Let Me Stay The Night

Upon thinking of how Christina was still locked away on the island, Vito became even more tight-lipped.

His silence, however, had betrayed him.

Instead of probing further, Anya decided to get close to the man to fish for more information. "Anyway, it's not easy to hail a taxi here. Where are you headed to? I can give you a lift"

"N-No. It's okay," Vito stammered, his voice thick with fear. All he wanted was to disappear from Anya's sight, so why would he accept her offer?

With that, he spun on his heels and bolted as if he had a horde of beasts on his tail.

Anya, on the other hand, remained unfazed. As she watched Vito's retreating figure, she made a call and arranged for someone to follow him. Ha! As long as Christina's no longer under Nathaniel's protection, I'll find a way to get rid of her!

After sorting everything out, Anya returned to her hotel.

Alas, she was so caught up in fiddling with Christina's pearl earring that she failed to see the man approaching her.

By the time she realized it, the two had bumped into each other, causing her to drop the earring.

"You!" Anya scolded, only to freeze when she came face-to-face with Francis.

The next second, she covered her mouth as her eyes lit up with excitement and joy.

It was clear that Anya was Francis' fan, and given the latter's popularity, it was hardly surprising that he could still be recognized even with shades on.

Despite that, Francis remained amiable and gestured for the woman to keep her volume down.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you," Anya muttered, looking every bit like a well-behaved child in front of her favorite celebrity.

Francis merely responded with a smile, but just as he was about to walk away, he caught a glimpse of the pearl earring from the corner of his eye.

He immediately picked it up and couldn't help but marvel at how prettily it shone under the lights.

"Thank you," Anya said as she held her hands out politely, thinking Francis would return the earring to her.

That, however, wasn't the case. A few seconds later, Francis finally smiled and spoke up. "This is a beautiful earring. Is it yours?"

Anya nodded without hesitation. "Yes. It's mine."

Upon hearing that, Francis scrutinized the woman before him. "In that case, can I have it?" he asked, his tone still warm and gentle.

"Of course!" Anya replied, already flustered beyond belief. Oh, my goodness! How can I say no to my idol? Besides, it isn't my earring, so I dont see why not! "Tll pay you for it,' Francis added before taking out his phone to transfer the money.

Anya initially wanted to turn him down, but after realizing she could get her idol's contact, she knew she had to seize the opportunity.

As a result, she hastily whipped out her phone and provided her QR code for the transfer.

Now that she had her idol's contact information, Anya was too wired to sleep and even bragged on social media about her chance meeting with Francis. Meanwhile, the smile on Francis' face gradually faded away as he left the hotel and got into his minivan, the pearl earring still clutched in his hand.

I'm sure this 1s the pearl earring that Christina wore to the banquet the other day... I can recognize it from a mile away!

"Get two people to keep an eye on that woman, he told Parker before dialing Nathaniel's number.

The latter answered the phone within seconds, and Francis' excited voice came through. "I have news on Christina!"

Nathaniel's eyes instantly lit up. "I'll be right over."

Before long, the two men met up.

Thanks to the surveillance footage, Nathaniel could tell with one look that the woman who bumped into Francis was none other than Anya. "Hmm... Could the Gibson family have hidden Mrs. Hadley away?" Sebastian asked.

By then, Nathaniel was seething as he stood up and marched to Anya's room like an enraged bull.

Anya wasn't the least bit afraid when she first opened the door and saw Nathaniel, but when his bodyguards rushed in to tie her toa chair, alarm bells began going off in her head. Nathaniel took out the pear! earring and showed it to the woman. "Tell me. Where did you get this from?"

Despite the rising panic, Anya managed to recompose herself. "I bought it."

"I don't have the patience for your bullsh*t," Nathaniel warned, his gaze dark and cold.

The bodyguards took the hint and slapped Anya hard until her face was red and swollen.

Needless to say, the latter was boiling with rage. "How dare you treat me like this, Nathaniel Hadley! Wait till my grandmother and father hear of it. There's no way they'd let you off!" "Let me ask you one more time..." Nathaniel said through gritted teeth. "Where did you get this earring from?"

As much as Anya wanted to stay silent, she had no choice but to blurt out the truth when the bodyguards readied themselves to slap her again, "I picked it up! I picked the earring up!"

Even though she wanted nothing more than to kill Christina, her sense of self-preservation had kicked in, and she needed to protect herself. Within seconds, she had told Nathaniel everything she knew about the pearl earring.

"Look into it this instance, Sebastian!" Nathaniel instructed anxiously. Yes! I'm sure Christina is still alive!

Efficient as always, Sebastian took less than an hour before he tracked down Vito's whereabouts.

Unfortunately, they were too late; Vito had already left town.

Upon hearing that, Nathaniel wasted no time gathering his team and giving chase in their cars.

Just as Vito was boarding his fishing boat, Nathaniel and his bodyguards suddenly showed up and stopped him.

At that moment, he knew he had made a huge mistake by going ashore.

Not only did he have nowhere to run, but he also felt utterly ashamed when he learned that Nathaniel was Christina's husband. On the other hand, Nathaniel was furious when he heard Vito had rescued Christina and imprisoned her to make her his wife. However, he still needed the islander to show them the way, so he did everything he could to suppress his anger for the time being. Meanwhile, Christina was still locked up in the hut and hadn't closed her eyes since Vito left.

There was nothing else she could do but pray for Vito to deliver the items to Nathaniel without a hitch.

The early morning light had just fallen over the land when Christina heard noises in the courtyard.

As it turned out, Miriam had woken up and was cleaning up the place while waiting for Vito's return.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

A while later, Miriam's quavering voice shattered the tranquil peace. "Hey! Who are you guys? What are you doing here?"

Immediately after, a loud bang rang out as the door to Christina's hut was kicked open.

Christina quickly turned toward the commotion, only to see a strapping Nathaniel standing at the door. "Nathaniel?" she croaked, wondering if the sight before her was just a figment of her imagination.

Nathaniel instantly strode into the room and pulled her into an embrace. "It's me, Christina."