Chapter 4

In the days that followed, however, Camille never called on Ansel. Instead, she spent every waking moment with Stellan.

They went to an auction at Octline Auction House, where she bought every single item that caught his eye. Every night, fireworks lit up the entire city skyline as a grand public declaration of her love for him.

And when Stellan remarked on how beautiful the stars were, she even bought the naming rights to ten stars for him, quite literally giving him the stars.

Day after day passed. As his anxiety began to outweigh his heartache, Ansel finally received a message from Camille.

By the time he rushed to the cruise ship, the usual people from their social circle were already there.

At the center of it all, with all eyes on him, was Stellan, walking arm in arm with Camille.

"Ansel, Stellan doesn't believe me when I say he's the only man I love. Help me prove it to him. I've never said I loved you, right?"

Ansel felt a dull ache in his chest. "No."

They'd spent countless nights wrapped up in each other. They'd shared more than a thousand days and nights, being intimate to the absolute extreme.

And yet, she'd truly never once told him she loved him, nor had she ever made a single promise.

Camille visibly relaxed. "Do you believe how I feel about you now, Stellan?"

Stellan didn't answer. Instead, he took off the outrageously expensive diamond pendant around his neck and tossed it into the sea behind him.

"Mr. Wells, I have faith in her, but I don't trust you. If you're willing to retrieve that necklace for me, I'll believe you have no ulterior motives and that you genuinely wish us well."

The necklace, worth 30 million dollars, hit the ocean's surface with a splash and disappeared without a trace. And even though everyone present was wealthy and influential, they still couldn't hide their shock.

"Retrieve the pendant? That's like looking for a needle in a haystack!"

"These waters are infested with sharks! Jumping in there is practically a suicide mission!"

"Ansel would have to be insane to agree to that!"

Everyone assumed Ansel would refuse, but he simply looked at Camille with a calm expression.

"Do you need me to get it?"

If that was her wish, he'd have to follow through.

Camille instinctively wanted to shake her head. Although Ansel had never explicitly told her himself, she'd heard that merfolk healed far faster than humans. No matter how badly they were hurt physically, the pain would only last for a short while before their bodies recovered.

But if he really did run into a shark, that would still cost him his life.

"He's clearly an excellent swimmer. If you can't even bear to let him do this, then I guess your feelings for me aren't genuine after all."

Stellan put on that cold, stubborn expression again before turning to leave.

"Don't go!"

Panic filled Camille's eyes, and the words tumbled out before she could stop them. "Okay. I'll have him retrieve the necklace right now."

Before she could even give the order, a loud splash echoed behind her.

Amid the gasps of the crowd, Ansel had already leaped into the sea without a moment's hesitation. He swam downward for a while before quickly realizing how treacherous these waters were.

With so many people on the ship, he couldn't risk changing his legs into his tail. So he had no choice but to swim awkwardly with his legs while searching for the diamond pendant, and in the process, a piece of coral sliced his arm open.

Blood streamed through the water in thin, swirling ribbons. Right above his head, a massive shadow glided across, instantly blocking out all the light.

"Blood! That's Ansel's blood!"

"Sharks! They're huge! And there's a whole school of them!"

"Goodness! Ansel is as good as dead!"