bChapter /bb176 /b

Kevin was the first to rush over, looking worried. “Ste, are you alright?”

Ste moved a little. “I feel much better now. Why did youe here?”

“I didn’t see youe back during dinner, so I got worried. I asked around and found out you’d been brought here. I’ve already basked /bCavan to investigate who did this to you.”

Ste nced over at Monroe, who hurried to exin, “It wasn’t me, I swear. I had no idea what was going on. I was eating with my clientsb. /b

And they are all still waiting for me over there.”

Kevin still didn’t buy it. “Ste, just tell me. What exactly did he do to you?”

Ste kept her eyes fixed on Monroe. To Kevin, it looked like Monroe was up to something.

“See? Ste’s only looking at you. And you still won’t admit it? What are the odds you just happened to find her? Are you still saying bthis /bhas

nothing to do with you at all?b” /b

Monroe gave Ste an innocent look. “Come on, tell him. Did’t do anything?”

Kevin was about to say more, but Ste cut him off. “It wasn’t him. If it weren’t for him, I might’ve been in real troubleb./bb” /b

Kevin froze, clearly not expecting Monroe to be telling the truth.

Ste looked at him. “Thank you, Monroe. You saved me. But why did you help me

Monroe was stunned by her question and didn’t know how to answer. After he’d calmed downb, /bhe’d been asking himself the same question.

But no matter how he turned it over in his mind, he just couldn’t figure it out. ‘Good thing we’re not in Seavale. If Anna ever found out about

this, she’d lose it,‘ he thought.

“I’d rather it stayed just between us,” he said, hinting that Ste shouldn’t mention it to Anna.

Kevin seemed to catch on. “Wait, don’t tell me you actually like Steb, /bnot Anna. Are you worried Anna will get mad if she finds out?”

“No, I like…” Monroe started, but then he nced at Ste. I like Anna, don’t I?‘ Monroe thought to himself. ‘Everyone knows who I like.‘ But right now, he just couldn’t say it out loud.

“All right, just drop it,” Kevin said. “It’d be better if you liked Ste. I mean, I know you probably don’t stand a chanceb, /bbut that’s still way better than helping Anna with all her shady stuff.”

Monroe couldn’t help but speak up for Anna, “Anna’s not the person you think she is. You don’t know anything about Ste. bDo /bbyou /bknow what she’s done? Don’t just get blinded by love and believe everything Ste says.”

“You’re the one who’s blinded by love,” Kevin shot back. “Whether it’s Eleanor or Emily, Anna’s tied to both their bdeaths/bb. /bbBut /bbsince /bbyou /bsaved Ste, let me be real with you–if you keep sticking with Anna, she’s only going to drag you down.”

“No way. Anna had nothing to do with their deaths. She was heartbroken when they died. I saw how much she suffered. bDon’t /bbgo /bbming /b

Anna for something she didn’t do.”

“That was all just a show for you, and I can’t believe you bought it.”

Seeing the two bof /bthem about bto /bstart ba /bfight, Ste had bto /bbinterject/bb, /b“Alrightb, /bbthat’s /bbenough/bb. /bbMonroe/b, I bsaved /bbyou /bbonce /bbbefore/bb, /bband /bbnow /bbyou’ve /bsaved me. We’re even.

bi1/3 /i/b

b15:26 /bbFri/bb, /bb8 /bbAug /b

“Kevin, they’re probably still waiting for us at the restaurant. I need to get back. I’m so embarrassed about ball /bbthis/bb. /bbShe /bbstarted /bbto /bbget /bup.

Kevin didn’t want to keep arguing with Monroe either, so he helped Ste up and walked out with her.

Monroe felt something was off about what Ste just said. He immediately stepped in front of her, frowning. “Hold onb, /bbwhat /bbdid /bbyou /bbjust say/bbi? /i/bWhat do you mean you saved me before? When did you ever save me?”

Ste ignored him and didn’t answer. Monroe refused to give up, trying to get something out of her, but Ste kept silent. Just as Monroe was

about to follow, Kevin shot him a fierce re, making him stop in his tracks.

Monroe stood there, stunned, for a long time. ‘Why would Ste say she saved me? When did that happen? Was it that time?b‘ /bhe wondered.

Just then, his phone rang–it was Anna calling. Monroe answered.

“Monroe, how’s everything going over there?” Anna asked.

“It’s fine. Why?” He slowly looked away, mouthing a quick goodbye to the doctor before heading out.

“We just parted ways, and I already miss you.”

Monroe felt a warm rush in his chest. “I miss you too.”

“Don’t worry, I promise I won’t cause any trouble while you’re away. I’ll be good and stay home, just waiting for you toe back.”

Monroe pressed his lips together. “Anna, can I ask you something?”

Anna’s heart gave a sudden jolt, but she kept her tone casual. “Sure, ask away.”

“Back then, it was you who saved me, right?”

Anna was surprised that he was bringing this up, and her heart started pounding, but she forced herself to answer calmly. “You know I’ve never tried to use that to get anything from you, Monroe. Saving you was just something I did without thinking.b” /b

“All right, I get it.”

Anna let out a quiet sigh of relief, thinking to herself, ‘Looks like he bought it.‘

“Oh, by the way, I met Ste,” Monroe added. But Anna froze at his words.

“It seemed like she was in some kind of trouble. Anyway, I gotta go. I’ve got some clients to meet,” Monroe said before hanging up.

As Anna heard the call end, she nced at the time on her phone. By now, her people should have seeded, but there was still no news. Yet Monroe said he ran into Ste, ‘Did he get caught up in what I arranged?‘ she thought.

Just then, Anna’s phone rang–it was one of her contacts calling. “Anna, we didn’t get it done.

“Damn it, à guy just popped up and stuck his nose in. We couldn’t take him, so we had no choice but to let him walk boff /bwith bSte/bb./bb” /b

“Describe him to me,” Anna said sharply.

On the other end, the person gave a quick description. To Anna, it sounded exactly like Monroe. She bthought/b, b‘/bbWhy would /bbMonroe /bbsave /bbSte/b?

‘I even made bup /bba /bstory to turn him against Ste, but he still went out of his way to help bher/b. bAnd /bbwhy /bbwould /bbhe /bbask /bbme /bbthat /bbquestion/bb? /bbIs /bhe starting to suspect meb?/bb‘ /b

“All right, I get it,” Anna replied.

b2/3 /b

Andrew nced at his daughter. “What’s going on?”

“Dad, Monroe messed up our n.”

Andrew looked puzzled. “How did that happen?”

Annaid out everything she’d figured out so far, making sure to fill Andrew in on all

the details about Ste.

She knew Jordan and Ste were no fools—if they ever got to the bottom of this, she’d need Andrew to take the me for her. Under no circumstances could she let this get traced back to her.

bAD /b

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