This—why go that far? He was the eldest son of the Sterling family, born with a silver spoon, and now he was hunched at a tiny table in a corner, eating like a nobody. It did seem a bit cruel. Plus, Hugo had helped her a lot recently. Her mother was right. You can't be ungrateful. Darcy sighed, taking the bag of seafood from him and handing it to a server. "Alright, fine. Join us." Preparing the seafood would take at least half an hour. Bored, Darcy went to look at the mushrooms in a nearby grove. This season, mushrooms were sprouting everywhere, looking especially cute. Hugo followed closely. "I like mushrooms too."Ines, beside him, was speechless. Hold on, buddy. Your mushroom allergy is cured??? He stood frozen for two full minutes before convincing himself that the girl Hugo liked was probably, possibly, maybe—Darcy! Though he couldn't believe it, his intuition told him it was true. Yikes, of all women, why does he have to like Zane's ex?! He swallowed with difficulty. Did Zane know? If he did, would he lose it? It's all Darcy's fault! I really underestimated her. She's quite the operator! Darcy and Hugo walked toward the grove. At the path entrance, they bumped into Jethro on a phone call. From his expression—tight lips, deep frown—the call wasn't pleasant. Turning and seeing Darcy and Hugo approaching side-by-side, he said quietly into the phone, "Keep digging. Report to me immediately when you find something." Hugo, seeing him hang up, greeted him. "Mr. Blackwood." Jethro's jaw was tight. Whether influenced by the call or not, his reaction was cold. He didn't look at Hugo but focused his gaze on Darcy beside him. Meeting his eyes, Darcy felt guilty for no reason. Strange. Why do I feel like I'm sneaking around with a lover behind my partner's back? Stop it, stop it! Hanging out with Cindy has really warped my brain. "Well... the seafood will take about half an hour. We're going to look at the mushrooms," Darcy explained, as if offering a reason. Hugo glanced at her. Jethro's frown deepened. "We"? Just then, Jethro's phone rang again—a call from the Kaelthyn. Probably Cody with news. Jethro gripped his phone, his deep eyes lingering on Darcy. "I need to take this call." "Oh, okay. We'll go ahead then." Darcy didn't hesitate, quickly leaving the tense atmosphere. The island was vast and beautiful, the air fresh. Yet for some reason, whenever she was near Jethro, she felt she couldn't breathe. Yep, classic withdrawal symptoms. A few more exposures and I'll be fine. The phone kept ringing. Jethro found a private spot to answer. Across the ocean, Cody's excited voice came through. "Man, I finally met my match! Haven't had this 'worthy opponent' feeling in ages! You know, I—" Jethro rubbed his ear. "No time for your rambling. Just the result." Cody gritted his teeth. "For 500 grand, I'll let that slide." After a burst of keyboard clacking, Cody spoke again, "The code, data, and the entire evidence chain are in your inbox." But he couldn't resist bragging. "Jethro, listen. At first, I thought it was overkill. But when I started tracing, the other side's tech was pretty slick. But who am I? I'm slicker! I just used— "Hello? You there? I'm sharing tech details!" After a long pause, Jethro replied, "Hmm, I'm here. Just checked the email. The evidence chain is solid. Thanks." With that, he hung up decisively. Cody was left high and dry. Ignored. Again. Cindy came out of the hotel, looking for Darcy everywhere. "Jethro, have you seen Darcy? I just went up to change, and now I can't find her." Jethro's expression was still grim. He tilted his chin toward the grove not far away. "She's over there."Cindy looked. Her eyesight was sharp—one glance and she saw a man standing beside Darcy. That guy was— Hugo!!! Alarm bells went off in Cindy's head. She shook her brother's sleeve. "Why are you just standing here? Your rival is right there, making a move, and you're not even going to fight back?" Jethro's expression remained indifferent, unmoved. Cindy was furious. "What's your deal? Do you even like Darcy or not? Don't think I'll support you unconditionally just because you're my brother! If you don't like her, stop giving her hope. If you do, then man up and confess already!" Ugh, these guys are the worst—one after another! They're still hung up on their exes, but here they are hitting on people, running their mouths to string you along!