Chapter 4

Manuel raised an eyebrow, as if asking why he thought that.

Declan glanced at Lee Soo before answering.

“Because she’s gorgeous. I think she’s the prettiest Asian woman I’ve ever seen.”

Manuel frowned and carefully gauged Lee Soo’s reaction.

“Oh, Declan. That’s racist. You’re so used to saying things like that you probably don’t even notice anymore.”

Declan looked unconvinced.

“It’s not racist. I was complimenting her. If you want to know whether it’s racist or not, let’s ask the guy over there who looks like he’s got a fancy education.”

Instead of asking Lee Soo—the person he was talking about—Declan pointed at Hayden.

Brushing his rain-soaked hair back with one hand, Hayden fixed Declan with a steady gaze.

“I don’t care whether it’s racist or not, but it was definitely a stupid thing to say.”

“What?”

“Did you think saying something like that would actually make her feel honored?”

The other men immediately sided with Hayden, teasing Declan with playful jeers.

Declan looked caught off guard.

Upper-class white men with conservative backgrounds weren’t exactly known for calling out racism.

“You’re awfully blunt.”

After giving Lee Soo a brief apology, Declan opened his backpack to change the subject.

Cute little pins decorated the bag.

Judging by its contents, it seemed to belong to a woman.

Inside were a large scented candle, a planner, a tablet, a bottle of water, a camera, some snacks, and diet protein powder.

Hayden opened the scented candle first and placed it on the table.

Then he turned to Jenna.

“You’re a flight attendant. What do you think the chances are that a search team reaches this island within three days?”

Wiping the smeared mascara from beneath her eyes with the back of her hand, Jenna answered,

“…I don’t know for sure, but probably less than ten percent.”

The mood instantly turned cold.

Jenna let out a heavy sigh.

“The plane probably disappeared over the sea dozens of kilometers away from this island. The search teams will follow the black box signal and search the surrounding islands first.”

“…”

“After about a week, they’ll estimate the crash site. If someone on the team is really good, they might calculate today’s ocean currents and end up searching this island… but the odds are slim.”

Everyone’s faces turned pale with despair.

Everyone except Hayden.

He remained perfectly calm.

“Let’s see what everyone has on them.”

Hayden went first.

He emptied his pockets onto the table.

A multitool knife.

Five condoms.

And a pack of gum.

The first thing Manuel noticed was the condoms.

His curious brown eyes scanned the package.

“‘Ultra Size, for 8 to 10 inches (20–25 cm)’? Damn.”

Resting his chin on one hand, Hayden smiled.

“The angle’s pretty damn good too.”

His relaxed attitude eased the tension in the room.

Dehart, who had looked completely dejected moments ago, finally relaxed and leaned back against the wall.

“Well, if we’re talking angles, I can compete too. Mine curves upward like a banana.”

The stiff atmosphere gradually melted away.

Before long, everyone was boasting about their size.

Laughter echoed through the cottage now and then.

Lee Soo found Hayden fascinating.

He looked at people with an almost arrogant air, as though he naturally stood above them, yet no one seemed offended by it.

He must have exceptional people skills…

That wasn’t something a person learned overnight.

It was the kind of confidence that came naturally only after years of experience and the security of immense wealth.

What does he do for a living?

The moment the thought crossed her mind, her eyes met Hayden’s.

His blue eyes, calm as a river in spring, brushed gently across her face.

You could often tell what someone was thinking just by looking into their eyes.

There was no wariness toward a stranger in Hayden’s gaze.

Instead…

He looked at her as though she were a small, adorable pet.

He made no attempt to hide that look.

If anything, he let it show even more clearly.

She didn’t know why.

But she refused to shrink away or avoid him.

She looked him straight in the eye.

For the first time, the relaxed expression on Hayden’s face shifted with genuine interest.

Even so, his gaze never wavered.

Those clear, unwavering eyes made it feel as though the crowded room had disappeared until only the two of them remained.

Lee Soo felt her cheeks grow warm, as though she were drunk.

If not for Declan speaking up, she might really have lost herself in that moment.

“Speaking of psychopaths locking women up on islands… aren’t most of the islands off southern Ireland owned by the Graham family?”

As Nate rummaged through his belongings, he nodded.

“Yeah. A bunch of lunatics who treat people like toys.”

Lee Soo, whose attention had been completely absorbed by Hayden, suddenly frowned.

The company ID she had seen in her dream flashed vividly through her mind.

“…Graham. Graham?”

“Hm?”

“Is the Graham family really wealthy enough to own islands?”

As if he’d been waiting for someone to ask, Nate answered immediately.

“Wealthy? That’s an understatement. They’ve got so much money they could throw cash into the air every single day and still never run out.”

Anxiously, Lee Soo touched her lips.

How had she become involved with a family that wealthy?

How had she ended up imprisoned on one of their islands?

“…I see.”

She wanted to piece together everything that had happened to her.

But the constant feeling that something was chasing her kept forcing her to glance over her shoulder again and again.

Watching her curiously, Jenna turned to Nate with renewed interest.

“Mind explaining the Graham family to someone from California?”

As everyone emptied their pockets, lip balm, phones, pens, energy bars, and other items were placed on the table.

Declan glanced over the pile before answering Jenna.

“The Grahams are basically Britain’s royal family. They own subsidiaries in every major industry—defense contractors, large hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, you name it. In other words, they’re filthy rich.”

“But why do people say they played with people’s lives?”

“That started about twenty years ago, when the Graham family came under heavy criticism over a surrogate scandal. They paid nearly a hundred women to get pregnant.”

Nate chimed in.

“I heard about it from my parents too. The government opened an investigation, but for some reason it just fizzled out without anything ever coming of it.”

Declan frowned.

