chapter1762

A faint ripple of emotion passed through Stella's heart, but it vanished as quickly as

it came.

She opened her mouth, as if to say something.

In the end, it turned into a silent sigh. She took the initiative and reached for Joshua's hand.

"Joshua, let's go."

Joshua finally tore his gaze away. "Alright."

On the plane Joshua had arranged to fly them to Solmaris, Stella was reunited with Abby Murphy.

Abby threw her arms around Stella, her eyes filling with tears.

"Star, are you okay?"

Stella shook her head. "I'm fine."

Seeing that Stella wasn't injured, she finally let out a breath of relief.

Abby was about to say more when she saw Joshua following behind Stella. Joshua's long eyelashes were lowered, his expression unreadable.

Abby thought for a moment and decided to give them some time alone. After all, during the month and a half that Stella was missing, Joshua was the one who had been on the verge of collapse.

She knew Leonard had feelings for Stella and probably wouldn't hurt her. But for Joshua, having the woman he loved kidnapped by Leonard and taken to some unknown place was a different story.

After searching for so long with no results, it was a question of whether he would ever find her. It was a miracle Joshua hadn't gone completely mad.

The flight back to Solmaris was on a private jet arranged by Joshua.

Throughout the journey, Joshua said very little. Other than asking at the beginning if Stella was hurt or felt unwell, he barely spoke. But he held her hand tightly the entire time, as if afraid she would disappear again.

Though Joshua said nothing, Stella could still feel his anxiety.

After boarding the plane, Stella learned that Leonard had taken her to a small, obscure country. It was far from Solmaris; the flight back alone would take eighteen hours.

Only Harold and Jake had come with Joshua this time. Abby had been waiting at the airport.

Having not seen Stella for so long, the normally boisterous Abby had an endless stream of things to say. She had initially planned to give Stella and Joshua their space, but Joshua just sat there holding Stella's hand, saying nothing. There were no passionate kisses or tender moments like she had imagined.

The two of them were silent, and it felt rather awkward.

Abby got three drinks from Harold, handed one each to Stella and Joshua, and then sat down next to Stella.

"Star, after you disappeared, we

couldn't find any trace of you. We were going crazy," Abby said.

"Haynes O'Brien, Neville Connet

and Antoney Watson all came to help. Even Foreman Richards..." she glanced at Joshua before

continuing, "Even Foreman came to

help with the search."

There was strength in numbers, and at a time like this, all the jealous rivalries had to

be set aside. Finding Stella was the most important thing.

Stella asked, "How did you find me?"

Abby explained, "Leonard wiped away all traces of the kidnapping so cleanly there were almost no leads But Joshua said that no matter how perfecta plan is, there are always flaws. There's no such thing as a perfect crime in this world. When we hit a dead end, we brought in"

Simone and Aurora. Simone is Leonard's sister, so she might know something. And Aurora was the one who invited Leonard to stay with the Williams family, making her one of the last people to have contact with him before he disappeared. We had to question them."

Hearing this, Stella's gaze flickered slightly. She knew that unless he was truly desperate, Joshua wouldn't have gone after Aurora and Simone.

Stella was about to ask more, but Abby gestured discreetly toward Joshua.