"Why are you at the airport? Didn't you just call saying you were at the Larkin family's villa for an interview? Weren't you just gossiping?"

Susanna's eyes widened as she recognized Stella. Tears began to roll down her cheeks. She rushed forward, wrapping her arms around Stella. "Star, oh my gosh, I was so scared. That bullet almost hit me; I nearly met my maker." Susanna, who usually feared nothing, was visibly shaken. Walking through that hail of bullets had been terrifying.

Stella gently patted her back, trying to comfort her. "What kind of luck is that? Is there some gossip you need to catch at the airport?"

Susanna shook her head vigorously. "No, no, I was here to pick up some documents for my mom."

She had just managed to grab them when her life nearly flashed before her eyes.

Susanna's voice was tinged with frustration, "Why is my luck so terrible? Everything keeps going wrong this year. I must be cursed. Bad luck is bad enough, and now I'm staring death in the face. Does it really have to be this harsh?" Stella gave her a reassuring pat. "It's okay now."

After calming her down, Stella returned to Ronald. "Can we take Susie with us?"

"Cyris Isle is complicated and unsafe," Ronald replied, his expression serious.

Stella's lips twitched. "Complicated and unsafe" meant they were bound to run into some unexpected trouble. Susanna, who had always lived in the peaceful comfort of Portis City, couldn't handle that. "She definitely won't want to go back alone now."

Stella had seen Susanna's legs shaking, a perfect round hole in her pant leg. It didn't take a detective to figure out a bullet had grazed her leg.

Just then, as Ronald was about to instruct Idris to have a couple of people escort Susanna back, Hull put down his wine glass and stood up. "You go ahead. I'll take her back and then head straight to Cyris Isle."

Several pairs of eyes turned to Hull.

Finley blinked. "You? You're taking her?"

There was something unspoken in the air, but before Finley could voice it, Hull shot him a warning glance, signaling him to zip it.

Finley closed his mouth, feeling a little sheepish. He wanted to say, "Susanna's probably more afraid of Hull than of going to Cyris Isle."

After all, back at Mist Bay, Susanna had fainted at the sight of Hull wielding a gun.

Susanna was still waiting for Stella when she noticed Hull approaching. Memories of him at Mist Bay flashed in her mind, making her instinctively take a step back. noveldrama

en

Hull walked past her. "Let's go."

"Where?"

"To take you home."

"I don't want to get off the plane," Susanna blurted out, without thinking.

She had just fled the airport terminal, where those menacing figures had made her feel trapped Even though she often felt unloved and her mom rarely contacted her, one thing was certain-she wasn't ready to die yet.

Hull looked at her. "If you don't get off the plane now, those guys might come for you." Susanna gasped. "I don't want to put Star in danger."

Stella, overhearing, felt a pang of emotion.

Hull raised an eyebrow. "Then what are you waiting for?"

Seeing Susanna so frightened, Stella figured the airport situation must be truly dire.

She briefly considered taking Susanna to Cyris Isle with them, but before she could suggest it, Susanna turned to her. "Star, I'm leaving now."

Without waiting for Stella's

response, Susanna hurriedly

followed Hull. She trusted this man,

whose toughness rivaled that of the

thugs, to get her safely out of the airport.

Watching her leave, Stella felt a pang of guilt. "Maybe I should..."

Before she could finish, a firm grip on her wrist pulled her into Ronald's embrace.

"What are you doing?" Stella protested, glaring at him.

Ronald tilted her chin up. "Star, you seem very fond of Susanna, don't you?"

Stella blinked, speechless.

Finley, standing nearby, was baffled.

What did that mean? Was it a problem if she likes a girl too?

It suddenly dawned on Finley why he'd been getting into trouble so often. Ronald's possessiveness over the little princess was something fierce.