After Susanna washed her face, she headed straight to the kitchen. She


    rummaged through the fridge for pasta and other essentials, spinning around like a whirlwind.


    Sitting at the table, Hull had a perfect view of the kitchen. His eyes followed Susanna''s small, busy figure as she moved about.


    A strange feeling bubbled up in his heart. It was something he had never felt before, hard to describe but not unpleasant.


    ...


    Meanwhile, over in Portis City, when Ronald woke up, Ste was nestled in his arms. Shey there so peacefully, like she belonged there, barely moving through the night.


    A warm smile spread across Ronald''s face. He couldn''t resist kissing her forehead gently as he carefully got up, ensuring he wouldn''t wake her.


    Ronald slipped out of the room quietly. Downstairs, the butler stood waiting by the staircase.


    Seeing Ronald descend, the butler greeted him respectfully, "Mr. Quinn."


    Ronald nced at him. "Don''t wake her up."


    "Understood," the butler nodded.


    Everyone knew that when Ste was with him, she was to be left undisturbed. No one dared risk waking her up on the wrong side of the bed.


    As Ronald headed out, the butler hesitated, then mentioned, "Ms. Quinn hasn''t had much appetitetely. Should we call a doctor for her?"


    Ronald paused. "Her appetite''s been off?"


    He thought back. Ste hadn''t been sneaking down for midnight snacks like she used to. Usually, if she couldn''t have a big dinner, she''d be rummaging through the kitchen by midnight.


    Ronald considered it. "Get her friend Tegan over. Have her drop by."


    Finley was going with him, and Tegan, as he recalled, was some specialist in women''s health. The thought of ''women''s health'' made him instinctively want Tegan to check on Ste.


    The butler nodded. "Alright, I''ll call her in a moment."


    With that settled, Ronald headed out.


    ...


    When Ste woke up, it was about half an hour after Ronald had left.


    She overheard the butler speaking sternly on the phone as she descended the stairs.


    "Ms. Quinn wouldn''t want to see anyone from the Larkin family. Just turn them away."


    Whatever the other person said, the butler responded, "Yes, just send them off." Ste blinked. "The Larkin family?"


    Recalling what Susanna had mentioned, that girl really had a knack for predicting things.


    The Larkin family was surely in


    chaos after Cloudia''s recent


    There was no doubt they''d


    bambling.


    The butler ended the call and turned to see Steing down the stairs.


    "Ms. Quinn," he greeted respectfully.


    "Where''s Ronald?" Ste asked


    Even though they


    were


    together, she looked for him first in the morning.


    "He''s gone out. He ensured we didn''t wake you."


    "What time did he leave?"


    "About thirty minutes ago."


    Ste thought for a moment. "Not long then. Did someone from the Larkin family visit?"


    The butler nodded, "Yes, it was the eldest son."


    "Jaxon?" Ste looked at the butler.


    Susanna''s little predictions turned


    out to be spot on. If she set up shop, she could probably predict who from the Larkin family woulde knocking next.


    Jaxoning over could only mean one thing, which was about Cloudia.


    Just then, her phone buzzed. It was a call from Tegan. "Hello, Tegan."


    "Hey, Star. My car''s stuck about 0.2 meters from Mist Bay''s gate."


    Ste was puzzled. "Is there a ditch?"


    There couldn''t be. The road was well-maintained.


    Teganughed. "I drove it into a little dip."