Marion reluctantly followed Jean backstage. She joined Neo and Endo, who had already entered the VIP waiting room. Billie was chatting with selected fans who had the opportunity to meet her backstage and take group photos.
Then it was Terry's turn. Billie seemed very pleased to see him and she hugged him lovingly under the gazes of his amazed friends. Billie even ruffled the young man's hair several times, laughing and joking with him.
Having known Terry for several years, they only just found out recently that he was Jean's son and that he was quite close to Billie Yves. The whole campus was excited over this news.
"Finally you will graduate soon," Billie said happily. "I still remember the first time I met you, you were only this tall."
She pointed at her waist and Terry hurriedly brushed Billie's hand away in embarrassment. "I've never been that short, Auntie Billie. When I was 15 and meeting you for the first time I was almost as tall as you."
His friends were very surprised to see Terry carelessly dismissing Billie's hand and acting like they were just friends. Now they truly believed that the popular student was very close to the superstar.
"Ahahaha ... alright, I believe you. Now, who are these lovely people with you? Your friends and crew?" Billie asked, greeting them one by one.
"Yes, these are my friends who helped with my film project. In two weeks we'll play it in the cinema. I will send the video to you."
Billie nodded in satisfaction and chatted a bit with Terry and his friends while taking pictures and distributing autographed souvenirs. They were all very happy and super grateful.
After the guests had left one by one, Billie heaved a sigh of relief and walked towards Jean.
"Hey... thank you for coming. Sorry, I was rather busy." She hugged Jean and kissed his cheeks. "You brought your friends too?"
She moved to hug Marion, Neo and Endo one by one warmly. Marion was a bit awkward about accepting Billie's hug, but Neo looked like he'd just taken an ecstasy pill. His eyes sparkled with happiness and his shoulders drooped with joy, so Marion became impatient and brushed his head.
"Ish ... don't embarrass me, Neo," the girl whispered. "I know you're a fan, but still..."
Jean just smiled at their interaction.
"Yes, this is Marion, Neo and Endo. They are members of the Wolf Pack, Lauriel's team who are here to carry out a mission." Jean explained.
"Ahh .. I'm so glad you all stopped by." Billie looked very happy. "After this, want to come with me to celebrate the success of this concert? We can have a drink at Sky Bar or something ..."
"Of course we want to!" exclaimed Neo quickly, before Marion could refuse. He then turned to Marion, "If you don't want to go, you can go back to the penthouse. We will drink with Billie."
Marion could only stomp her feet. She had no choice but to follow the small group. After making sure everything was all right, Jean, Billie and her personal staff and bodyguards, Endo, Neo and Marion walked towards the basement parking lot and prepared to go to the Continental Building to celebrate at the Sky Bar.
They were busy chatting while walking to the car and not paying too much attention to their surroundings. Neo who always turned his gaze to Billie with that half-worship look was the only person who suddenly noticed a red dot dancing at Billie Yves's temple - and in a split second, even before the shot was heard, he rushed toward Billie and dropped her body to the ground to escape the bullet.
All were very surprised because the incident had happened so quickly. Next thing they knew, they heard the sounds of gunfire and a pool of blood formed on the floor.
Screams of women were everywhere in the basement parking lot and Marion had disappeared behind a car pulling Jean's hand. Endo hurriedly checked the condition of his twin brother who sat on the floor while holding his shoulder which was bleeding quite a lot. In his instinctive reflex to protect Billy Yves, Neo got hit by the bullet himself.
Billie was beside him. Her face was pale and she was gasping for breath. Billie's two bodyguards immediately dispersed and looked where the gunfire had come from. Billie's assistant and manager were down on the floor in fear.
A few seconds after the shooting, Jean was able to overcome his shock. He hurried over to Billie and checked her situation.
"Are you okay?" he asked in a worried voice.
Billie looked at him with tears in her eyes and shook her head. Jean immediately hugged her and calmed her down. Anyone who has had a brush with death would surely feel an enormous existential fear, because ultimately, everyone was afraid to die.
Billie Yves had a large number of fans and some were mentally unstable and liked to stalk her, so she had hired a personal bodyguard team to protect her wherever she went. Over the last few years nothing really bad had happened maybe they had become complacent.
Max, Billie's chief of security, looked very embarrassed. He called in some of his subordinates who coordinated with the police and stadium security units to immediately close all access in and out of the stadium so they could lock in the perpetrators.
"Can you bring Billie home? I will take Neo to the hospital," Endo said quickly. He carried his brother and headed for the nearest car and laid him in the back seat.
Jean nodded. He pulled Billie from behind a car and after making sure it was safe, he signalled Billie to follow him while he ducked into the car. After Billie got in, Jean took his cellphone and called Marion.
Ugh ... the phone kept ringing but she didn't pick up. Jean became confused. He tried calling again but Marion's cellphone was now turned off.