“A luxury car?” said Mila as she quickly turned to look as well. Mila could feel her heartbeats quicken as she watched the sports car swiftly make its way into the port. ‘Has Gerald finally come?’ As the car came to a screeching halt, Mila found herself slowly walking forward. Out stepped a young man with a bouquet of fresh flowers in hand. Seeing how romantic he was being, almost everyone present—especially the girls—began feeling jealous. “Sorry I’m late, Hallie!” said the young man as he removed his glasses while smiling. “You’re not late at all, darling! I’m delighted to know that you rushed all the way here just to see me off!” replied Hallie as she skipped rather excitedly toward the young man. When she moved past Mila, however, she made sure that Mila saw her smirking at her before saying, “Why did you walk so far ahead? Did you honestly think that it was going to be your rich boyfriend? Too bad! This one’s mine!” Hallie felt extremely satisfied after saying t
Gerald found himself sitting crossed-legged on the port in his resentment. Nothing else could be done. All he could do was wait for Mila’s return and explain to her what had happened the night before when she finally came back. The rest of the day passed by quickly and before Mila knew it, it was already night. With the sea being so peaceful as the ocean liner sailed on, even the faintest of sea breezes could be heard. “That’s enough dwelling on it, don’t you think, Mila? Since we’re all probably tired by now, let’s go get a bite!” said Molly as she prepared to go get some food for her. “Alright…!” replied Mila with a slight nod. “Now that’s more like it! Still, why did the investigation team have to take our phones away? How boring!” said Molly who just wasn’t used to not having her phone around her. “But of course! Private information about the investigation could easily be leaked if we had our phones with us! While being strict isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I never thou
“…P-professor Shevall? Professor Shevall…?” called out Mila in a soft tone. “Hmm? What’s wrong, Mila?” asked the professor as he looked at her with a gentle gaze and smile. “A… symbol of some sort seems to have appeared on your neck…” Under different circumstances, Mila would’ve just assumed that the symbol was just rash from all the professor’s scratching. However, the symbol looked far too familiar for it to simply be rash. “…A symbol? What could you possibly be talking about, Mila?” asked Professor Shevall as a bitter smile formed on his face. It was at that moment when Mila became certain that it wasn’t just mere rashes on the professor’s neck. Rather, the symbol on his neck was one that she recognized. It looked exactly like the sun symbol on her pendant! “It… It looks exactly like the symbol on the pendants we received!” said Mila, now getting increasingly frightened. Hearing that, the others present began looking at each other before each fishing out their own pe
Violent waves had just crashed onto the side of the ship, and by the looks of it, many more were soon to come. The thunderous waves were so high that they easily scaled the entire ship. Every passing wave was now drenching the deck. Everyone aboard began screaming as the ocean liner slowly began sinking into the maelstrom. However, no matter how much they screamed, the chaotic waves seemed to drown all their voices. The night was dark, but the ocean was even darker… By the time the sea finally calmed itself again, a giant object could be seen descending into the depths. While it was faint, the symbol on the pendant made a brief appearance before disappearing, just like the ocean liner had. “Is Mr. Crawford awake?” asked Fynn as he hurriedly headed for Gerald’s room with a few documents in hand. It was already the next day and Gerald was currently in a house on an island that Jessica had rented. “Mr. Crawford’s up and he seems to be in a rather good mood today. He’s even a
“Bring her over!” said Gerald as he stood up. Getting the approval he needed, the bodyguard then left to get her. A brief moment later, the girl was escorted over by a few other bodyguards. The girl herself appeared to be shy, though it was a reasonable reaction. After all, who wouldn’t be terrified standing in a port filled with thousands of luxury cars? As if that wasn’t enough, at least a thousand black-suited bodyguards were standing all over the place! No ordinary person would ever approach the scene without proper reason. “A-are you… Mr. Crawford? Mila’s boyfriend…?” asked the girl meekly. “I am,” replied Gerald with a nod. “I-I go by the name of Narissa Martin… I’m a good friend of Mila’s… I heard that you were investigating the liner’s disappearance… While I do have some information about it, I’m not really sure if it’ll help with the search…” “Go on then. It may lead to the next clue!” replied Gerald immediately. “Well… The night before, Mila, Molly, and Wanda
While Gerald worked tirelessly day in and day out, his efforts proved to be fruitless, even as the tenth day passed by. He had exhausted every tactic he could think of, yet not even a hint of the ocean liner’s whereabouts could be found. “Where exactly are you, Mila… I… I refuse to believe that you’ve left me just like that!” said Gerald as he pulled his hair in desperation. By this point, he was constantly having flashbacks of the moments he had spent with Mila. He now knew more than ever that Mila had made great efforts just to be with him. On the eleventh morning, Gerald sat on the beach in a daze, unsure of what else he could even do to look for the ship. As he continued racking his brains, his phone began to ring. It was a call from Jessica. “Good morning, brother!” Hearing her voice, Gerald couldn’t help but smile faintly as he replied, “Good morning, sister. Have you returned to Northbay safely? How are things going?” Two days ago, Jessica had returned to Hong Kong
“Hey, you!” called out Bethany in a commanding voice. Breaking from his daze, Gerald then looked at the girl who had shouted at him before asking, “What do you want?” The girl who was pointing at him looked to be in her late teens, and while she looked rather bizarre, she was also somewhat beautiful. “Are you all alone?” asked another girl as she placed a hand on her waist. It was the girl who had told Bethany about Gerald earlier. “I suppose you could say that!” replied Gerald as he nodded. “That’s rather pitiful to hear! How about this, Bethany wants to invite you over to pick tennis balls for us! At least you won’t be alone if you do that for us!” added the girl. Gerald remembered his sister telling him that since the Crawford family was so immensely huge with so many complicated branches, it was normal for those within the family to not know who was who among the younger generation. “If something’s weighing your mind, it’ll only get worse if you continue dwelling on i
Lyra asked that question as she gently helped Gerald wipe the prickly grass off his face. “I… I’m, um… Not sure which family I belong to!” replied Gerald. Hearing that, Lyra simply laughed before saying, “I’ll call some doctors over later and tell them to treat your wounds… Wouldn’t want you to get an infection now, would we?” “No, it’s fine…” For some unknown reason, Lyra simply felt the urge to pamper and take good care of Gerald from the moment she had met him. It was truly an odd feeling. “The assembly will begin soon, young lady… It’s best that you head there immediately,” said a person who seemed to be Lyra’s maid as she walked over. “Very well,” said Lyra as she nodded to Gerald before leaving with her maid. “Young lady? So she’s someone who’s been married into the Crawford family!” muttered Gerald to himself as he finished wiping his face clean. In his mind, he was thinking what a blessing it must be for the person who had married such a gentle and attractive wi