Mina stared at Ella in confusion. "How do you know I love Mr. Charlie?"
Ella leaned lazily against the sofa back, her posture slightly stiff. "If you didn’t love him, why would you stay with him? You’re jealous of , aren’t you?"
Mina bit her lip awkwardly. "I’m his girlfriend. I know Charlie loves to have fun, and he changes girlfriends frequently... but I love his charming, bad-boy side."
Such is the folly of infatuation. No matter how flawed or toxic a man may be, love is love, and for a ti, it is beyond reason or control.
Ella pressed her lips together. "Are you afraid he’ll fall for ? Or... that he’ll leave you because of ?"
A trace of anger flashed in Mina’s eyes. "Of course I’m afraid! But if it’s not you, there will be other won! He... he just loves to play around. He says it’s his freedom to do so before marriage."
What a pitiful, tragic girl.
As if Charlie were the only man left in the world.
"In that case, how about we make a deal? You get him to tell you where my son is, and I promise to make him lose all interest in ," Ella proposed, sitting upright and looking seriously at Mina.
Mina’s eyes lit up, but she bit her lip and hesitated. After a mont, she shook her head.
Ella frowned in puzzlent. Didn’t Mina love Charlie? Wasn’t this deal enticing enough?
Or... did Mina not love Charlie as much as she claid?
"If I betray him, he’ll hate for it! I’m sorry, but I can’t agree. I’ll compete with you fairly," Mina said firmly.
Ella was at a loss for words.
So won would go to any lengths, even risking their reputations, to fight for a man. Yet this Mina wanted a fair competition?
"Don’t worry, I don’t like Mr. Charlie, so I won’t be competing with you," Ella said, furrowing her brow as she lazily stood. "But I’m sure you wouldn’t want him to touch either. So, if he tries anything, I hope you’ll intervene—or keep him busy every night so he doesn’t have the energy to bother ."
Mina, no fool herself, understood Ella’s implication. She blushed and smiled shyly. "Of course. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he’s... preoccupied with ."
Ella said nothing more.
There was no point continuing the conversation.
Seeing Ella’s lack of interest, Mina bid her farewell. After Mina left, Ella locked the door and leaned against the balcony, gazing outside. However, her view was blocked by a dense grove of trees. Beyond the trees, though, she could glimpse the shimring surface of the sea.
Ella rubbed her temples wearily. Perhaps Mason hadn’t brought her here just to humiliate her.
Maybe it was to avoid Eric’s surveillance. Mason was likely waiting for the right mont to slip away from the Scott family and quietly co here himself.
Ella lay on the bed to rest, closing her eyes to relax. She didn’t know how much ti had passed before she fell asleep—and this ti, she dreamt of Elias.
In her nightmare, Elias was being dragged by two n in black. His tear-streaked face was filled with terror as he cried out desperately, "Mommy, please save ! Mommy..."
The nightmare jolted Ella awake.
When she opened her eyes, it was already 11:40 a.m.
She had slept for over two hours.
Ella quickly sat up, reaching for the small knife in her coat pocket. It was still there. Nothing seed out of place.
Without bothering to tidy her disheveled hair, Ella reminded herself that Charlie liked neat and proper won. During breakfast, he had already shown his displeasure at her table manners.
A man can never have feelings for a woman he’s dissatisfied with.
Ella hadn’t even opened her door when a servant knocked, informing her that it was ti for lunch and that Charlie had invited her downstairs to eat.
In the dining room, Ella was slightly surprised to see dishes on the table.
Charlie spoke warmly and gently, "I know you’re from Country S and usually eat rice, so I specifically asked the chef to prepare S cuisine for you."
Ella raised the corners of her lips but said nothing as she sat down, not even offering a word of thanks.
The anticipation in Charlie’s eyes slowly turned into a faint chill. He hadn’t expected this woman to be so... impolite. It was disappointing, to say the least.
Even worse, this was the sa woman who had ruthlessly kneed him below the belt—and now she couldn’t even muster a simple "thank you."
Oh, this lack of decorum! Charlie found himself struggling to tolerate it.
Mina, observing the scene, secretly felt a twinge of delight and quickly tried to smooth things over. "Charlie, Miss Davis isn’t accustod to our Western manners. Please don’t take it to heart."
Ella let out a cold laugh. "When will Mason be here?"
"J? I don’t know. He hasn’t shared any details with —only said he was sending a ’gift,’" Charlie said, his gaze smoldering. "Though it seems the gift is a feisty little wildcat."
Ella ignored him and lowered her head, eating without hesitation.
Charlie was so furious he nearly spat blood.
Ella could see that Charlie had nothing to do with Elias. He made no ntion of her son and kept repeating the idea that she was a "gift" sent by Mason.
This fool! He didn’t even realize Mason had played him. If Eric showed up here, Charlie was as good as dead.
As Ella calmly ate her al, Charlie clenched his knife and fork, his eyes fixated on her delicate face.
The harder it was to win over a woman, the more it fueled a man’s possessive desires.
Mina glanced between Charlie and Ella, feeling a twinge of fear.
If Charlie really fell for Ella, what about her? Would she be abandoned?
The al was bland and tasteless.
Despite his frustrations, Charlie refused to give up, continuing to occasionally show kindness to Ella and even granting her permission to roam outside the villa.
Ella was more than happy to oblige and imdiately left the villa to explore the surroundings.
The island wasn’t very large. Apart from the trees around the villa, the rest of the landscape was mostly rugged and rocky. From a single glance, it was clear that aside from Charlie’s house, there were no other buildings.
Mason was truly cunning. By bringing her here, he ensured she wouldn’t see Elias. If she couldn’t find her son, her efforts would be in vain, and she’d walk right into Mason’s trap.
No... Ella reminded herself. As long as Mason showed up, it ant she was one step closer to Elias.
"Miss Davis." Mina’s voice called from behind.
Ella turned with a slight smile. "Miss Mina, have you made up your mind?"
Mina bit her lip. "Actually... even if I agree to help, I’m powerless. This island may have boats coming and going, but they all belong to Charlie. Plus, my phone has no signal here. On this island, only Charlie’s phone works. None of the others have any reception."
Ella was secretly alard. So, the island lacked a proper signal tower, and Charlie, wary of being betrayed, had imposed restrictions during its construction. In other words, no one could make calls except him.
Charlie wasn’t as dumb as he looked. By doing this, he effectively severed all communication between his subordinates and the outside world.
"If you need help, I’ll do what I can—but only on one condition: you can’t fall for Charlie!" Mina said firmly.
"Don’t worry. I have no interest in that kind of man," Ella replied coldly.
Her gaze shifted to the horizon, where a small black dot appeared. The distant roar of an approaching plane echoed through the air...
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