Under the Heiress' Facade

It had taken Bernard some time to calm Hera down, but he could sense her breaths becoming erratic once more. He said softly, "Sweetie? Is everything alright?" She didn't answer.

Bernard sensed that something was wrong and quickly used his hands to cover her eyes before turning on the lights.

Her pale complexion immediately came into sight. She seemed to be heaving, and her forehead was covered in sweat.

Bernard waited for her to adjust to the brightness before taking his hands away, but he immediately noticed that her gaze was slightly dazed.

She looked pitiful and fragile.

"It's alright. Don't be scared." Bernard used a piece of tissue to wipe away the sweat on her forehead as he soothed her.

It took some time for Hera to return to her senses, and her gaze slowly began to focus. She saw Bernard and reached out to wrap her arms around his neck.

She was somewhat lying on him as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent.

His scent had a mysterious power. His scent would always give her peace and calm all the anxiousness she was feeling.

In the past, she would always lay on him whenever she was feeling sad, just like now. She would always cry on him until she fell asleep.

Bernard hugged her and gently patted her back. His eyes flashed with emotion, and he felt a slight sense of guilt.

He should not have been so eager to succeed at the start.

Those people who had harmed her to such a state better not run into him. Otherwise, he'd make their lives a living hell.

Hera's emotions had already returned to normal after waking up the next day.

She could still remember a few things as a few blurry images flashed across her mind. Normally, she would not remember anything once her fear of the dark kicked in.

But something felt off. She remembered her grandmother telling her that her nyctophobia was a result of her times with the human traffickers.

However, there didn't seem to be any human traffickers in her hazy memory. Instead, she could somewhat remember that there was a little boy.

She tried her best to recall what had happened, but she couldn't remember a thing, causing her to give up.

The five of them had already eaten their breakfast and were getting ready to leave when Nicholas came out of his room.

He saw Hera and immediately said angrily, "How could you be so cruel? I waited for you for the whole night, but you didn't even come over to check in on me! I could've died in my room!" After his rant, he immediately sneezed. His cold was all thanks to that cold shower he took last night.

Wayne quickly stepped between them, offering a bottle of water, a sandwich, and some medication. "Here's your breakfast and some meds," he said, pushing them toward Nicholas. "We're about to head off now. Do you want to stay here and rest if you're feeling sick? You can always head back to Jedburgh once you're feeling better?" Wayne added. Nicholas immediately glared at him and said, "You've got a lot of nerve!"

He had asked Wayne to chase Bernard away yesterday, but Wayne was now chasing him away!

Bernard must have done something behind his back.

Nicholas turned to look at Bernard and realized he had already gotten into the car with Hera.

He would be damned if they

damn

managed to make him back down so easily. So, he huffed and walked toward the car. He wanted to sit with Hera but soon realized that only the driver's seat and the front passenger seat were left empty.

Nicholas was exasperated.

At around two in the afternoon, the six of them arrived at Greecia Lakeside. They chose a good spot for their campsite and began setting up their tents. Once they were done, they went ahead to play by the

water.

Nicholas felt like things were going much worse for him today compared to yesterday. Whenever he walked closer to Hera, Wayne would swoop in and stop him.

If things happened once or twice

then it would be fine. But after things

went on repeatedly, he could not help but suspect that Bernard had bought Wayne over. It was either that or Wayne had feelings for him!

To prove his suspicions, he pulled Wayne to the side and handed him a credit card.

"How much did Bernard give you? I'll double it!"

Wayne did not take the card. Instead, he said solemnly, "I won't be bought off."

Nicholas immediately cursed in his heart. Fuck!