[This chapter is dedicated to kalachuchi1 for being the top 1 fan of our story. I'm grateful for the support. Thank you so much!]

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"Let me drive," Noah said but he had already opened the Land Rover's driver-side door. There was no other option but for Marcus to transfer to the passenger seat.

"Sir Noah, is Miss Zimmerman alright?"

Noah tried to be angry at Aadir as he viewed him in the rear-view mirror, but seeing how worried he was about Jess's safety, he could not.

"Yes, she is fine," he replied with a tight smile.

While Noah was still annoyed with Aadir, it settled down when he heard him sigh in relief and offer a prayer of thanks to his deity after hearing Jess was safe.

He shook his head lightly and turned on the Land Rover's ignition.

"What's the address?" Markus asked, his hand was on the car's GPS monitor.

"ANAT laboratory."

Markus creased his eyebrows as he opened the saved destination on the car's GPS. He glanced at Noah who still had a grim expression on his face, and asked, "Why would Ellise bring Jess to the lab?"

"They are not at the lab. They are at the coffee shop."

Markus cocked his head to one side in confusion. He has a feeling that even if he asked Noah a follow-up question, he would not get a clear answer. He cast his gaze out of the car's window and stopped talking.

Noah drove in silence, his hands were gripping the steering wheel tightly that his knuckles turned white. The speed of the car was above the speed limit but they were still outside of the city proper and speeding wasn't a problem.

When they entered the downtown area, Noah had no choice but to slow down due to foot traffic. But glancing at the GPS, they were far from where Jess was.

All the time that he was quiet, his mind was all over the place, thinking why did Ellise take Jess to the coffee shop when she knew she was sick, yet at the same time, she knew Ellise. She won't put Jess in danger.

He expelled a deep breath of frustration. He wanted to get to where Ellise and Jess were and get the answer to his questions.

Meanwhile, at the coffee shop, Jess and Ellise ordered the coffee that Jess usually drinks. They sat at the same table where Jess usually sits.

"Tell me about this man," Ellise sipped her coffee and stared outside the class window.

"I didn't think about him. He and I spoke once. It was the first time I came to this coffee shop. I ordered the same coffee we are drinking right now. As he was behind me. And the lady in front of us was complaining about her order, we began to talk. After that, he usually takes that table," she pointed to the table near the door.

"We'll ask the owner to give us access to their CCTV so we could find out more about this man. Other than that, do you remember anything unusual about him?"

"None. Just that he likes staring at me."

"Hmm," she mumbled as she kept staring outside the window while asking her questions.

Ellise arrived at the villa with Dr. Neves and they gave her a 'medicine' after taking her blood. After Dr. Neves injected the 'medicine', he waited for an hour and took another sample of her blood. And he left after that, and Ellise didn't give her an explanation of what was happening.

All Ellise did was ask her questions about her schedule, the places she went, the people she met, and the food she ate from the moment she stepped into this country.

She did what she asked her to do and after taking the 'medicine' Dr. Neves injected her, Jess was surprised that she suddenly felt so much better. The dizziness she has been feeling that was keeping her in bed was gone.

She didn't bother to ask Ellise what was the 'medicine' that she let Dr. Neves administered to her because Ellise will tell her if she thinks it's important for her to know. If she thought it wouldn't make a difference whether she knew or not, she wouldn't get any information from her.

"Did aunt Joy know you are here? And to what extent does she know about what happened to me?"

"She knew and she told your father you got food poisoning."

"But what did I get?" She found an opening to probe Ellise of what she knew.

"Someone tried to keep you in bed, not totally sick but weak enough to keep you where they want you to be," she glanced over her shoulder and watched her face. "How are you feeling now?"

"I'm fine. Who is this someone?"

"Until now I don't know. And that's what makes me angry."

Jess stared at Ellise. She said she was angry but Jess couldn't see any indication that she was angry. She looks like a perfect beauty that you might stumble in a coffee shop and would make you fall in love -- if you are into cold girls.

"Is it the same one that gave me the threat in San Lucas?"

"We don't know," she put down her coffee and looked at her. "When Noah arrived and told you to come home with him, you do what he wants. It would be for your own good if you return to Palo Alto."

"I have a job! Or have you forgotten? I can't just leave just because of --" she halted when she saw the tip of Ellise's eyebrow twitch. "I'm doing my internship…" her voice trailed into a whisper.

"What's the use of Noah owning the company if he can't do something about your internship." she scoffed.

"There is no question he can do something about it but I don't want him to do something. I want to do my internship without unnecessary drama."

"Do you think the threat to your life was just a scene from a drama?"

The deadly tone of Ellise's voice left Jess numb.