"Be careful."


    "Joshua ising back with me," Ste replied. "I won''t be in any danger."


    Of course, Haynes knew that Ste would be with Joshua. Still, hearing her trust Joshua sopletely left a knot in his stomach.


    He sighed softly. "Alright."


    After hanging up, Ste told Joshua about the call.


    Joshua seemed a bit surprised by the news.


    "How did Deanna O''Brien suddenly get into a car ident?"


    "Deanna suffers from chronic headaches," Ste exined. "ording to Haynes, she was driving when one of her headaches red up, which caused the crash."


    "What about the O''Brien family driver?" Joshua asked.


    "Apparently, Deanna was going to meet someone and didn''t take the driver," Ste said. Seeing how detailed his questions were, she couldn''t help but ask, "What is it, Joshua? Do you think there''s something wrong with Deanna''s ident?"


    "It just seems a little strange," Joshua said.


    "She''s Haynes''s mother," Ste pointed out. "Whether it was an ident or intentional, I''m sure Haynes will investigate it thoroughly."


    The incident happened in Neo-Vespera and involved Deanna, a woman she deeply disliked. Ultimately, it had nothing to do with her. Deanna had given her more than enough trouble in the past, so Ste felt nothing upon hearing about the ident.


    Once everything was arranged, Ste and Joshua flew back to Neo-Vespera with Keen O''Brien.


    Abby Murphy had heard Ste was returning and came to pick them up from the airport.


    After taking Keen to the hospital and personally handing him over to Haynes, Ste left.


    On the way back, Abby said, "Star, I had your old apartment cleaned. You and Joshua can move right in."


    Ste had nned on staying in her old apartment during this trip.


    "Abby, thank you for doing all this," Ste said.


    The car soon arrived at the


    apartmentplex where Sten et


    used to


    tive Seeing the familiar row.S of buildings, she felt as if a lifetime had passed.


    Abby pointed to a specific building. "Star, Joshua, do you remember that apartment?"


    Joshua followed her finger and smiled faintly. "That''s where I used to live."


    Abby sighed, resting her chin in her hand. "We didn''t have as much money back then, but I don''t know why, I suddenly miss those days."


    Just as she finished speaking, her phone vibrated. Abby nced at the screen, her expression softening unconsciously as she typed out a reply.


    Ste noticed the slight curve of Abby''s lips and ventured a guess. "Abby, are you seeing someone?"


    Abby paused. "No, not at all."


    Ste nced at Abby''s phone and asked with a smile, "Are you sure you''re not?"


    Abby blushed, looking a little bashful. "Well, I do kind of like someone... but it''s not official yet. We''re just talking."


    Ste was intrigued. "You''ve only been back in Neo-Vespera for about two weeks, right? What''s so charming about this person that he managed to captivate you? Or is b? just really, really good-looking?"


    Aside from a few schoolgirl crushes, Abby hadn''t been interested in


    anyone for years: Stess


    marriage had given Abby a serious fear ofmitment.


    A man who could capture Abby''s heart had to be either incredibly charming or


    incredibly handsome.


    Abby coughed, looking embarrassed.


    "Well... I don''t actually know what he looks like."