"Jerrold is up in a tree..." Devonte's drawling tone abruptly turned to alarm as he cried out, “Jerrold? He was right here; how could he have disappeared into thin air?"

His voice brimmed with his rising panic.

Lilah and Gerard quickly rushed to where Devonte was.

Before they arrived, Devonte had already sent people to search all over the island but even after half an hour of intense searching, there was still no sign of Jerrold.

“Lilah, I really didn't mean for this to happen. Jerrold was right here. I looked away for only a moment and he disappeared." Devonte's face contorted in anguish, his eyes wide with fear and uncertainty.

"Now's not the time for pointing fingers; let's just get everyone to help look," Lilah murmured in a tight voice. She held on to a thin hope that Jerrold had simply wandered off. She didn't want to be right in her suspicion that he was now in the hands of that vicious woman called Arya.

However...

Lilah soon received an anonymous text that read, “If you want to see your son, come alone to Moon Bay tomorrow at 3 PM."

Moon Bay was a rarely visited spot on Luna Island. But during the sea turtles’ mating season, it became a bustling hub.

Lilah breathed through her nose as she read through the text again.

When she looked up, her gaze was icy and determined.

She and Gerard quickly hashed out a plan.

By three pm the next day, Lilah stood at the precipice of Moon Bay, gazing out at the expanse of rugged, dark brown rocks revealed by the receding tide. The waves pounded against the shore with ferocious intensity, their crashing boom echoing through the air as they menaced the precarious rocks, threatening to unleash a catastrophic landslide at any moment.

Several cars burst onto the scene and parked not far away from her.

A tall woman dressed in a black windbreaker stepped out from the car in the lead. A few other men also emerged, and together, they started walking toward Lilah.

Lilah's brow furrowed when she saw the woman's face. It was Arya.

"Wow, Lilah, you've got some nerve showing up alone," Arya said, arms crossed, her eyes oozing disdain as she observed Lilah.

Lilah didn't reply. She cast a glance over Arya's shoulder at the men she came with. Evidently, these men were no ordinary fighters.

“Why all the muscle?" she asked coolly.

“How is that any of your business?" Arya sneered, her eyes condescendingly scanning Lilah from head to toe, her gaze dripping with disdain and contempt, as if Lilah was nothing more than an insignificant insect to be crushed beneath her heel.

"So what do you want?" Lilah asked sharply. "Hand over Jerrold now, and we'll call it even."

Arya's laughter was a cold, mirthless sound, her eyes flashing with scorn and malice as she spat, "You think you deserve it, you bitch? I'd rather see you torn to pieces.”

Lilah's fists clenched tightly within her sleeves but she remained silent.

In her heart, she had already sentenced Arya to death.