When I woke again, I found myself lying in an unfamiliar cabin.
A warm blanket covered me, and a small brazier glowed nearby.
A stranger dressed in black casualwear sat across from me, a tablet in hand as he worked through what looked like business matters.
"You're awake." He looked up, his gaze calm and steady. "How are you feeling?"
"Was it you who saved me?" I struggled upright, my voice rough and hoarse.
"It was nothing." The man set the tablet aside. "You've been unconscious for a day."
A whole day...
My heart jolted as I suddenly remembered my promise to my father.
"Thank you." I threw off the blanket and started to get out of bed. "I have to leave right away."
"No rush." The man rose to his feet and poured me a glass of hot water. "Your friend is still searching for you everywhere. If you walk out like this, are you sure he won't find you?"
My friend?
I froze for a moment before realizing he meant Adrian.
"He's not my friend." I took the glass from him and spoke quietly.
The man didn't press further. He only gave me a thoughtful look. "This ship will stay docked here for another two hours. You can take that time to rest properly. In two hours, I'll have someone take you wherever you want to go."
"Thank you."
After finishing the hot water, I went into the bathroom.
In the mirror was a face that looked ashen and unfamiliar.
The seawater had washed away every layer of disguise from my face, revealing what I had really looked like all along.
My soaked bangs clung to my forehead, and the heavy black-framed glasses were long gone.
The face in the mirror had delicately shaped brows and eyes, with a high, elegant bridge to the nose.
It was the kind of face that could drive men mad and stir envy in women.
I stood there staring at myself in the mirror for a long, long time.
Then I turned on the faucet and carefully washed away the very last traces of makeup still clinging to my face.
I didn't want to hide anymore.
And I didn't want to keep myself concealed anymore.
Two hours later, the man had someone take me to a private airport.
A helicopter was already waiting on the tarmac.
Walter Reed, my father's longtime butler, was standing at the foot of the steps. The moment he saw me, his eyes turned red.
"Miss Sterling, you've suffered far too much."
"Walter, let's go home." I gave him a small smile and boarded the helicopter.
The helicopter soared into the sky, leaving far behind the city that had held three years of my humiliation and pain.
What I didn't know was that someone had secretly photographed my face at the harbor, and the images were already spreading wildly across the internet.
"Stunning natural beauty spotted at the harbor, looks too good to be real."
"Now this looks like a real heiress, that elegance is unreal."
Within hours, the posts had shot to the top of the trending charts, and countless people were trying to find the girl who looked like she had stepped out of a dream.
Meanwhile, Adrian had nearly turned the entire stretch of sea upside down.
He had sent out dozens of rescue boats and hundreds of divers, searching for me without rest through the entire night.
Only then did the rescue teams, one by one and with great caution, voice the truth no one wanted to admit—Serena had no chance of surviving.
Adrian had not slept all night. His eyes were bloodshot, and there was a raw, frayed edge to him that even he did not seem to recognize.
He smashed everything in his office that could be smashed.
Then a news alert popped up on his phone.
"Unbelievable beauty spotted at the harbor, outshines socialite Vivian instantly!"
He glanced at it casually.
The woman in the photo had her head slightly lowered. Her long hair was lifted by the wind, revealing a profile so beautiful it stole the breath from anyone who saw it.
Adrian's breathing stopped for a beat.
That face...
He had seen it before.
In that single glance over his shoulder, after pulling Vivian to safety, this was the face he had seen in the freezing black water.
At the time, he had thought it was a hallucination.
He stared at the photo, his heart pounding wildly as an absurd, terrifying suspicion rose from deep within him.
