Reborn Heiress: Taking Back What Is Rightfully Hers!-Chapter 617: I Want to Marry You

"Why are you so unreliable? I wasn’t counting on you to get us out of here, but could you at least not walk in the wrong direction? We’re going further and further away!"

Aurora was fuming, practically steaming with anger.

Everett raised an eyebrow coolly. "Is this your first day finding out I’m unreliable?"

Aurora was instantly at a loss for words.

Seeing her flustered and frustrated made Everett feel pretty satisfied. Aurora wiped the sweat off her forehead, exhausted. "So now what?"

Arguing wouldn’t solve anything. As much as he drove her crazy, having him around made her feel safe... Was she being pathetic?

But what could she do? She was alone.

"We’ll have to try heading back."

Everett said it coldly, and Aurora was on the verge of tears, her eyes turning red and her chest rising and falling rapidly.

Seeing her like that, Everett felt a twinge of tenderness. He stepped in front of her and gently wiped off the sweat she’d missed. Aurora flinched and backed away. "Don’t... don’t touch me!"

Everett realized he’d lost his composure again. He covered it up with a scowl. "You think I’m trying to take advantage of you? Dream on."

"Everett! I wasn’t thinking that! I was warning you!"

"You’re warning me? So I can’t warn you back?" Everett suddenly felt like his conversational skills had improved a lot. With women before, he never even bothered to talk—just told them to get lost.

With his subordinates, it was always short, direct commands.

Now he was... chatty?

Aurora rubbed her aching temples. She couldn’t believe she was losing a battle of wits to him.

Fine. She decided to just shut up.

After they ate, they rested for over half an hour. Then Everett led the way back again. He had good stamina, and by 3 p.m., he was still going strong.

Aurora, on the other hand, wasn’t doing so great. She normally exercised, sure, but after walking this long with such intensity, she was starting to wear down.

By 4 p.m., she slumped against a pine tree. "I... I can’t. I need a break."

"If we stop again, it’ll be too late."

Everett turned around with his usual annoyed look. "Want me to carry you?"

"No way! Don’t even think about taking advantage of me!"

Aurora held her ground and plopped down on the ground. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

A cold wind blew by. Her body was covered in sweat, and the breeze made her feel chilled to the bone.

She noticed the sun was gone. The sky was gloomy—was it going to rain?

If that happened, they’d be in serious trouble. It was already hard enough to find a way out—if it rained, they’d be totally stuck. Were she and Everett going to starve to death in this weird, creepy forest?

No, no, no! She refused to become some kind of ghost couple with Everett!

Just the thought gave her chills.

Aurora twisted open her water bottle and took a few gulps. Her back felt cold and damp.

After all the climbing, her face was flushed red—adorably so.

Everett’s gaze dropped to the dip of her collarbone. His Adam’s apple bobbed. A wave of desire nearly made him lose control.

He managed to hold himself back and handed her another pork floss bun. Aurora frowned a little. "These are only good when they’re fresh out of the oven."

"You’re really gonna be picky right now? You should be thanking me you even have food." Everett snorted.

Aurora pouted but didn’t argue. He wasn’t wrong. Given their situation, who knew how long they’d be out here? At least Everett wasn’t being selfish—he could’ve kept all the food to himself.

She opened the wrapper and took a small bite. A strand of hair went in her mouth with it.

Before she could react, Everett reached out and brushed the hair aside for her. "You eat like a slob."

Aurora snapped back, "It’s not like you’re gonna marry me, so what do you care how I eat?"

"But... I want to marry you," Everett said with a smirk.

Aurora’s face turned bright red. "Shut up!"

She turned away, but her heart skipped a beat.

Out of nowhere, she thought of Alexander. Weirdly enough, even when she and her group got lost, she never thought to call him. Instead, Everett popped into her head...

Everett’s eyes softened, but he didn’t say anything more.

After eating something and drinking a bit of water, Aurora felt completely helpless about their situation—she had no idea how to change anything.

Over half an hour later, the two started walking again. They walked until after five, and once more, night began to fall.

Suddenly, Aurora spotted the familiar silhouette of the Sansheng Temple up ahead. She lit up with excitement. "Hey! That’s where we came out from before we got lost!"

Everett gave her a glance, calm and unfazed. "We’re not going any farther tonight. It’s too dangerous to walk in the dark. We’ll stay here for the night."

Aurora remembered the gloomy sky from earlier and agreed without protest. It looked like rain was coming, and honestly, they were already miserable enough. If they got caught in a downpour on top of everything else...

She didn’t even want to think about it.

Aurora stepped into the temple while Everett dropped his backpack, pulled out a flashlight and a knife. Aurora jumped, startled, but then saw the way he looked at her—mildly annoyed.

"You stay here. I’m going to find some dry wood," he said.

Aurora nodded and watched him head out without a second thought. Something about the moment stirred a strange feeling in her chest—like she was an old-timey wife watching her husband go out to gather firewood.

"Hey... um..." Aurora blurted out without thinking. Everett turned his head. His side profile was somehow even more attractive, and her cheeks flushed before she could stop it.

"Be... careful out there!"

"No kidding. Of course I’ll be careful," Everett replied with a light scoff. He was a little smug, even happy. Was she actually starting to worry about him? Well, that was a nice change.

Aurora scowled. "Being nice doesn’t pay off!"

Everett didn’t respond. He strode toward the woods, and Aurora just stood there, stunned. Her beautiful eyes flicked toward the eerie-looking temple, and she felt chills crawl over her skin.

"Everett... come back soon, okay? Please..."

The words echoed in her heart, and she felt embarrassed just thinking them.

They say the gods are always watching. She cautiously approached the statue in the temple and pressed her palms together.

"Dear Yue Lao," she whispered, "I’m so sorry—we got lost and ended up stuck here. We just need to spend one night, that’s all. Please don’t be mad at us!"

"If I ever get the chance... I promise I’ll send someone to come clean and take care of your temple regularly!"

She breathed a small sigh of relief and sat down to listen to the various noises in the dark.

Aurora had grown up in the city, and being alone in a place like this filled her with a deep sense of fear.

Out of nowhere, lightning tore across the night sky, followed by a loud rumble of thunder that sounded like it was crashing right above her. Aurora screamed.

"So it really is gonna rain... and thunder too? God, this is terrifying! Doesn’t it usually not thunder in winter?"

Goosebumps rose all over her arms as she silently begged Everett to come back soon. For the first time ever, she realized—she actually needed that annoying guy.