A faint ripple of emotion passed through Stella's heart, but it vanished as quickly as it came.
She opened her mouth, as if to say something.
In the end, it turned into a silent sigh. She took the initiative and reached for Joshua's hand.
"Joshua, let's go."
Joshua finally tore his gaze away. "Alright."
-
On the plane Joshua had arranged to fly them to Solmaris, Stella was reunited with Abby Murphy.
Abby threw her arms around Stella, her eyes filling with tears.
"Star, are you okay?"
Stella shook her head. "I'm fine."
Seeing that Stella wasn't injured, she finally let out a breath of relief.
Abby was about to say more when she saw Joshua following behind Stella.
Joshua's long eyelashes were lowered, his expression unreadable.
Abby thought for a moment and decided to give them some time alone. After all, during the month and a half that Stella was missing, Joshua was the one who had been on the verge of collapse.
She knew Leonard had feelings for Stella and probably wouldn't hurt her. But for Joshua, having the woman he loved kidnapped by Leonard and taken to some unknown place was a different story.
Abby got three drinks from Harold, handed one each to Stella and Joshua, and then sat down next to Stella.
"Star, after you disappeared, we couldn't find any trace of you. We were going crazy," Abby said. "Haynes O'Brien, Neville Connolly, and Antoney Watson all came to help. Even Foreman Richards..." she glanced at Joshua before continuing, "Even Foreman came to help with the search."
There was strength in numbers, and at a time like this, all the jealous rivalries had to be set aside. Finding Stella was the most important thing.
Stella asked, "How did you find me?"
Abby explained, "Leonard wiped away all traces of the kidnapping so cleanly there were almost no leads. But Joshua said that no matter how perfect a plan is, there are always flaws. There's no such thing as a perfect crime in this world. When we hit a dead end, we brought in Simone and Aurora. Simone is Leonard's sister, so she might know something. And Aurora was the one who invited Leonard to stay with the Williams family, making her one of the last people to have contact with him before he disappeared. We had to question them."
Hearing this, Stella's gaze flickered slightly. She knew that unless he was truly desperate, Joshua wouldn't have gone after Aurora and Simone.
Stella was about to ask more, but Abby gestured discreetly toward Joshua.

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