"What's the matter?" Jasper sensed her strange behavior. "Do you not want to?" "To be honest, I'm feeling very hesitant about it. I really want to meet them, but I'm also scared of the outcome," Stella said frankly. "You'll have to meet them eventually," Jasper said. She could tell that he wanted her to meet them. Since he looked so calm, did it mean that they had a good relationship in the past too? Stella smiled and repeated what he said, "Yes, we'll have to meet eventually." "What are you going to do with those fishes over there?" Jasper changed the topic. Stella looked at the marinated fish. "I'm going to grill it on an iron plate. I've marinated all of them. It should be very tender. Give me a minute." She went to her bag and found a round iron plate. "This could be used as a hot iron plate. I tried to cook with it when I was at home alone and it was not bad. Put this on the stone first and it will be hot in a while," Stella ex
Jasper caught a foot-long sea bass. "Wow, this fish looks very delicious," Stella looked at it with glee. Not long after, Jasper caught another one-foot-long sea bass. Stella was pleasantly surprised. Jasper had caught a total of three fishes. Seeing this, Benedict and his friends came over again. Jasper immediately dismantled the trap. Benedict's friends were whispering to him in a low voice. Benedict then walked over and said, "Are you guys going fishing tomorrow?" Stella looked at Jasper. "Yes, we are," Jasper replied. "You could give us these fishes then. There are a lot of us, so this will be just perfect," Benedict said. "We'll be fishing in the sea tomorrow, so we'll still need these freshwater fishes. I'm sorry," Jasper directly refused. Benedict was speechless. "Why are you so stingy? These fishes were from the lake anyway and yet you refuse to give them to us. It's not as if we're asking for y
Jasper set up the tent under the shade of a tree and used stones to set up a stove. Stella went over to help. "The only thing that is missing from this beautiful scene is a lake." Jasper smiled slightly. "Have you seen the beach over there? We could climb down the mountains if we have time. It will take us about two hours to reach. However, we have to leave in the evening. We could always go there again when we come for a vacation the next time." "Ah, it's so beautiful here. It's a blessing to relax in this peaceful environment." "Get some rest. I'll prepare breakfast and call you when it's ready," Jasper said. "I'm good at cooking. Do you still have some noodles left?" "There's still some left. Let's just have some plain breakfast and have a wonderful lunch later. We could head back after resting for a while." "Alright then," Stella then left Jasper to prepare breakfast. She went to look for some wood and branches, sharpened their tips,
They departed at 3 p.m. It was already 7.30 p.m. by the time they arrived home. Stella began to cook and clean up the house once they returned home. Jasper, on the other hand, went back to check on Gracie and fed her. Gracie was barking repeatedly from hunger. Jasper stroked Gracie's head, pity flowing in its eyes as he gazed at her. "From now on, I'll bring you along wherever we go." Gracie barked twice as though it understood Jasper's words. "Come on, let's bring you to your actual home," Jasper put the dog cage into the car and got in with Gracie. Then he drove to Stella's house. Meanwhile, Stella was still busy tidying up. Jasper placed the dog cage in the backyard and helped Stella to water the flowers. Stella stood by his side, staring at the flowers which she had taken care of with her heart and soul. She muttered, "We're leaving soon. The thing I can't bear to part with the most are my flowers." "You could let yo
"If possible, I want to try a special treatment on you. We will enter your subconscious, however, you will have to be conscious during the whole process," Stella suggested. Cyril was a little frightened at this thought. "He may do something to hurt you if he comes out." Stella broke into a gentle smile and reassured him, "That man is simply a figment of your imagination. You could easily defeat him and protect me. I believe in you." Cyril nodded his head. He downed the water in the cup nervously. Stella served him another glass of water, stirred it until a mixture was dissolved, and then handed it to him. "Drink it all in one go." Cyril was obedient, and he did as he was told. After that, he looked at Stella worriedly. Sitting opposite him, Stella tapped on the table's surface with her fingers and observed him quietly. Cyril started to feel a little sleepy after taking the medicine, so he closed his eyes. "Cyril, tell me, what do you see?
"Jasper," Stella called. "Yes?" Jasper responded. Stella gave him a small smile and said, "I'll call Vann now." Jasper looked at the time on his phone and replied, "Sure. We'll be able to eat in peace." Stella proceeded to contact Vann and headed to the police station. Sheldon had gathered the rest and handed all the information over to them. "We discovered that these girls have all traveled using Xyril Road, which leads to a remote seaside. The surveillance cameras on the road are very widely spaced. Edwin tracked the last girl's car and found that there was another car with the car plate of XXX01 traveling with her on the same road for a distance. We ran the number plate through the system and learned that it's a fake car plate number. So, we suspect that something fishy is going on with this person." "Whoever he is, he is very cautious. From what I can tell, he must be familiar with Xyril Road. He knows where all the surveillance cameras are
Stella looked at him, touched by his gesture. She said, "You should eat too. I could wait until the crabs have cooled down slightly. I'll deshell them myself." "It's okay, I'll do it for you," Jasper's simple sentence was firm and unyielding, which made it impossible for her to refuse. He was domineering and aggressive, but she felt happiness spread in her chest. Stella didn't refuse his kindness and ate the crab meat that he had taken out for her. "You should eat some," Stella said again. Jasper nodded as he hummed a response. Once the crabs had cooled down, Stella started to deshell her own portion of meat. It was a blissful moment as she ate the crabs while chatting away with Jasper. "Have you told Vann about our departure?" Stella asked suddenly. "Not yet. I'm going to tell him tonight." "Do you think that he will agree? We have solved so many tough cases for him since we got here," Stella took a breath and sucked out the
He then hung up the phone. Stella's heart sank at once. She remembered he was being hunted down by some people when she first met Jasper. Could it be that this incident had something to do with that as well? Jasper had a lot of mysteries surrounding him. She did not understand, and she was afraid to understand them. After so many years of studying psychology, Stella knew that the more she cared about something, the more she had to force herself not to think about it. She did not want to overthink. The more worried and afraid she was, the more she would put her whole heart and soul onto him, and that would make it difficult for her to focus on her work. Not only would it be of no help to him, but she would even burden him. Stella got up and cleaned up the house, but Jasper still didn't come back when she was done. Humans are so strange. She had once told Allen that if he could meet someone who could stay on his mind all the time and