Maggie beamed a bright smile, "You got this!"
Sylvia's eyes crinkled with gratitude, "Thanks!"
*
In a quiet corner, Gabriel took the call, "What's going on?"
"Gab!" The voice on the line was serious, "We've hit a snag and had to let you know!"
Gabriel's voice remained steady, "Go ahead."
"Sean and one of Giles' men, Mario, got caught dealing arms on the side. Giles found out and nabbed both of them."
Gabriel frowned, "When did this happen?"
"Five days ago. We knew you were celebrating the New Year, so we held off telling you until now."
"What's the situation now?"
"Word is, Mario took a severe beating from Giles. Giles spared Sean because of you, but he's not releasing him or meeting with our people. He says he'll only talk to you in person."
Gabriel's expression turned icy, "I'm heading back tonight."
"We'll be waiting for you!"
After hanging up, Gabriel found Estelle and said,
"There's been a bit of trouble. I'm leaving for Tripe tonight. I'll stop by to say goodbye to Grandpa first, but I won't disturb everyone else while they're having fun."
Estelle was taken aback, "Is it that urgent? What happened?"
"Sean's in Giles' hands. It doesn't look good," Gabriel replied.
Estelle frowned, "Sean?"
Gabriel's face was resolute, "Don't worry. I'll get him out. If my people betray me, I'm the one who deals with them, not anyone else."
Jonathan, having overheard part of the conversation, walked over, "Need a hand?"
"No need!" Gabriel responded.
"Leaving tonight?"
The dim riverside light hid his rugged features in shadow, his expression unreadable, and he gave no reply.
Sylvia stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him, "Can you not leave me behind this time? Or take me with you?"
He stiffened slightly at her embrace.
Sylvia, voice breaking, continued,
"The first time you pushed me away, I was lost and didn't know how to go on. I didn't travel the world; I obsessively tracked your whereabouts, silently following wherever you went. At the slightest hint of your presence, I rushed over, only to hide myself, scared you'd notice."
His dark eyes, deep as the night, were aware of this all along, having spotted her a few times but pretended not to see her.
"The second time, when you left J City, I couldn't sleep for days. Agreeing to come to C City with Maggie was solely because I wanted to see you."
"This time, please don't leave me here alone!"
Sylvia looked up, clutching his shirt,
"Please, don't go. Don't give up on me again, okay?"

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan)
Norah isn't a girl, but a twenty -five year old beautiful woman that loves Xavier Fleming/Gonzalez/Hanson....
Update 3103 hasn't been received and it hold pertinent information. Please fix it for us. Thank you....
This is great! I love the updates....
Now Xavier needs to call in the reinforcement, Gabriel and Jonathan to settle this. Thank you for the updates....
May we please have updates. Thank you...
Xavier will always protect Norah he must admit this to himself and Norah. I believe after they return from this , he'll need to approach Norah 's parents and he'll get support from Jonathan and Ella....
I like how you are getting all the different love interest committed, thank you for the updates....
Hoping Manly have his own love story here, atleast a short one...
Emily has finally stood up for herself. Now with Charlie's support, her mother and sister in law will be as quiet as church mice....
Another epic ten updates... this is great! I'm sooo enjoying this. Thank you for the updates....