I glanced at him, unable to hide my frown because of his last statement.
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of escaping. Just make sure my family and friends are safe. We have nothing to argue about anymore.”
His smile slowly disappeared, and surprise replaced it. It seemed like he didn’t expect me to say that.
I smiled at him before turning back to look at the vast ocean. Due to everything that happened in the past few days and the information he shared with me, which still isn’t clear until now, I couldn’t leave his control.
I still need to know everything he’s hiding and everything he knows about me.
***
“How many days will we stay here?” I asked Stephen as we entered our room.
I couldn’t help but be amazed by its entirety. Aside from the spacious bed in the middle, it also had a mini-living room on the right side. There was a long chocolate and white sofa placed there, and in front of it was a long center table. The wall facing this area had a flat-screen TV attached to it. On the left side, there was a round, low table surrounded by two black bean bags. Next to it was a small refrigerator.
If he hadn’t said that this was their rest house, I would have thought we were in a hotel.
I smiled when I saw the open veranda. I quickly went to it and gazed at the vast ocean. It was indeed more beautiful to behold from above.
“Just one day. We’ll be going back tomorrow.”
All the happiness I felt suddenly vanished like a bubble when he answered. At that moment, I turned to him with a frown.
“Just one day? Can’t we stay longer? It’s been a while since I last went to a resort.” I tried to convince him.
He looked at me sternly. “This may be our private resort, but I don’t want to be complacent. They might attack at a time we least expect it. Do you want your friends to be in danger too?”
I paused. Oh, right. My friends are with us now. If something happens, they might get involved too.
“Besides, I can’t be away for several days. I have a lot of things to do.”
I rolled my eyes. “You can leave me here and go home first,” I whispered as he turned away.
I was surprised when he suddenly faced me again. “Are you saying something?”
I quickly shook my head and forced a smile.
“Anyway, I just need to go somewhere quickly, so you can go with Mads for now. If you want to eat, you can go ahead. But remember, wherever you go, Cole should always be with you, clear?”
I nodded repeatedly to avoid prolonging the conversation. After he left, I quickly opened my travel bag to get something to change into and use for swimming.
But my shoulders slumped when I saw that almost everything inside was t-shirts and shorts. Then I remembered that Stephen was the one who packed my things.
That guy! He didn’t even include a single swimsuit or beach outfit!
What does he think I’ll do here? Just stroll around?
Annoyed, I sighed before picking out what to wear. No matter how much I complain, there’s nothing more I can do.
After I finished preparing, I went out and downstairs. Mads was the only one in the living room, waiting while reading a magazine. She was wearing a yellow spaghetti-strap top and white dolphin shorts.
“Where are they?” I looked around, but I only saw bodyguards.
“They went ahead of you to the beach. They’ve been excited about it since yesterday. Are you going to eat? I’ll wait for you. We picked you up a bit too early and you missed breakfast,” she said continuously.
I shook my head. “No need. I already ate while we were on the trip.”
She closed the magazine she was reading and stood up, looking at me. “Okay. Let’s go?”
I smiled at her before nodding. I quickly approached her and linked my arm with hers.
As we stepped out, I immediately noticed the men in black scattered around, guarding every corner. Meanwhile, Cole followed quietly behind me.
Even from afar, we could hear the loud laughter of our friends frolicking in the sea. We laughed and shook our heads together. They behaved like kids.
We went to join them, engaging in a playful chase and splashing water at each other. When we playfully threw sand at them, they quickly submerged themselves in the water without realizing it. But we didn’t let them off easily and kept splashing them with water.
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud every time they lost their balance, and we dunked their faces underwater. They didn’t resist and seemed to enjoy the teasing we were giving them.
After getting tired of playing in the water, we decided to swim. It had been a long time since I last went to the beach, so it felt like my first time swimming.
In a distant part of the sea, there was a floating raft. Whoever reached the raft first would be declared the winner and could impose a penalty on the losers.
We started our swimming race. I looked ahead and noticed that I was at the far end of the group. I didn’t mind, though, as I was just enjoying the cool splash of water on me.
However, when I was halfway to the raft, I suddenly felt something wrong. I couldn’t move my right foot, which made me panic and struggle in the water.
I looked at my friends, but it seemed they hadn’t noticed that I was lagging behind, as they were already close to the raft. I looked towards the shore, but some of the guards there still hadn’t noticed me. Meanwhile, Cole was looking down, seemingly texting on his phone.
I continued to wave my hand, trying to pull myself up. But suddenly, I felt tired, causing me to slowly sink into the water.
There was nothing else I could do but let whatever might happen to me happen. If I didn’t die at Stephen’s hands, it looked like my life would end here in the sea.
But before I could completely close my eyes, I saw a blurry figure swiftly swimming towards me.
I felt a firm grip on my waist before the surroundings turned dark.