The Celibate Tycoon Has Fallen-Chapter 140: Hold Him and Have a Good Cry

Jasper Yale listened to the snowflakes softly pattering on the umbrella surface, as the figure in his eyes seemed to grow more and more blurred.

The first rescue had failed.

Two firefighters and a policeman descended, "Though the crane arm is close to the building, there’s still a distance. We can’t get up there."

"Then see if that journalist can talk him down."

Hailey Jenkins held the umbrella, glancing at Jasper Yale’s profile, sharp and tense.

Yelena Hughes stood on the rooftop, looking down, it was so high.

"Are you a journalist?" the man on the crane asked her.

"Yes," Yelena Hughes showed her press card to him, "Can’t you come down to say whatever you need to?"

"What’s the use? All the tickets home are sold out. Even if I could go back, I’d be too ashamed. My family’s waiting for money..."

"But I’ll help you now. You’re not wearing much, please come down."

The two stood off atop the building, and it seemed there wouldn’t be results anytime soon.

Jasper Yale didn’t want to keep waiting.

No one saw where he went up from; the stairwell was very narrow, with a chilly draft, and no light could reach inside. Who knows if Yelena Hughes was scared when she went up just now?

Jasper Yale’s shirt caught on a nail, he tugged it hard, hearing the sound of tearing in his ears.

Upon reaching the rooftop, the wind was strong, making the snowfall even heavier.

Jasper Yale walked forward, hearing the voices growing clearer, he didn’t walk over pompously, but slowly approached via stacks of construction materials.

The two not far away hadn’t noticed he was there.

Yelena Hughes’s voice trembled, she clutched the rebar beside her, afraid she might fall.

"Look at this place you chose, no rescue mats can be set up below. What if you really fall?"

"Even better, so they’d pay both wages and funeral expenses at once."

Yelena Hughes’s tone wasn’t harsh, a bit soft, a touch tender, not quite like a journalist, more like a girl just out of school.

"This is suicide, you know? Dying for nothing."

"Can’t I at least get my wages back?"

Yelena Hughes stood in the wind, asking him, "Is your goal really to get the money back, or... do you just not want to live anymore?"

"Of course, it’s for the money."

"Just now I recorded everything you said, when we get back, I can publish the news for you. Come down."

The man sat unmoving, his face blue from the cold, "How do I know you aren’t lying? What if you’re in on it with them?"

Jasper Yale glanced at the time, it was almost midnight.

But Yelena Hughes stood there, showing not a hint of impatience.

All of her outward emotions would affect the man on the crane, perhaps just one wrong word and he’d jump without hesitation.

You know, she’s no negotiation expert, she has no experience at all.

"Then tell me, what would make you believe me?"

"I... I’ve seen it on TV, do a live broadcast for me. Let everyone see, that way you can’t fake it."

Yelena Hughes stood still.

The man grew more agitated, "I guessed right, didn’t I? You’ve been bought by them, you’re just trying to trick me down, leave!"

He waved his arms, swaying on the crane, and Jasper Yale could hear the groan of the arm rattling in the wind.

He feared something might happen to Yelena Hughes.

"Uncle, have you ever seen someone before your eyes turn from a living person into a corpse?"

The man was wary of her, "Don’t tell me these things, I don’t want to hear it."

"You said you have a daughter, only 19. At that age, she’s still in school, and now that it’s winter break, she must be waiting for you to come home..."

"Don’t use my daughter against me, it won’t work!" the man said, shifting slightly, "I know how it goes on TV, getting the wife or kids involved, it’s useless!"

"No, two months ago, I reported on a girl who committed suicide, just 22, a bit older than your daughter."

She knew fathers with daughters generally had a soft side.

"The girl was assaulted but didn’t dare to report it, the only person she dared tell was her mother."

The man’s eyes remained guarded.

But he didn’t interrupt Yelena Hughes again.

"Except the mother didn’t know how to communicate, she asked, why was it you who was assaulted, not someone else? That you had a problem yourself."

Jasper Yale’s broad frame was obscured by a board, unable to see Yelena Hughes’s expression, only hearing her narrate in a tragic voice, telling stories that happened to everyday people, every day.

"The girl couldn’t understand why she was the wrong one. She picked a place slightly lower than here, choosing the eighth floor."

"Initially, firefighters almost reached her, nearly held her hand. But downstairs, people gathered with phones, voices louder than each other, they said, been waiting so long, why not jump already?"

"In the end, the girl jumped, the firefighters couldn’t catch her hand. Uncle, if I start a live broadcast for you, could you handle such voices?"

The man was silent.

"Afterward, I followed up the report, the girl’s father was working away, by the time he returned, she was already gone." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Yelena Hughes had seen too many worldly affairs, she wasn’t numb, just powerless, helpless.

She didn’t know if she could talk the man down before her, "Maybe, only a father can hold up the sky for his daughter. You’re not afraid to die, that’s fine, only the tens of thousands you reclaim, are they enough for your daughter’s future?"

Jasper Yale listened, feeling an indescribable stir, thinking every word she said made sense, and as if every word seemed to be imprinted on her being.

Only after a long time did the man speak, "You really will help me, right?"

"Of course, certainly."

"I’ll trust you this once."

The man was too frozen to stand up, firefighters began climbing up for the rescue.

Nobody seemed to mind Yelena Hughes, she stood there like a statue.

Jasper Yale approached, grasping Yelena Hughes’s hand, as cold as ice.

His other arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her down, Yelena Hughes turned her face away, seemingly not wanting to see people.

"Frozen stiff, aren’t you?"

"No, I’m okay." she suppressed her voice.

Jasper Yale turned her around, pulling her to face him, seeing Yelena Hughes’s face covered in tear stains.

So, she had been crying this entire time while standing there.

"What’s wrong?"

Yelena Hughes reached to wipe away her tears, but Jasper Yale pulled her hand aside, his fingers gently brushing her tear-streaked corners, wiping them away one by one.

"You spoke well, didn’t you manage to talk him down?"

Yelena Hughes wanted to bow her head, but her face was held by Jasper Yale.

She had no choice but to face him, her expression crumbled a bit, more tears flowed down.

"I miss my dad, I miss him so much."

Yelena Hughes didn’t want Jasper Yale to see her crying like this, she could only take a step forward, burying her face in Jasper Yale’s chest.