Ricky's men arrived at Dora's house just in time to see her car pulling away from the curb, and they followed after her. Not knowing where she was going, one of the men asked Ricky, "Shall we tell Lord Ethan?"

"No, Ricky replied. "Let's wait for a while longer."

​​

To their surprise, Dora's car stopped at the Hamorna TV station. It wasn't convenient for Ricky and his fellows to get inside, so they stayed near the door and waited for her.

Inside the station, Lucas was the first person to spot Dora, and he demanded to know why she was there. Nina seemed pleased, though. She gave her a hug and said, "What a pleasant surprise! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, nothing," Dora replied. She was wearing a high-end dress and had a new hairstyle. She looked elegant and charming. One would never have guessed that she had once been a man. "I just want to check on the actors from my company."

Despite her explanation, Lucas knew why she was really there. He mumbled, "Bloody witch."

Right at that moment, Dora turned to Lucas with a surprised look on her face, "Aren't you Kylie's agent?" she wondered. "Is she here for the show as well?"

Lucas looked at her skeptically and demanded to know what her game was, and he called her a bitch. Nina, who was standing aside, felt embarrassed for Dora because she didn't really know what was going on. Peak Pictures and Garcia Entertainment were competitors, so she assumed that the animosity she felt was nothing more than friendly rivalry. "Kylie isn't here," she said. "She's at a photoshoot. Should I look up her location for you?"

Dora nodded, and Nina found the information for her.

Once Dora was gone, Nina turned to Lucas and said, "Please don't do that again. You've embarrassed us all."

Lucas shrugged. "Whatever. It's only Dora. Fuck her and her opinion of us. We have bigger fish to fry. After all, we need to be there for Kylie!"

"Oh, what happened to Kylie?" Nina asked.

Lucas suddenly turned red. He had forgotten that Nina didn't know about Kylie's disappearance yet. "She has acute gastroenteritis," he lied.

Hearing this, Nina was very concerned. "Really? She gasped. "Then I must go and visit her later. Which hospital is she in?"

Lucas licked his lips, paused, and then he said, "You know that Kylie's a popular actress. She didn't go to the hospital. She had her private doctor come to her."

Nina nodded skeptically. "Then I'll go to the hotel to visit her," she replied.

"She's not in the hotel either," Lucas said. "She returned to her home in Seattle."

Something about this conversation felt strange to Nina. She looked and Lucas and said, "I feel like you're lying to me or holding something back. What are you hiding from me? I care about Kylie's well being. You can trust me!"

"I'm sorry, Nina," Lucas sighed. "You are right, but I am not at liberty to tell you anything more. If I did, it could put Kylie's safety at risk."

Nina had been stood up by actors before, so she understood what was going on. "Lucas," she snapped, "you should know that Kylie signed an agreement with Hamorna TV, not me. Aren't you afraid that her reputation will be damaged if she doesn't show up to work?"

"Kylie's reputation is none of your business," Lucas growled. "No matter how much compensation is needed to breach her contract amicably, if needed, I'll pay it."

***

Kylie walked out of the cabin and into the mid-day sunshine. When she'd first stepped out of the house, she had been completely surprised to find herself within walking distance of a sizable beach. She had assumed that she was still in the city, but she'd been completely wrong.

Lucy looked in the direction of the water and found Stephen casually fishing out on a peer. So much had changed over the past twenty-four hours. He had come to the cabin as a prisoner but, not only had she been allowed a full run of the place, but she was also free to leave whenever she wanted.

Kylie walked up to the beach and called out to him: "Have you caught anything?"

Stephen shrugged as he turned to face her. "Nothing worth keeping," he yelled back. "Anything that I've caught so far, I've set free."

"That was kind of you," Kylie laughed. "Keep trying, though. If you do catch anything worth keeping, we could have cream soup tonight."

Stephen fixed his eyes on her for a moment, raised his eyebrows, and asked her if she was feeling better today than she had been feeling the day before. Kylie smiled and told him that she was fine. "I am seldom sick for long," she added. "I have a strong constitution."

All of a sudden, there was a jerk on Stephen's line, and they were both surprised. Stephen pulled the rod slowly towards him as he reeled it in. Kylie, on the shore, jumped up and down happily. "You've caught a fish," she exclaimed, "and this one looks like a biggie!"

Kylie saw that the fish was struggling on the surface of the water, and she hastily ran out on the peer with a fishnet. Frantically, she asked Stephen, "What do I do. I've never been a fisherman!"

"Give it to me," Stephen shouted. Very quickly, he had the net in his one hand and his fishing rod in the other. He lowered the net, situated it under the fish, and once it was in position, he lifted it out of the water and emptied it into the bucket he'd brought with him.

Curious, Kylie looked into the bucket. The fish was flopping around. Its mouth was opening and closing as if it was gasping for air, and its eyes were looking up at her in accusation. Kylie realized it was dying, and the process was infinitely more horrific than she ever would have imagined it could be.

Kylie was just about to throw up when the fish, somehow, managed to jump out of the bucket and slap her across the face with its tail while it made its escape. Not knowing what to do, she shouted to Stephen, "Help! It's getting away!"

It seemed that any energy the fish had reserved for that final escape attempt had been tapped, and Stephen caught it easily with only one hand. He laughed and brought the creature to his face. He looked it in the eyes and said, "Now, now. We'll have no more of that." And then he squeezed the creature until its eyes popped out of their sockets, and he threw it back into the bucket.

Feeling sick to her stomach, Kylie told Stephen she was going back to the cabin. He nodded, but before she'd made it more than a couple of steps, she slipped on the water that had made its way onto the dock while they'd fought the fish.

Stephen reached out and tried to steady her, but his quick shift of weight only made things worse, and a moment later, they were both flats against the wooden slats that made up the dock, one on top of the other. They had both had the wind knocked out of them, and it wasn't until they'd caught it again that Kylie realized that she was lying on top of him. In fact, their faces were mere inches from each other.

Kylie stared at Stephen blankly. Compared to Ethan's sharp and cold eyes, his was incredibly gentle. She was vaguely aware of her breasts pressed to his chest. More keenly, her mind focused on the slowly growing stone in his trousers. She was blushing. Her heart was beating fast. She wanted to roll off of him, but she was frozen in place.

Stephen could feel Kylie's breath on his face. It was hot as it flowed from her open mouth. This is destiny, he thought suddenly as he arched his neck and pressed his lips to hers. Just as his tongue slipped out and touched her lower lip, a large fish skipped across the water, and the spell that had been cast over them was broken.

Kylie scrambled to get up, but she stumbled and fell back into Stephen's arms again. Her face was flushed, and she looked around frantically, desperate to avoid making eye contact with him.

Ever the gentleman, Stephen helped Kylie stand up, and he escorted her back to the beach. As soon as he was certain that she was okay, he went back out on the dock and collected his gear.