3 Why Is It You?

How could Calder endure hearing her say something like that? To him, it sounded no different from an invitation.

He could no longer think of anything else, nor could he restrain himself in the slightest. All morality and reason were thrown far away.

The sound of waves came clearly from outside. Wind swept past, and the cabin rocked slowly.

Meryl felt even dizzier.

But the man had no intention of letting her go.

Soren bound her wrists with his tie and punished her with ruthless intent.

He held grudges very well.

Who told her to provoke him?

The night deepened. The cruise ship sailed into the open sea, and the madness of the night continued.

At dawn, streaks of golden light broke through the clouds over the horizon, scattering layers of broken gold across the sea.

Meryl woke up. The soreness all over her body told her clearly that everything from last night had not been a dream. It had truly happened.

She turned her head and saw a man’s broad back facing her.

“Ah!”

Meryl could not help crying out. In a panic, she tugged the blanket over herself to cover her body.

The skin exposed outside the blanket was marked with traces of varying shades.

Her skin was fair and delicate, the kind that bruised with the slightest force. After what the man had done last night, the result was not hard to imagine.

And her dress. What had he done to it?

Soren was woken by the noise. He turned over, revealing a wickedly handsome face.

His dark brown eyes held arrogance and rebellion. His jawline was sharp, and the corners of his eyes tilted upward. His platinum hair contrasted starkly with the black diamond stud in his ear, giving him a wild, untamed edge.

Propping the back of his head with one hand, he leaned lazily against the headboard and curled his lips in a half smile. “Awake?”

“You? Why is it you? What are you doing here?”

After Meryl recognized the man in front of her, her frantic heartbeat eased slightly.

When her fiancé had taken her to entertain clients before, a lustful investor had tried to get her drunk and set her up. She had escaped and run into this young man.

She had mistaken him for a male escort at the private club and had almost gone too far with him. At the last moment, she restrained herself. Before leaving, she even gave him two hundred as a tip.

How had he followed her onto the cruise ship?

“Why can’t I be here? I should be asking you that.”

Soren flipped over and rose, straddling her as he braced one hand beside her, trapping her against the bed. “You sure know how to play. Last time, you gave me two hundred. What exactly did you take me for?”

He minded the two hundred she had given him.

He minded that she had said he was barely grown.

The man was shirtless, his firm chest and abs on full display.

Several obvious scratch marks covered his chest and back, all Meryl’s handiwork.

“Do you think it wasn’t enough? How much do you want?”

Meryl did not dare meet his eyes. She had already calmed down.

What happened last night had already happened. It was too late for regret. She needed to deal with the trouble in front of her first.

“Stop pretending with me. You don’t look like some innocent young girl at all. You’re not that young, and last night you were so wanton. How many men would it take to satisfy you?”

“You bastard!”

In a surge of anger, Meryl raised her hand and slapped him.

“Nola, you dare hit me?”

Soren grabbed her wrist, his cold, unruly eyes glaring at her.

“I’m not Nola. My name is Meryl. Just pretend nothing happened last night and leave right now.”

Meryl wanted him gone. She did not want him tangling with her. This was the Rook family’s cruise ship, and she did not want to do anything that would damage her reputation or make the Rook family look down on her.

“What? You’re Meryl? Nola’s sister?”

Now it was Soren’s turn to react. He narrowed his wicked eyes and looked her over again. “Wait. That’s not right. Why are you here? Where’s your sister?”

“To hell with your sister. Don’t even think about touching mine.”

Meryl kicked Soren away. Ignoring the pain in her body, she wrapped herself in the blanket and got out of bed.

Soren narrowed his eyes. If he had not seen that glaring red mark on the white sheet, he would not have believed she was still untouched.

Then something occurred to him, and cold sweat quickly crawled up his back.

He was done for.

He had slept with the bride’s sister.

His dad was going to kill him.

Meryl picked up the dress on the floor, only to find that it had been completely ruined.

“Hey, Meryl...”

Soren wanted to discuss whether they could keep this from his father. Otherwise, he would definitely suffer for it.

Bang!

Meryl turned back and rewarded him with a punch without the slightest mercy. That was what he got for running his mouth.

“Ow...”

Soren took the punch straight to the nose, and blood immediately flowed out. “I’m bleeding. Damn it...”

“You deserve it.”

Since the dress could no longer be worn, Meryl looked around the room and suddenly noticed something was wrong.

The room was decorated in a luxurious and festive style.

“Why does this place look a little like a wedding room?”

Soren covered his bleeding nose and said darkly, “Because it is the wedding room.”

“What? That’s impossible. Where’s Nola?”

Then Meryl looked at Soren’s face again. From certain angles, he resembled Calder. Her mind exploded, and shock nearly stole her breath.

“You... Don’t tell me you’re Soren.”

“Hmph. Scared now?”

A playful and malicious smile tugged at Soren’s lips.

“!!!”

Meryl’s scalp tingled. Fear rushed into her mind, as if an invisible hand had closed around her throat. She wanted to scream, but no sound came out. It felt as if her soul had already left her body.

How had she ended up in the wedding room?

How had she slept with the groom, Soren?

What was she supposed to do now?

Calder, who had been insatiable all night, did not fall into a deep sleep until the latter half of the night. When he slept, he slept all the way until morning.

He had a severe sleep disorder, yet last night he had slept unusually deeply.

When he opened his eyes, his mind became clearer and clearer. Everything from last night flooded back like a tide.

As he thought of what had happened, a vein at his temple pulsed. He instinctively tried to sit up.

But just as he moved, he felt a weight on his arm.

Turning his head, he saw a pure and beautiful face no bigger than his palm resting on his arm.

One of the girl’s small arms was wrapped around his waist.

Boom.

Blood rushed straight to his head.

Now fully awake, Calder’s face instantly froze over, and his brows drew together.

This was going to be serious trouble.

The man did not wake the girl. He tried to pull his arm free and quietly remove her small hand, but the movement still woke Nola.

Calder lay back down on the pillow. Nola slowly came awake. Once her body began to stir, even the slightest movement hurt so badly that she felt as though she might fall apart.

She opened her eyes slowly. Her long lashes fluttered twice like two little brushes.

The first thing she saw was a deep, sculpted side profile. The man had perfect bone structure, a high nose bridge, a sharp jawline, and a prominent throat.

Was this her new husband, Soren?

His body was amazing.

She had touched firm eight pack abs.

Although what happened at the beginning last night had left her with a bit of a shadow, the later it got, the more strange and intense it had felt.

Her new husband had incredible stamina, and his skills were not bad either.

She finally understood what people meant by that roller coaster feeling.

Nola was full of curiosity about her new husband. She lifted her little head like a meerkat and craned her neck, wanting to take a closer look at his face.

But the longer she looked, the more something felt wrong. She propped herself up on her arms and looked again.

Huh?

Why did this face... look so much like Calder Rook?