The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress

The warmth in Sebastian's arms had faded, and he found himself oddly

unaccustomed to the emptiness.

He looked up to see Citrine watching him warily, which made Sebastian chuckle in spite of himself. "Do you know what you look like right now?"

Citrine sat up on the bed, nonchalantly fixing her clothes. "What do I look like?"

Sebastian grinned. "A runaway heartbreaker."

At that, Citrine couldn't help but laugh as well.

They chatted for a few more moments before Citrine finally said, "Alright, time to

pull ourselves together and return the tent to the owner."

Sebastian glanced at the mess of tangled sheets and blankets. "You wait outside. I'll handle the cleaning up in here."

"Sure." Citrine yawned, not bothering to be polite.

She slipped out of the tent.

It was barely seven. The beach was nearly deserted, so quiet that only the steady rush of waves could be heard.

The tranquil air and coolness of the early morning made Citrine feel completely at

ease.

Inside, Sebastian was folding the blankets when he noticed a small, square box tucked under the pillow.

"What's this?" he muttered, pulling it out.

Citrine, hearing his voice, lifted the tent flap just then. "What did you say?"

Sebastian stared at the object in his hand, suddenly recalling Citrine's awkwardness the night before. He felt a bit embarrassed.

Citrine caught sight of what he was holding and froze, a faint blush coloring her cheeks as she remembered hastily stashing it under the pillow last night.

Their eyes met, both of them unsure who should feel more mortified.

Finally, Citrine broke the silence, hurrying to explain as if afraid of being misunderstood. "That was a gift from the owner yesterday."

"Right, I'll just... keep it," Sebastian replied, doing his best to sound casual as he stuffed the box into his pocket.

Citrine quickly let the tent flap fall and turned her back, pretending to watch the waves as if nothing had happened.

It took Sebastian a while to tidy up the rest of the things inside. Once he finished, he stepped out and began dismantling the tent.

When everything was finally packed up, he said, "Let's go return the tent."

Citrine nodded, her face back to normal.

They carried their things to the hotel where the owner was waiting, a broad smile on his face as they approached.

"How was your night?" he asked, grinning. "Did you sleep well?”

Citrine smiled politely. "Thanks to your tent, we slept great."

Sebastian echoed, "Yes, thank you."

The owner munched on his breakfast, then leaned forward conspiratorially. “By the way, I gave you quite the special something last night. It's our latest product how'd you like it?"

At his words, both Citrine and Sebastian's eyes widened in unison.

Their faces flushed a deep red, and for a moment neither of them could find any words.

Seeing their silence, the owner looked at Sebastian and laughed. "Judging by your face, I hope I didn't give you too few, did I?"

Citrine swore she had never been

more

mbarrassed in her entire life.

If there had been a hole nearby, she

d have gladly crawet

into it.

Sebastian's expression was equally impossible to describe.

He merely shook his head at the owner.

The man chuckled, mistaking Sebastian's discomfort for shyness. "As long as it

was enough, that's all that matters!"

Sebastian: "..."noveldrama

Citrine: "..." What on earth is happening here?

Citrine had no desire to linger. She shot Sebastian a desperate look and quickly said, "We'll just leave your

things here, sir. We've got

somewhere to be, so we'll get going now."

With that, Citrine grabbed Sebastian's arm and all but dragged him out of the

hotel, fleeing the scene as fast as she could.