In North America, besides the big local conglomerates, the most powerful families were all descendants of the earliest immigrants. The Ferguson family and the Chester family stood out as the top two-strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the local business giants.


    Right now, the most terrified girl in the group had dropped to her knees, arms wrapped around her head, shaking.


    "I told you we shouldn''t havee here! But no one listened to me. Did you all really think this was some kind of vacation spot? Whoever gave us this address just wanted us dead!"


    Another woman, trying to keep calm but looking pale as a ghost, replied, "Don''t say that. Loue said this ce would be fun. She wouldn''t do something like that to us."


    "Oh,e on! You really think that rich princess is your friend? She''s always been jealous of your looks. She probably told you this ce was fun just to get rid of you."


    The two women started bickering, voices getting higher and higher, while the three men with them looked more and more annoyed.


    "Are you seriously fighting right now?" one of the guys snapped.


    Before anyone could answer, one of the armed men lost patience and fired a shot straight into the kneeling girl''s leg. He cursed under his breath as the girl


    screamed.


    Panic broke out-everyone started screaming and begging for mercy.


    ra''s ears perked up when she heard them mention the Chester family. She was just about to step in when someone else beat her to it.


    She recognized them instantly-Kay and Tara.


    She hadn''t seen Kay or Tara since they leftst time. Running into them here? Just her luck. Did everyone decide to show up at the same time?


    ra turned to leave, hoping to avoid the mess, but Tara called out, "ra, what a coincidence. We saw you a while ago. Funny, you didn''t bother to help. nning to just watch?"


    The rescued group-three guys and two girls-were grateful to Tara at first, but once they realized ra had been nearby all along, their gratitude quickly turned to anger.


    ra took a deep breath, grabbed Dn''s hand, and headed toward the campfire.


    Kay spotted Dn and stiffened, looking down awkwardly.


    Tara, who had been all sharp edges and sarcasm, suddenly lost her attitude the moment she saw Dn.


    Clearly, neither of them expected Dn to be here.


    Vivian—the girl who''d been crying the hardest-now turned all her pent-up emotion on ra. "If you were here the whole time, why didn''t you save us? Were you just waiting to see us embarrass ourselves? Do you even know who I am?"


    She''d been sobbing and ming the world when things were dangerous. Now that Kay had saved them, she wasn''t scared anymore-she just needed someone to me.


    ra almostughed. She looked Vivian up and down. "Nope. Who are you again?"


    Vivian''s face turned bright red. She wiped her tears, ring. "Just wait. You''ll regret this!"


    Mya, her older sister, quickly apologized. "Sorry, she''s just really upset right now." "Why are you apologizing, sis? She totally knows who we are and just didn''t help to watch us squirm. I bet we ticked her off before."


    ra rolled her eyes and turned to Kay. "Why are you two here?"


    "I" Kay started.


    But Tara cut him off. "Why shouldn''t we be here?" She turned her re on ra. "But you-dragging Dn here when he''s not even well? What''s your n, huh? Trying to get revenge for your dead boyfriend? I heard all about what happened back in the Capital." Her words dripped with sarcasm, but she looked away from Dn almost instantly-clearly not over him.


    Dn kept his head down, ignoring everyone but ra. "Are you done catching up?" he asked quietly.


    He clearly wanted to leave.


    ra didn''t want to stick around either. She stood up, ready to go.


    But Vivian caught sight of Dn''s face and froze, her cheeks turning pink. "Wait- you''re Dn? I saw your interview on TV, that, um-"


    She was so flustered she couldn''t get the words out. Now, everyone was staring at Dn.


    He was standing a few steps from the fire, not even close, but his presence filled the whole space.


    Vivian scrambled to her feet and hurried over to him. "I heard from Loue you''re getting engaged to her. Is that true?"


    If no one had mentioned it, ra would havepletely forgotten about that clueless socialite.


    She grabbed Dn''s hand. "Let''s go."


    Dn didn''t even look at the others. He nced at their joined hands, the ghost of


    a smile on his lips. "Yeah. Let''s go."