When Holden saw him, other than exchanging customary pleasantries, he didn’t have much of a reaction.
Seeing him approach Ashton and me, I subconsciously hid behind Ashton as fear clutched at my chest.
“Mr. Fuller, what a coincidence. We meet again!” he said with a minute smile on his face.
Ashton kept a poker face as he met the other man’s gaze. “Mm, we meet again. I thought you already left Moranta.”
Abe released an abrupt laugh. “Of course not. This land is where I was given a new life. If I left just like that, how would I be able to see the two of you again?”
Ashton shot him a chilling glance but remained silent.
The corner of Abe’s mouth lifted into an arrogant smirk. “It seems like you don’t really like talking to me, Mr. Fuller. It’s fine. Time is on our side. We have many more opportunities for a good chat!”
Without waiting for a response, he walked away.
I sighed in relief and quickly said, “Let’s go, Ashton.”
Ashton nodded, then cast a glance at Holden, signaling that we were leaving. With that, he looked at me and said, “Let’s go.”
I followed after him and inadvertently peeked at Abe, who was supposed to leave. Instead, he stopped to stare unblinkingly at Ashton and me as though plotting some sort of conspiracy.
Terror gripped my heart, and I subconsciously grabbed Ashton’s arm tightly. Noticing my reaction, he put his arm around my waist and lowered his voice to say, “Don’t be scared. I’m here.”
I nodded meekly and continued walking alongside Ashton with my heart in my throat.
After we got into the car, my nerves finally relaxed. I watched as he started the car and asked, “When will we return to K City?”
He put the car in drive and calmly focused on the road ahead. “Tomorrow,” he replied, then looked sideways at me. “What did Abe do to you in Venria?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. After we were taken away, he didn’t hurt me because of my relationship with Armond, but he was very cruel to Nora and the other women. Abe treated their bodies as carriers for transporting kyanine to Western Europe.”
He took my hand and gazed at me earnestly. “Don’t ever leave without a word again, okay? No matter what happens, we’ll face it together. Don’t decide things all by yourself, alright?”
I nodded. Realizing that he was still driving, I exclaimed, “Eyes on the road!”
He smiled and shifted his gaze back to the road.
After a moment of silence, he handed me a box. Slightly bewildered, I turned to him and queried, “What’s this?”
“It’s from Holden. He wanted me to tell you that he’s sorry,” he clarified and placed the box on my lap.
I started opening the box, but when I thought about that insufferably arrogant man, I couldn’t help but grumble, “It’s hard to believe that an egoistic man like him is actually capable of saying sorry. But what exactly can he offer me? It’s not some kind of explosive, is it?”
Ashton chuckled deeply and observed, “You don’t have a very good impression of Holden, do you?”
I pursed my lips. “Oh, please. That’s putting it nicely. My impression of him is simply terrible. I…” I paused abruptly when my gaze landed on the phone inside the box. After hesitating momentarily, I remarked, “I’m surprised he had the courtesy to get me a phone. Scratch that, I’m shell-shocked.”
Rummaging through my bag, I found the memory card I retrieved from my old phone the previous day and inserted it into the new phone. Gripping the phone, I found that I quite liked how it felt in my hand. “What brand is this? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.”
Ashton shot me a sideways glance and answered, “It’s a new brand called Rino. It seems to have just been released in Moranta and is probably considered high-end. It’s also AI-based.”
Nodding in realization, I began to study it but didn’t find anything special. It just looked like it could be used as a projector to watch movies, which seemed rather cool to me.
After logging into my WhatsApp, a succession of messages flooded my phone within a short amount of time. They were all from Ashton when he was searching for me the previous day. Looking at the hundred or so unanswered messages, I was dumbfounded and suddenly understood why he was so angry the previous night. He must have been worried sick during the one hour of being unable to reach me.
I turned to look at him and laughed softly. “Ashton, next time, just stop calling if you can’t get through my phone. I could’ve just left my phone on silent mode or simply didn’t look at it. If I’m ever in danger, I’ll be sure to call you right away.”
He gave me a sidelong glance and scoffed childishly. Then, he sighed and cast me a helpless look. “No matter what happens, don’t just turn off your phone or switch it to silent mode. I’ll be very worried when I can’t reach you.”
I giggled while watching him. Honestly speaking, I really enjoyed his care and attention. Looking at the messages on my phone again, I noticed that some were from Nora, which were sent not too long ago.
Nora: Scarlett, are you in Moranta? Armond went there too, yesterday. Help me keep an eye on him. If he has the guts to look for other women there, tell me immediately, and I’ll fly right over to kill him myself!
