Chapter 44

was her mortal enemy.

“You are his daughter…” I sighed. “I don’t believe he has a valid excuse for not assisting you in saving your mother…” In particular, with regard to finances. He’s one of the richest businessmen in New York. But what she had told me did not in the least bit come as a surprise to me. Julio Lauren was one of the greedy businessmen in

the world.

Celine frowned and looked at me, her lips curved into a cold and

desolate smile. “What if I told you that they refused to provide any kind of assistance in any way? What if I were to tell you right now that both dad and Brylee found me a black sheep in the family? They don’t like me… My mother and I… And if I wanted money from them, I had to give them or do something in exchange for it…”

I gazed at her in bewilderment. “Did your father actually do that?” I asked. “Why?”

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LEAVING THE ISLAND

CELINE’s POV

Why on earth would my father treat me like that? I have no idea. I really don’t know why.

I stared at Sebastian as he wore that expression on his face. Does this mean that he actually believed in me? He should’ve said I was lying if he didn’t!

“Hey!” Sebastian called out, snapping his fingers in front of my face.” Why aren’t you responding to the questions I’ve asked?”

“Why are you so interested in me, huh?” I countered. “Don’t tell me.

I decided to tease him in order to divert the topic.

“Oh, no…” He gave an amused shake of the head while laughing.” You’re someone who feels good about yourself, Celine…” He smiled as he murmured something to me, and his glance moved from my eyes to my lips before returning to my eyes.

“Shut up, Sebastian…” I smiled.

“Make me…” he said and my eyes widened when he leaned closer, his stare deadly. The smile on his face was gone, along with the amusement in his eyes. They’re all gone…

We weren’t even close to being hungry at that point. Is he going to eat me? Because he looked like he was going to do so.

My chest felt like it was going to explode, and I had no choice but to squeeze my eyes tight. And before I could feel his lips against mine, I heard what sounded like a machine passing through the air.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a helicopter coming in for a landing on

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the beach, and the rotors of the chopper were turning rapidly in a hostile way. My eyes squinted when I saw Brylee and Jake inside, sitting behind the pilot.

“Brylee is really worried about you… I commented in a hushed tone.” She was extremely prompt in coming to take you up…”

“Seb!” As soon as they got out of the black behemoth, Brylee sprinted towards Sebastian with her arms spread wide open and her face filled with tears. She buried her face in his chest and sobbed violently and I rolled my eyes in silence. I saw how Sebastian smirked when he caught me.

“Celine…” And then there was Jake, whose expression showed that he was quite concerned about me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah…” I gave him a kind nod and grinned when he breathed in relief. ‘Thank you for coming back, Jake…”

“Of course…” he pulled me into a hug and I just let him. “I wouldn’t just let my ‘girlfriend’ get stuck on this island with my cousin…” he emphasized the word girlfriend and I chuckled as I wrapped my arms around his torso.

“Celine…” I heard my sister’s voice calling me, so Jake and I pulled away immediately. “I’m glad you’re safe…”

I have no idea whether or not she’s concerned about me, but the way. she spoke made it sound like she was. Nevertheless, the way in which she examined me with burning gaze, possibly looking for love bites, and checking to see if my clothes were all intact made me want to laugh at her face, but I controlled myself.

I decided to just smile sweetly instead, but I was taken aback when she grabbed my hand and pulled me into an embrace, squeezing the hell out of me and coming dangerously close to suffocating me. “I’m so worried about you…” She said and began to cry on my shoulder.

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“I’m okay now, Brylee…” I remarked as I theatrically stroked my palm across her back, closing to pulling her hair from her scalp.

“Let’s get back together and continue discussing this at a later time…’ As a result of Jake’s interruption, Brylee pushed me away a little bit harshly and went back to being held by Sebastian.

We moved as a group towards the helicopter, and settled ourselves inside, with Jake holding me and Sebastian holding Brylee… but then my sister’s boyfriend’s eyes were on me the whole time we travelled

back to the hotel.

