chapter1167

The moment Keen O'Brien sensed something was wrong, the first person he called was Haynes.

News of Stella's disappearance had been deliberately kept under wraps by Haynes; it wasn't until this morning that the Williams family finally realized Stella was missing.

Stella instantly understood what Haynes was getting at.

She didn't press for further details. Instead, she simply said, "Thank you."

Haynes hadn't hidden the news from the Williamses out of fear they'd try to take credit for finding her.

He was worried, rather, that they might use the situation as an opportunity to make sure Stella vanished from this world for good.

Granted, the odds of the Williams family actually doing that were slim.

But sometimes, it's better to be safe than sorry.

In a low voice, Stella said, "Either way, I've already made out my will. Even if something does happen to me, there's not much they can get their hands on."

She'd divided her shares into three parts.

One for Keen, one for Antoney Watson.

As for the last share, after much deliberation, she'd left it to be split between Haynes and Neville Connolly.

Antoney was the older friend she'd grown up with, someone she'd never doubted for a second.

Haynes was Keen's father, and she knew he'd do everything in his power to help Keen.

Still, things rarely go as planned. If Haynes ever remarried and had more children, new complications could arise-stepmothers, stepfathers, all kinds of unpredictable changes.

As for Neville, she'd never forgotten how he'd pulled her out of the abyss back when she'd been at her lowest, saving her from utter ruin.

And besides, she trusted Neville's character; she was certain he'd look out for Keen and help keep Haynes in check.

As for Stella's personal assets, she'd left sixty percent to Abby Murphy, and forty percent to Joshua.

Joshua was slouched in the passenger seat, his eyes closed, looking as if he'd drifted off to sleep, exhaustion still lingering in his expression.

Haynes didn't want to hear any more about Stella's will. He shifted the subject.

"How did you end up getting bitten by a snake?"

Stella recounted, in simple terms, the circumstances that led to the snakebite.

Haynes listened in silence. "Does it still hurt?"

"Not really Stella replied. "I just feel weak all over. Maybe because

bite lowered my immune

system-ve been sick these pa couple of days." s

At last, Haynes felt a wave of relief.

No wonder Stella had been missing for two days. This content belongs to ?ovelFind.net

In fact, when he'd first learned that Stella and Joshua had disappeared together, an absurd suspicion had crossed his mind. s

Could Stella have run off with Joshua?

But almost immediately, he dismissed the thought. It just didn't add up. She had her business here, her friends, and family she was tied to by blood. There was no way she'd walk away from all of that just to leave with Joshua. Still, the moment he saw Joshua carrying Stella out of the woods, an intense sense of crisis hit Haynes square in the chest.

From the very beginning, ever since Joshua had entered Stella's life he'd never hidden his intentions toward her from the world. s

But in front of Stella, he kept those feelings well disguised.

At work, he was all professionalism-never overstepping, never speaking out of turn.

Just like now: he didn't interrupt their conversation, didn't insist on sitting at Stella's side.

He was simply her bodyguard, her assistant.

He didn't let her friendship go to his head.

After all, no one likes an employee who's always interfering, always sticking their nose where it doesn't belong.

Joshua seemed to have an instinct for knowing exactly what he should do and when.

He might have seemed to lack boundaries, but in truth, he maintained them impeccably.

He was always toeing the line, doing things that could be seen as crossing it, yet never making Stella dislike him.

Like water-unremarkable, silent, yet seeping unnoticed into every corner of Stella's life.

People like that were dangerous.

Just then, Stella's voice snapped Haynes back to reality.

"I really owe Joshua. He's the one who's been looking after me these past two days."