“What if the Graham family bought this island too and they’re locking women up here to do the same thing? If they’re running human experiments or clinical trials, that would explain why Lee Soo was imprisoned here.”

Listening to the conversation, Manuel studied Lee Soo’s stomach with a grave expression.

It looked as though he was trying to determine whether she was pregnant.

Declan caught him immediately.

“Manuel, why are you staring at Lee Soo’s stomach like some creep?”

Manuel flinched.

“Creep? What are you talking about? I was just looking.”

Lee Soo was too lost in thought about the Graham family to notice.

Trying to get her attention, Declan rubbed the back of Manuel’s head and said,

“Lee Soo, watch out for this guy. He’s got a thing for Asian women. A few months ago at a club, he spent the whole night chasing after them.”

“I did not.”

After hearing the denial, Declan leaned over and whispered into Manuel’s ear.

“So what, you don’t like Asian women? What about her? She’s kind of sexy, isn’t she?”

Manuel slowly looked Lee Soo over.

She was about five feet four inches tall.

Even wrapped tightly in Hayden’s jacket, her full breasts were obvious, and her softly rounded thighs were enough to stir a man’s imagination.

Her cheeks were as plump as peaches, her skin pale and translucent.

The corners of her eyes tilted upward like those of a cat, perfectly complementing her full lips.

Just imagining what kind of sounds those lips might make in private made his face grow hot.

His ears turning red, Manuel forced himself to look away.

“Well… she’s not bad.”

Lee Soo ignored their quiet whispers and stared out the window.

Her heart was in turmoil.

If the Graham family really had experimented on women…

If that was why she had been imprisoned on this island…

Then escaping the island wouldn’t mean she was safe.

She might die from the aftereffects of whatever experiments had been performed on her.

Or the Grahams might hunt her down and imprison her all over again.

The worst-case scenarios made her lower lip tremble.

Mad scientists.

Mad billionaires.

The insane Grahams.

“Oh! My phone turned on! Let’s see…”

Declan suddenly jumped to his feet.

The screen lit up normally.

Then a message appeared.

No Service.

A moment later, static flickered across the display before the phone shut itself off.

A black screen.

It almost felt like an omen of what lay ahead.

Declan raked both hands through his hair.

“Damn it… The rescue team might pass by while we’re hiding here. We should leave a distress signal on the beach.”

Rumble! Crack!

Thunder exploded overhead, illuminating the world outside.

For an instant, Hayden’s face, sitting beside the window, was bathed in brilliant light.

In that fleeting moment…

It almost looked as though he had smiled.

Smiling at the sound of thunder violent enough to split the sky apart was a strange reaction.

Lee Soo barely managed to move her stiff lips.

“Mr. Hayden… are you okay? Can you really handle… all of this?”

If she stayed silent any longer, she felt as though her heart would burst.

She just wanted to hear someone speak.

As though gently accepting that feeling, Hayden answered,

“I like thunder. People are cute when it startles them.”

What terrible taste.

Such strange taste.

This conversation probably would’ve been better left unsaid.

Rumble! Crack!

Thunder roared again.

Watching the shadows deepen across Hayden’s handsome features, Lee Soo felt a strange sensation before quickly looking away.

“I don’t…”

Declan seemed to hate thunderstorms.

Covering his ears, he finally spoke while staring outside.

“I’d rather stay here out of the rain, but the rescue team might miss us. Let’s drag the life raft onto the beach and spell out S.O.S. with stones inside it. It’s a ten-person raft, so it’ll be big enough to spot.”

The football players agreed with Declan’s plan.

Jenna said she wanted to get a better idea of where they were and went with them.

Lee Soo and Hayden stayed behind to prepare the cottage for the night.

Thankfully, the faint moonlight filtering in made it possible to see inside.

After hesitating for a long moment, as though he didn’t want to touch anything, Hayden finally picked up the dust-covered cups and scattered trash, carrying them outside.

Lee Soo cleaned as much as she could too.

But every time she spread her legs even slightly, not only her thighs but even her panties became visible beneath the oversized jacket.

She couldn’t exactly keep her legs crossed forever.

And once she fell asleep…

She probably wouldn’t even notice if the jacket flipped open.

She didn’t want everyone staring at her backside.

Keeping her knees pressed tightly together, she moved carefully.

Whenever she picked up one of the wooden cups rolling across the floor, she crouched instead.

Just then, a gust of wind and rain swept through the wide-open doorway.

The soaked jacket fluttered open before slapping back against her waist.

She felt Hayden’s gaze land on her hips.

In the dim room, his vivid blue eyes gleamed.

They seemed to be saying something.

Something intensely provocative.

Something almost indecent.

Yet she couldn’t decipher its meaning.

She hurriedly pulled the jacket back down around her waist.

But those piercing blue eyes didn’t leave her.

Her mind grew hazy.

She sprang to her feet and awkwardly rubbed her forehead.

“I… I’ll have to find something to wear once it gets light.”

She wanted him to know she wasn’t dressed like this because she wanted to be.

She certainly wasn’t trying to seduce him.

But somehow, they completely misunderstood each other.

She had expected him to simply nod and let it pass.

Instead…

Hayden reached for his belt.

The prominent veins across the back of his hand caught the moonlight.

Unlike his refined face, his hands were rough, marked with countless small scars.

Someone had once said that a person’s hands revealed the life they had lived.

That thought flashed through her mind.

Slowly, those hands undid the leather belt.

Then he unfastened the button.

Lowered the zipper.

His rain-soaked trousers slipped to the floor.

Lee Soo’s eyes fell upon his navy boxer briefs.

Although the room was dark, the prominent outline beneath the fabric was unmistakable.

“…Mr. Hayden.”

Lee Soo called out to him in alarm.

Every slow breath that rose and fell beneath his broad chest made her feel as though her blood were burning.