Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 3480

Miranda Foster gave Kai a polite, detached nod before turning her calm gaze to Marina. "Marina, didn't you arrive with Carson? Where did you run off to?"

Barton Foster's eyes swept over the three of them, a deep frown forming on his face.

Kai stared at Marina in shock.

Rowena's grip on Marina's arm tightened like a vice.

But Marina's survival instincts finally kicked in. She forcefully ripped her arm out of Rowena's grasp. In a split second, she made her choice.

She walked straight toward Carson, her posture rigid, her voice trembling slightly despite her best efforts. "I forgot which hall we were in and got a bit turned around. I just bumped into... Mr. Kai at the entrance."

The moment she stepped over to Carson's side, the light in Kai's eyes completely died.

Carson's lips curved into a faint, predatory smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Didn't I tell you not to wander off? This is what happens when you don't listen."

Marina went pale. She pressed her lips together and stayed silent.

Kai couldn't stop looking at her.

"Rowena," Barton finally spoke, his tone unreadable. "What are you doing here?"

Rowena kept her expression demure and submissive. "I'm one of the organizers for tonight's charity auction. I wasn't going to come, but my absence would have caused issues. I'll be leaving shortly."

Whatever the Foster family discussed after that, Marina didn't hear a single word.

For the rest of the evening, she stayed glued to Carson's side. She forced herself to smile, playing the part of the devoted fiancée as if the disastrous encounter had never happened.

Just as she was trying to think of an excuse to leave the party, her phone buzzed with a text from Nocturne.

*[Can we meet? I'm in the garden restaurant.]*

Marina hesitated. She turned to Carson, told him she needed to use the restroom, and slipped out of the ballroom, heading straight for the garden.

Because of the gala, the entire floor had been booked out. The restaurant was practically deserted, save for a few stray guests.

In the dim lighting, she spotted the familiar silhouette. Her chest tightened with a suffocating mix of emotions.

She walked over and sat down across from him.

"I can explain everything to Carson, even if he misinterprets it!"

"Sia, please don't give up."

"So many fans are counting on us. Are you really going to let them down?"

Walking away from her work felt like tearing out a piece of her own heart. But no matter how desperately Kai begged, she wouldn't budge.

"I'm sorry."

"Let's just say... this is all my fault."

*

Late that night, Kai pulled up to his house.

The moment he stepped out of the car, he froze. Carson's sleek black car was parked directly in front of his driveway.

Carson was leaning lazily against the driver's side door. In the pitch-black night, his features were obscured by the shadows, but the suffocating, lethal aura rolling off him was unmistakable.