Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Adina found herself in Riverview Pavilion, a recreational space in the suburbs.

It was mostly used by the upper-class society and government officials for relaxation. Everyone who visited it was rich or had a noble status.

A group of people was fishing by the river at that moment.

Trent Sunderland cast a glance at Duke’s bucket and said indignantly, “Say, Duke, what’s going on?

Why are the fish all heading to your bait? We’re yet to catch a single fish!”

Duke continued to sit calmly by the bank.

He was dressed in casual clothes, so when the spring sun shone on him and a light breeze blew at him, he looked even more handsome than usual.

The group was lucky that there were no women around, or they would have started screeching at the sight of him.

Trent clicked his tongue. “Gosh darn it, why are you so annoyingly hot? You’re not allowed to come to my house again!”

His sister was just fifteen years old, and she was absolutely enamored with Duke. It would only get worse if she saw him like this…

Trent returned his gaze to the river and suddenly froze. “The hell?! No one warned me that there’s a mermaid in the river!” he cried out.

Eilam Walker gave him a scornful look. “Could you be quieter? Don’t scare away my fish!”

“Why are you still fishing?! Look! There’s a woman in the water! Is it a mermaid?!”

He sounded serious, so the others also looked into the water.

It was just as he said, there was a woman in the clear water!

“Did the owner of the pavilion hire someone to pretend to be a mermaid?”

“If they had, they should have at least dressed her up as a mermaid…”

While they were talking, the woman suddenly broke the water’s surface and took in a deep breath.

Her fair face was covered in water droplets, which made her face shine with a dazzling light under the sun.

“The hell?! She’s beautiful!”

Chapter 16

“She’s too beautiful! I didn’t know there was someone so beautiful in Sea City!”

“Isn’t she a bit familiar?”

“Seriously, Trent. You’re such a womanizer. Whenever you see someone beautiful, you find them familiar to you…”

Adina heard the men the moment she popped her head out of the water, but since she was some distance away, she could not make out their words.

However, she had already swum around four hundred meters and was exhausted. She had to get to the shore.

She caught hold of a bluestone slab by the bank and climbed up.

Her hair was wet and spilled down her shoulders, which made her look like an enchanting flower that had bloomed in the water.

Her skin was fair and had a crystalline look to it, which made Adina look transparent under the sun.

She seemed like someone out of this world.

Her eyes were like pools of water, and water droplets covered her red lips. One could mistake her for a beauty who had jumped out of a painting.

Meanwhile, her clothes stuck close to her body and revealed the outline of her graceful figure.

The men by the river were all stunned.

“The hell… She’s beautiful…”

“Gosh, I’ve got a nose-bleed!”

“I definitely know her!” Trent widened his eyes. “I’ve absolutely seen her before!”

The others booed at him.

For some reason, Duke felt a slight tinge of aversion in his heart when he heard his friends discussing the woman’s beauty.

He moved before he could think about it. He tossed his fishing rod to the side and walked down the stone stairs to the bank.

Then, right before everyone’s flabbergasted looks, he removed his black jacket and placed it over Adina’s shoulders.

“Duke, you sneaky b*stard! You actually made a move faster than I did!” Trent hissed.

“I thought Duke doesn’t like women. Why is he much faster than us today?”

“Who said he doesn’t like women? If he didn’t like women, where would he have gotten his

Chapter 16

sons from? The storks?”

Everyone immediately remembered that Duke had sons.

They had forgotten about them because he was incredibly tight-lipped about the twins. Even his childhood friends seldom saw them.

Hence, it was rare for them to remember that he had children.

Adina was thinking about where to go next when an aloof man suddenly appeared in front of her and placed his jacket on her shoulders.

She recognized him. It was Duke, who she had run into the day before.

When she remembered how self-righteous he had been, her expression turned cold.

She scowled. “I don’t need it, but thank you.”

Started removing the jacket while saying that.

Duke’s eyes remained frosty. “There are perverts at the top of the stairs. If you’re not scared, you can go up without covering yourself.”

Adina wanted to tell him that she was dressed, but then realized that her clothes were stuck to her. She might as well… have not been wearing anything.

She pursed her lips and asked, “How much does your jacket cost?”

Duke cocked an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s best for me to pay you for the jacket, since we’re strangers.”

Adina took out her purse from her drenched pocket and shoved a stack of wet bills into Duke’s hands.

“Keep it, Mr. Winters.” After saying that, she walked up the stairs without giving him another glance.