Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 119

And that moment when Stella crouched down to tie her shoelace—was that a sheer stroke of luck, or was it intentional?

From the footage, it didn't look intentional at all. Everything happened so naturally, right down to her calling for the security guards to help Steve up.

But the look Steve shot her as he left... Julius knew that look. It was full of malice, confirming the man was a genuine threat.

Why hadn't Stella mentioned this to him after they left the hotel?

Did she just think Steve had tripped and fallen, rendering the incident entirely irrelevant?

Or was there another reason she was keeping it to herself?

On top of all that, the mystery surrounding Clara's ashes was completely unsolved.

And they still had to track down her missing grandfather.

It seemed nothing in this situation was as simple as it appeared on the surface.

He was going to have to dig a lot deeper into all of this.

...

At the Astoria Grand Hotel.

A tall man was giving his report to Wilson.

"Sir, we need to leave Veridia Country immediately. I've intercepted chatter indicating that someone has started digging into our whereabouts. If we stay, they'll uncover your true identity, and leaving quietly won't be an option anymore."

"Useless! You've been here for a month and haven't accomplished a single damn thing! You couldn't find the person I asked you to find, and you couldn't bring me the woman I wanted! What good are any of you? You're all entirely useless!"

Wilson was throwing a violent tantrum in his suite. He hurled his glass of water straight at the bodyguard in black. The man didn't dare dodge, and the glass shattered against his forehead, instantly drawing blood.

After smashing the glass, Wilson turned his fury toward another target. "And you, Steve! You claim to be undefeated back in Mistralia!"

"Steve, you're going back to the Recess Club. You're going to hold that fighting ring every single night until you draw her out again! I refuse to believe we can't find her!"

"Sir, it's not that I don't want to go back. It's the contract I signed with the club. Once a challenger defeats me, I'm permanently banned from competing there. I've already lost my eligibility."

Wilson picked up another glass and hurled it at the wall, screaming, "Useless!"

The tall man cautiously tried to reason with him. "Sir, I strongly advise we return to Mistralia for now. We can always track that person down later. As for the young woman, she's already taken."

"I tried to run a background check on the man she was with, but his file is heavily encrypted. We couldn't bypass it. He's clearly someone you don't want to cross. We're not on our own turf, and it isn't worth taking a massive loss here."

Wilson took a slow, rattling breath, forcing his raging temper down as he spat, "Pack everything up. We fly out this afternoon."

Coming all this way and leaving completely empty-handed made his blood boil, but he knew his subordinate was right. Sticking around would only put them all at severe risk.

Their only option was to retreat and re-strategize for another day.