Shannon did not think that there was anything wrong with me glaring at her. In fact, she even pinched my waist as if she was the one who should be furious. I huffed and swiftly grabbed her hand to stop her. “Stop it! Why are you so violent? What if you drive any potential boyfriend away?” Shannon rolled her eyes. “Cut it out. You don't need to worry about me getting a boyfriend. I want to smack you back to your senses! What's the matter with your brain? Did you hit your head? Why are you thinking so much about this matter? The answer is to not go! What does she mean by offering to make your favorite food? It's more like she's going to send you to heaven with your favorite food! I can't believe you're thinking of going there at all! Just come up with an excuse saying that you're not in the country. How simple is that? What's there to think about? I really think that it's time for you to get a checkup for your brain.”I was taken aback by her barrage of words. “W-What?” Shannon scoffed before poking me. “I said you need to check your brain. You're stupid enough as it is.” I groaned. “Not only are you ruthless with your hands, but you're ruthless with your mouth too. Please avoid making personal attacks on me.” “You only have yourself to blame. If I get a say, then I'm going to order you to tell Dominic. If you're really going to her place, bring him along. He can protect you, and you can even show him off.” I laughed, but I was frowning as well. “Forget it. Regardless of everything, she's Camille's mother. Moreover, she really used to...” “Stop right there!” Shannon cut me off with a wave. “She used to be nice to you, right? You said it. But you've also said that it was in the past. Don't you know how things are between you and Camille now? Have you totally forgotten about how the two of you are love rivals? And that she's your love rival's mother? How nice do you think she's going to be? She's Camille's biological mother, and blood is thicker than water! You're the only fool here thinking about whether or not to visit her. If you really do, you might be exiting her house in a stretcher!” Shannon went on and on like a machine gun, and I could not even find an opportunity to interrupt her. Still, I found sense in her words. How nice and civil Camille's mother had been on the call was sending chills down my spine. I would have been more convinced if she had bombarded me with curses the moment I picked up the call. Instead, it felt like she had an ulterior motive for inviting me over to her place. Noticing me spacing out, Shannon pinched me again. “Hey, stop thinking about it. I can see the gears in your head catching fire. It's not going to be some peaceful meal she's inviting you to, got it?” I smacked her hand away. “Got it. It's not like I wanted to go, and it's not like I don't have the money to buy myself a meal anyway. I'll be insane to actually go to her place. I just wanted to talk to you about this.” Shannon looked at me from the corner of her eye. “It'd better be.” Realizing that she was going to start lecturing me again, I hastily said, “All right, I won't go. I'll be heading to my parents' house during New Year, so they won't be able to find me. Okay, that's enough of this. It's Christmas Eve today. We should be celebrating happily.” At that, Shannon dropped the topic. After we changed, we went out of the villa. We were going to be at the beach throughout the night. Dominic and the others even prepared grilled meat, and we were going to come back to the beach the next day as well. There was a row of villas by the beach, and they had booked quite a few. In order to talk to Shannon earlier, I had not followed Dominic out. By the time Shannon and I reached the beach, the men were already playing volleyball.Excluding James, Louis seemed to mix well with the rest, for he already knew them. The weather was great. Even though Shannon and I were wearing swimsuits, we did not feel cold. Both the beach and the sea were full of people. The men were playing volleyball, but neither Shannon nor I knew how to play. Hence, we ran toward the sea to play with the waves instead. I loved the sea and the sensation of the waves splashing on my leg. I was so happy. “Liliana, they have snorkeling over there! Let's go over and check it out. I'm interested.” I then looked in the direction Shannon was pointing. Instantly, a huge sign entered my line of sight with one big word—snorkeling. Unlike Shannon, I was not interested. I could not swim, let alone snorkel. However, by the time I took in the sight of the sign, Shannon was already towing me toward it enthusiastically. When we reached and when I saw her skipping in joy, I pulled her closer and said, “Hey, do you even know how to snorkel? Although they have coaches here, it's still quite dangerous.” “What are you scared of? Didn't you say that they have coaches? Let's go. We're at the seaside. We're going to miss out a lot if we don't try out snorkeling.” I was not as brave as Shannon, so I shook my head vigorously. “You can go ahead. I'm scared of the water. I'll stay here.” Shannon tried to convince me, but I kept refusing her. When she realized I really did not want to go for it, she stopped and paid for the session. Meanwhile, I found a place on the beach to sit while waiting for Shannon. It was a nice spot where I would be able to enjoy the view of the ocean and occasionally play with the sand. While Shannon was enjoying the time of her life, Dominic called me and asked where I was. I told him Shannon was snorkeling, and he told me to wait for him where I was. In a while, I saw four handsome men walking over. All the girls and women stared at them. I, too, was a little stunned. If I had to be honest, Dominic and the others were really men with the money and the looks. Just the day before, Dominic had taken off the bandage on his hand, and it was then I realized the injury he sustained could not be considered as a fracture. It was not serious at all, and it had mostly recovered. He had gotten me to feed him, shower him, and he even put up a miserable act in front of my parents. He was such a badass. Once they reached me, they sat down beside me. Instantly, I could feel a spotlight shining on me as everyone snapped their heads to look at me.Still, it felt good to be surrounded by handsome men. “Are you done?” I was in the middle of enjoying the view—the beach and the men, when I heard Dominic's gloomy voice. I quickly returned to my senses and looked at him instead. “Not yet. Look at you. You're so handsome, and you have such a great figure. How could I ever stop looking at you?” The smile on my face was brighter than the sun at the beach, and the praises came easy to me. It was not as if I had a choice. Dominic seemed upset lately, and I had to make sure to get on his good books first. Indeed, the moment he heard the praises, he visibly brightened up. His arm circled my waist, and he hunched over to peck a few kisses on my lips. “Smart girl.” Right as I was about to add a few more praises to make his mood even better, a commotion broke out at the snorkeling site. Vaguely, I could hear people calling out Shannon's name.Instantly, I ignored Dominic and began running in that direction. I was terrified as I was worried that something might happen to Shannon.