After noticing the wound on Sebatian’s hand, Brylee didn’t waste any time in getting a medical professional to examine him as soon as we got back into the hotel.

Sebastian was bitten by what the doctor described as a run-of-the- mill species of snake. It was not a poisonous substance. After I was certain that he was no longer in danger, I started to leave the clinic room, but I was stopped by a voice just as I was about to exit.

“It’s now past lunchtime, but none of us have had anything to eat yet… Sebastian said as his voice became increasingly audible to me as stood at the doorway with my back turned to everyone else. “Celine… I am aware that you’re both hungry and exhausted. Let’s go to the restaurant together and get something to eat…”

“But, Seb… There’s something that Jake had prepared for her, and he intends to eat with her in her room… right, Jake?” It was clear from the tone of Brylee’s voice that she was aggravated by what Sebastian

had said.

As I turned my back to face them, a grin couldn’t help but spread across my face. “Jake… I think it would be best if we joined eating with them. The more people there are, the merrier…”

“Sure! Sure!” Instantaneously, Jake reacted and positioned himself so

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that his arm was placed around my shoulder. “We’ll catch up with you in the restaurant, bro!” Jake gave Sebastian a light slap on the shoulder, and at that moment, Brylee’s look caused the corner of my mouth to curl upward.

I gave a sarcastic wave of farewell to her and nodded at Sebastian, who was frowning as he watched us leave the clinic. And he seemed that he didn’t like what he was seeing as he stared at Jake’s back.

“I had no idea that you were making preparations for something like that…” I voiced out as we entered the elevator.

“Planning what?” Jake was clueless, so it’s not true.

“That we’re going to eat in my room…”

“Oh… I have no idea why Brylee would say something like that…” he scratched his nape awkwardly. “But if you want to—”

“No, no… it’s okay…” I smiled. “As I’ve told you earlier, the more, the merrier!”

I took a shower first in my room and Jake patiently waited outside, put on a bluish summer dress with thin straps that stopped just above my knees. After drying my hair, I gathered all of my strands int a high ponytail.

I exited the room, and as I did so, I noticed that Jake’s eyes lit up with admiration the moment he laid sight on me. “Wow!” he exclaimed and I just responded to him with a beautiful smile.

After half an hour of waiting for Sebastian and Brylee… Jake had already placed the order for us, and he started eating, even if the couple had not yet arrived. I couldn’t help but grimace as I looked towards the front door of the exclusive restaurant.

I picked up my water glass and took a sip, drumming the nails of my left hand impatiently on the table. What are they doing right now? I

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wondered, taking another sip, studying Jake over the rim of the glass.

Jake is every bit as gorgeous as Sebastian, but he’s not as powerful as his cousin. His eyes were a nondescript shade of marble-gray, but nothing se xy or enchanting about that, in contrast to those cobalt blue eyes… G od! When Sebastian and I met gazes, I couldn’t help but feel a flutter of butterflies in my stomach. His gaze was just burning

me.

Sebastian’s voice was deep and warm, the sort of voice that could be described as bedroom sex y, while Jake’s was just cool and

unpretentious.

But Jake is the nicest guy I’ve ever encountered, and I won’t ever regret the day I met him at the airport, the day he claimed to be Blake, Jenny’s boyfriend.

When he realized that I was occasionally looking toward the entrance, he grinned and gave me an assurance. “Don’t worry, your sister will be coming with Sebastian. Whatever is holding them, I’m sure it must be something important…”

However, I wasn’t concerned about her at all… It was more about But I pursed my lips and refrained from uttering the thing that w running through my mind. He’s the one who invited me over late lunch, but it seemed that they’re not going to show up anymore. At the very least, he could have given Jake a call or sent him a text to let us know that they wouldn’t be coming.

I heaved a sigh, and just as I was getting ready to start eating, my phone rang unexpectedly. When I checked who was calling, my eyes brightened up when I saw Jenny’s name listed as the caller.

“Jenny!” I let out a peep. “How are you doing? You know I have something to-”

“Celine…?” it was a man’s voice.