the elevator flickered twice and suddenly, they were fully engulfed by darkness.
