Chapter 526

As soon as their eyes met, Stephanie quickly looked away. She thought, Oh, my God. When did Lorenzo’s gaze become so sharp? He seemed fine when Sebastian was around. Has he been looking at Ella like this all this time? No wonder Ella’s so freaked out.

With Lorenzo acting this way, not only was Ella scared, but even Stephanie felt a little on edge.

Bernard quickly glanced at Lorenzo’s angry face and then walked over to Stephanie respectfully. “Stephanie,” he said, “it’s not that Lorenzo’s trying to stop you from taking Ella, but right now, you can’t take her.”

No kidding. She’s with Lorenzo now. You can’t just take her whenever you want, he thought.

Stephanie raised an eyebrow at Bernard’s words. “What do you mean?” Then she glanced at Lorenzo again, and this time, Lorenzo’s eyes were locked on Bernard.

Bernard noticed and thought, ‘Finally, I’m doing something right in front of him.’ He turned back to Stephanie and said, “It’s a bit more complicated. You know Ms. Turner almost killed Lorenzo yesterday, right?”

“She didn’t mean to,” Stephanie answered quickly, showing no hesitation. Her tone made it clear that she completely trusted Ella. Before Bernard could respond, she added, “She just mixed up the meds. She didn’t try to kill Lorenzo.”

Bernard paused for a moment. “Did Ms. Turner tell you that?”

Stephanie nodded. “Yeah. What’s the problem with that?”

“Well, that’s actually a big problem,” Bernard said, forcing a nervous laugh.

Stephanie’s face darkened, and she shot him a look of annoyance.

Bernard continued, “You know, when undercover agents get caught, they always say it wasn’t on purpose. If it was an accident, they wouldn’t be blaming anyone else. You get me, right, Stephanie?”

Stephanie snapped, “What are you talking about? Just shut up.”

She thought, ‘An undercover agent? Really? Are we seriously making Ella into some secret agent? Back in Long Harbor, she had some guts. But ever since we came to Fiorenza, she’s been so scared.’

‘She cries all the time. There’s no way she’s some kind of undercover agent. Whoever came up with that idea doesn’t know her at all. The mission would fail, and you’d comfort her every day!’

Bernard was taken aback by Stephanie’s outburst. “No… I… I’m just telling you the truth,” he stammered.

Stephanie retorted, “She’s not built for being an undercover agent.”

Bernard tried to push back. “You can’t say that. The fact is that she almost killed Lorenzo yesterday.”

One way or another, Ella was in big trouble with Lorenzo.

Stephanie rolled her eyes. “I don’t care. I’m taking her with me today.”

After hearing Ella’s side of things earlier, Stephanie knew it wouldn’t be easy to take her. But she didn’t expect Lorenzo to turn her down so completely.

Even though Lorenzo hadn’t said a word yet, the fact that he allowed his men to speak to her like this made it clear that getting Ella out wasn’t going to be simple.

So Stephanie decided to stay firm. She remembered how Ella had been crying so desperately earlier, and she couldn’t bear to leave her behind.

Plus, now they were all thinking she was the one behind everything. If she left, they might just get rid of Ella after her.

That was why Stephanie knew she couldn’t back down. “I have to take her.” Lorenzo still didn’t say anything, so Stephanie’s tone grew sharper.

Bernard tried to reason with her again. “Stephanie, we know she’s your friend from Long Harbor, but maybe she’s just getting close to you for some other reason.” He was getting more direct now.

Stephanie replied immediately, “She’s not like that.”

Bernard pushed, “You can’t be sure of that now.”

Chapter 527