Hearing her question, Sara's eyes instantly welled up.
"He's busy," Janelle replied simply. They were on a plane; she didn't want to bring up the ugly truths now. Without a doctor present, she feared the news could trigger Madalyn.
"Oh." Disappointment was clear on Madalyn's face.
Madalyn sat with them for a while longer before going back to sleep. The past few days had been exhausting, and her body hadn't recovered yet.
Sara squeezed Janelle's hand, wanting to offer comfort.
"Sara, I'm fine. Don't worry," Janelle said softly. She would tell Madalyn the truth once they were safely home. Some wounds needed to be reopened to heal properly; otherwise, they festered forever. "You should rest too."
Erik came over to Janelle. "Yes, Janelle, get some rest." There would be plenty to deal with once they landed in Graham City.
Just then, Bryan approached Erik, his expression grim.
"What's wrong?" Janelle sensed trouble.
"There's a plane tailing us. It doesn't look right," Bryan explained, seeing no point in hiding it since Janelle asked.
"I'll go check." With Madalyn on board, the plane couldn't afford any mishaps.
"Go rest. Don't worry. No one dares approach my plane," Erik stated confidently. This aircraft belonged exclusively to Mr. Lorenz; who would be so bold?
But Janelle went to look anyway. Bryan handed her binoculars. She observed for a moment. The other plane was definitely behaving suspiciously, persistently shadowing them.
"Assassins?" Were killers this extravagant now?
Erik was also watching through binoculars. "Yeah, likely. Bryan, find out what's going on."
"On it." Bryan hurried off.
Janelle returned to her seat. Erik said he'd handle it, and she trusted he could.
Sara, however, was uneasy. "Janelle, who sent them?! How can Westin be so heartless? You're his daughter!" He actually wanted Janelle dead.
Janelle's laugh was cold. That man had no heart. He only ever considered himself, always had.
"Don't be afraid. Trust Erik. He'll handle it." Besides, while the plane was following, it wouldn't dare attack rashly. Up here, one wrong move meant everyone died.
"Okay."
Bryan quickly traced the hit back to Westin – including the price paid and the type of killer hired.
"Send me the details," Janelle requested calmly. She seemed accustomed to it; nothing Westin did surprised her anymore.
"Warn that plane," Erik instructed Bryan.
"Roger."
Erik's plane was equipped with significant weaponry – more than enough to intimidate. Bryan issued a warning, and the trailing plane immediately backed off, no longer daring to pursue.
"Boss, what's up? Not chasing?"
"Chase my ass! Do you know whose plane that is? It's Mr. Lorenz's! You dare try snatching someone from him?"
"But we took the job... if word gets out..."
"Is money more important than your life? Cross Mr. Lorenz, and he'll hunt you to the ends of the earth!" Thank god they were airborne. Anywhere else, they'd likely already be dead.
Back on the ground, Westin tried calling the assassins again. No answer. He'd already paid a hefty deposit, and now they were unreachable. Furious, Westin slammed his phone onto the coffee table, shattering the screen.
Seeing his rage, Amber knew something else had gone wrong. "What happened?"
"Can't reach the assassins."
"..."
Amber began to feel genuine fear. This Janelle was terrifying! What was going on? What kind of power did a young girl wield that both the Eagle Gang and an international assassin organization couldn't touch her? If she came back, weren't they doomed?
"Westin, who is Janelle? How can she be this terrifying?" If Janelle returned, would she spare them?
Westin shook his head, equally clueless. If he knew, he wouldn't be so helpless. "What do we do now? I don't know! I have no options left!" Fear was creeping in on him too. They'd tried to have her killed. If she came back, how could she possibly let them live?
"Then... go get your parents. They treated Janelle well before. With them here, she might hold back." No one wanted to die.
"Right! I'll send for them immediately!" Westin wasted no time.
Meanwhile, at the Hills', the PR campaign continued. With Janelle and Erik absent, they freely slung mud, dumping all the blame on Janelle. Every past incident involving Janelle was dredged up.
Mrs. Hill looked at the online vitriol with immense satisfaction.
Nelson, seeing her expression, couldn't help but advise, "Mom, isn't this enough? Was it necessary to go this far?"
Mrs. Hill snorted, dismissing him. "Nelson, I'm telling you, I despise Janelle. Forget about her. Focus on Lillie. As for my issues with Janelle, stay out of it." She'd hired legions of paid trolls, all bashing Janelle. Uninformed netizens joined in, the comments growing vicious. She relished every hateful word. Cross her, and pay the price.
Just then, Amber arrived. Seeing Mrs. Hill's smugness, Amber didn't mince words. She relayed the situation with Janelle – the failed kidnap, the vanished assassins.
Hearing this, Mrs. Hill frowned deeply. "So... who is backing her? How can she be that powerful?" It was almost unbelievable.
"I don't know. But both the Eagle Gang and the assassins are gone. No one knows what happened. I came to discuss what we do next."
"Gone? Impossible! Alright, I'll dig into her background abroad. If she's committed crimes, we hand the evidence to the police. Then it's out of our hands." No ordinary person could escape both the Eagle Gang and professional killers.
"That's what I thought too. No matter how powerful she seems, concrete evidence of crimes would solve everything," Amber agreed, nodding.
Nelson listened silently, his brow furrowed. What had happened to make Janelle so... mysterious? And this enigmatic version of her was undeniably intriguing, achingly tempting.
Mrs. Hill picked up the phone to call Elora. She needed Larry Lorenz's help. If they couldn't find out, surely the Lorenz family could.