Kylie didn’t just stop liking Joshua. Now she was starting to hate him.
She thought, “What does Shermaine have that I don’t? How could he be so cold and heartless toward me? If he’s that into Shermaine, I’ll just have to take her down.”
The thought of Shermaine dying by her hand and picturing Joshua’s face gave Kylie a sick kind of thrill.
In Lightspring City, it was Ross‘ third day on the ground. The pampered rich kid hadn’t griped once, even trailing Danielle straight to the rescue zone.
She was slammed, barely able to spare him a look.
Ross wasn’t expecting attention. He just needed to keep Jason in his sights.
“Danielle, drink some water.” Noticing her chapped lips, he held out her thermos.
She looked up, spotting bloodstains from helping victims on his shirt, his hair a mess and clothes wrinkled. She almost smiled.
‘He’s hardly the polished playboy now, more like a disheveled aristocrat,’ she thought.
“Mr. Jean, you’ve been here days. Planning to leave soon?” she asked, taking the thermos.
Ross kept his tone flat. “If Jason’s not rushing off, why should I?”
The real headache was Jason, who seemed to materialize everywhere, killing any chance at alone time. ‘This guy’s tricks have gotten way more underhanded and brazen than at first,’ Ross thought.
If Danielle still acknowledged him as her official boyfriend, Jason wouldn’t stand a chance.
“He’s here because he likes me. What’s your excuse?” Danielle asked.
‘Like you. Love you. Scared Jason will snatch you up. That’s why I came. I’m terrified I’ll regret staying away,’ Ross thought.
But the emotionally constipated Ross couldn’t spit that out. He just muttered, “To watch out for you.”
Not getting the answer she wanted, Danielle huffed in annoyance, “I don’t need a babysitter. I’m good.”
Just then, the ground jolted with an aftershock.
Aftershocks had been rattling Lightspring City for days.
The area was safe, but the sudden jolt caught Danielle off guard. She almost went down before Ross yanked her into his arms.
The place was a total dump, but as she landed in his warm embrace, that faint, familiar scent hit her. She used to be addicted to it.
It was their first hug since they called it quits.
Ross didn’t want to let go. Like, ever.
Danielle tried shoving him, but he didn’t budge.
“Let me go,” she said.
“Be a good girl, Danielle,” he murmured. “I’ll let go when the shaking stops.”
Danielle flushed. “I can stand fine.”
“Well, can't you?"
Danielle was speechless.
The aftershock lasted a minute or so.
When it stopped, Ross let her go reluctantly.
She didn’t say a word.
Soon a guy with a leg injury was carried in, covered in dirt, head bleeding, clearly in agony.
Danielle checked him out and confirmed a broken leg that needed surgery ASAP.
Just like that, Ross was left in the dust.
He turned to see Jason glaring at him like a pissed-off wild animal, his eyes full of rage, bitterness, and jealousy.
Danielle wouldn’t even let Jason hold her hand, but she’d gone soft on Ross, not pushing him away even after he’d broken her heart.
‘If this keeps up, she’ll forgive him and take him back for real,’ Jason thought. ‘I love Danielle too, so why wouldn’t she give me a shot?’
Ross shook it off and went to help with the rescue.
By the time the surgery wrapped up, it was pitch-black.
Lights came on at the rescue center.
Danielle was dead on her feet, just wanting to crash. But despite the exhaustion, it was all worth it.
“Dr. Shelly, go get some rest. I’ve got this,” someone said.
“Will do,” Danielle replied.
Danielle made her way to her usual sleeping spot and pulled out her phone.
A message from Shermaine popped up: [Heard Lightspring City might get another big quake these next few days. They can’t pin down the time. Stay safe with Ross. Text me the second anything happens.]
Before she could reply, someone snuck up from behind, pressing a white towel over her mouth and nose. She was out cold in seconds. Drugged.
She blacked out and was quickly taken away.
Her phone lay there mid-text, but someone scooped it up, exited the message, and shut it off.
Shermaine noticed the sudden silence and frowned.
When Danielle didn’t respond and her phone went dead, Shermaine wondered, ‘Maybe the battery died?’
She called Ross, who picked up fast. “Ross, you and Danielle wrapped up?”
“She just finished surgery,” he said. “Heading to find her now.”
“Go on, stay safe.”
But within 20 minutes, Shermaine got a text from Ross: [Danielle’s gone. I scoured the entire rescue center but didn’t find her.]
All signs screamed abduction.
Shermaine’s gut had been right. Someone had cut Danielle off, so the message sat unsent for those long seconds.
Ross was losing his mind. He was frantic about Danielle.
Every available person was sent out. Even rescue workers who’d just crashed to rest jumped up when they heard she was missing.
Shermaine had actually been prepping for a rescue all along–helicopter on standby, just in case.
At seven that night, she headed out for Lightspring City.
An hour later, there was still no news on Danielle.
Ross hated this feeling. It took him back to when Shermaine went missing as a kid–waiting for police updates, the agony, the dread.
It was unreal that after all these years, he was living through it again.
Just then, Ross got a call from an unknown number. He picked up.
The voice on the line was distorted, totally robotic. “I got the woman. Wanna save her? Come alone.”
The guy gave an address.
He added, “Listen, come by yourself. Anybody with you, I’ll off her right then and there.”
Ross‘ face went stone cold. He knew this was about him. “I’ll come alone. Don’t touch her.”
The caller didn’t answer and just hung up.
Ross had no clue where the place was. He pulled up the map and saw it wasn’t too far. He didn’t breathe a word to anyone. He couldn’t risk screwing up Danielle’s safety.