Chapter 249: Something Happened!

Hayley’s POV:

“Mr. Southwell, what are you doing here?”

He was practically bouncing with excitement. She insisted I let him into the room, but I refused.

Benjamin politely asked, “Do you have a coffee machine here? The one in my room is broken.”

I was taken aback. I wondered why he would come to me about a broken coffee machine instead of contacting the hotel staff. Why did he come to me directly?

I didn’t say anything and kept my tone polite. “Yes, I do have one. Just hand me your cup, and I’ll make you one.”

Benjamin handed me his cup. I took it, quickly going inside to make him a coffee while he waited quietly by the door.

“All set, Mr. Southwell.” I handed him the cup.

He reached out to take it, but his gaze lingered on the back of my hand. There was a noticeable mole on the back of my hand, positioned in a rather distinctive spot. Noticing his stare, I quickly turned my hand to hide it.

Benjamin finally looked away, saying, “Thanks!” He walked away after that.

I closed the door behind him, not thinking too much about it, and returned to my bedroom.

Later that night, Hera suddenly shook me awake.

“Hayley! Wake up! Something’s wrong!”

I opened my eyes and immediately felt the sting of smoke. A fit of coughing overtook me as the room filled with thick, suffocating smoke. I realized then—there was a fire!

The sound of alarms blared outside, mixed with the frantic screams of men and women. Coughing uncontrollably, I quickly grabbed a towel from my bed and covered my mouth and nose.

People were rushing down the hall in a wild panic, all scrambling for the emergency exits. Seeing this, I handed control to Hera, trusting her to lead the way.

Someone in the crowd saw Hera and gasped, “An Alpha’s staying in the same hotel as us?” I panicked at this, but thankfully, the urgency of the situation meant no one had time to dig further into my identity.

Thanks to Hera’s extraordinary physical abilities, we quickly made it downstairs. Once I saw that the area was less dangerous, I regained control of my body.

Just as I was catching my breath, I heard Benjamin’s voice unexpectedly close.

“Are you okay?”

I jumped, relieved that I had acted fast enough to hide Hera. I quickly steadied myself and shook my head. “I’m fine. What about you? We should keep going; it’s not safe here.”

My voice was urgent, and without thinking, I grabbed Benjamin’s arm and pulled him further into the open area. He glanced at me and silently squeezed my hand. With him leading the way, we quickly reached a safer spot.

I felt like I had narrowly escaped a disaster.

“Are you okay?” We asked in unison, then locked eyes. It was only then that I noticed we were still holding hands. Almost at the same time, we both released them.

“What happened? How did the fire start?” I asked, still out of breath.

Benjamin looked up at the still-smoldering fire and replied, “When I came down, I saw that the room next to ours had caught fire. The fire spread quickly—almost the entire tenth floor was affected.”

Around us, fire trucks arrived, and the sounds of firefighters working mixed with the chaotic voices of the crowd. The scene had turned into a frenzy.

“So what do we do tonight?” I asked.

Meanwhile, other guests were demanding answers from the hotel staff. The staff quickly tried to calm everyone down. “Please calm down. We’ll make arrangements for everyone right away.”

The fire had come so suddenly, and it was the middle of the night. After over half an hour of firefighting, the blaze was finally under control. Fortunately, an electrical malfunction caused it, and no injuries occurred.

“Please remain calm. We’ve arranged accommodations for everyone, though there are fewer rooms available, so some guests will need to share. If you have a friend with you, you can share a room. Just come to me for your room key.” After the manager’s announcement, many guests rushed to pick up their room keys.

Benjamin and I were alone, hoping to find someone to share with. However, as time passed, everyone else had already left, leaving just the two of us standing there.

We exchanged a glance, and I awkwardly asked, “Manager, what do we do now?”