Reborn Heiress: Taking Back What Is Rightfully Hers!-Chapter 618: The Shadows in Her Eyes

It was as if the heavens heard Aurora’s plea—after one rumble of thunder, the sky stayed quiet, no more lightning flashed. But outside, the rain came pouring down.

"Oh no... what if he gets lost?" Aurora suddenly remembered Everett had no sense of direction either. Her worry spiked.

Time crawled. She kept checking her phone—barely ten minutes had passed, but it felt like Everett had been gone forever.

She paced around the temple, chilled by the cold wind blowing in, making her scalp tingle.

She had no idea how much time went by. Every tiny sound outside made her jump. Her nerves were completely shot.

She kept glancing toward the rain-covered entrance but couldn’t see anything except a curtain of white falling from the sky.

Then, when she turned back around, a shadow appeared right in front of her. She screamed and stumbled back—until she realized it was Everett. Only then did she finally let out a breath, clutching her chest to calm down.

"You scared me to death! I thought you were... I don’t know what I thought!"

Everett dropped the bundle of firewood from his back. His jacket was draped over it to keep it dry. Aurora frowned hard.

"Why would you use your coat to cover the wood? Are you crazy?"

"If I didn’t, how would we light it?" Everett shot her a look like she was clueless and squatted down to start the fire.

He was soaked through. Water dripped from his hair and face. It was freezing cold out—winter rain at night. His lips had turned blue from the chill.

Looking at him like that, Aurora didn’t even know what she felt anymore.

From start to finish, she’d been like some sheltered rich girl—useless.

And Everett, this man who always acted so superior, could apparently do everything. It was weirdly impressive.

He got the fire going quickly, then peeled off his wet white sweater, revealing a strong, lean chest.

Aurora’s face instantly flushed, and she quickly averted her eyes, locking them on the fire instead.

He was back—and just like that, she felt safe.

All the fear she’d felt earlier while alone in the temple—the shadows, the noises, the wind—was gone.

The fire grew warmer, its glow wrapping Aurora in heat. Everett casually took off his wet pants too. Aurora glanced up and immediately turned scarlet.

"Why—why are you stripping in front of me?"

"What, you want me to sit here in wet pants and roast myself?" Everett gave her another one of his "are you serious?" looks.

Aurora bit her lip. Okay, he wasn’t wrong. If she complained now, she’d just be selfish. He only got soaked because he went out to find wood.

So she turned her back to him, refusing to look at Everett in nothing but his underwear.

Because even one glance brought back memories... the kind she tried hard not to think about.

Best not to look.

Everett held his clothes over the fire, rotating them to dry, and when he looked at Aurora’s slim back, a quiet warmth stirred in his chest.

She was awkward, sure, a bit stiff, but... that was a thousand times better than those overly flirty types.

He eventually built a makeshift rack out of sticks and laid his clothes on it to dry. Then he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out some food.

"Aurora, want something to eat?"

"Yeah... just toss it over," she said quietly, biting her lip.

Everett chuckled, but didn’t move.

Aurora knew she was being weird. After all, they’d already... done it. But it hadn’t been her choice. Was it really her fault she felt like this?

Taking a deep breath, she stood up, her face red enough to bleed. She marched over to Everett, snatched the food from the ground, shot him a glare, and stormed back to her spot.

Everett, still sitting there in just his underwear, didn’t seem fazed at all. He watched her walk away and couldn’t help the small smile tugging at his lips. That side of her was... actually pretty cute.

She wasn’t being dramatic. Given what she’d been through, her reaction was totally normal. And when she’d come to grab the food, her face had been red all over.

Aurora ripped open a packet of spicy-sour chicken drumsticks. She actually loved this flavor. She ate one, then another, and ended up finishing all three.

She silently vowed to buy a few extra packs of these to keep in the fridge once she got home.

The NC Group had been around for years, but Everett only joined this year. The products from its affiliated brand were reliably high quality, though they cost twice as much as others. Even so, they still sold well.

Take these chicken legs, for example—Dominic bought them all the time. Aurora didn’t usually eat much processed food, since she wanted to keep her skin in good shape.

But after trying it once, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She was hooked.

While eating bread, Aurora could feel someone’s eyes burning into her from behind. She didn’t dare look back, afraid that just one glance would make her fall for him all over again.

It was another long, silent night.

Meanwhile, Dominic and the others had already been contacted by the crew.

Aurora’s disappearance had the director in a panic. He called Eric, but Eric calmly told him not to worry and to give it another two or three days.

Since Eric gave his word, the director reluctantly calmed down.

Dominic, on the other hand, was getting more and more anxious. After all, Aurora was her artist, and she was her assistant. Aurora had specifically told her to watch out for Autumn, but somewhere along the line, Dominic had dozed off.

When she woke up, Aurora was gone. Everyone searched, but there wasn’t a trace of her.

What they didn’t know was that Everett had taken Aurora in the opposite direction, into a mountain cave. The distance was so far, even their shouting was swallowed by the wind in the woods.

"What should we do... Aurora’s still not back. What if something happened to her out there all alone? Director, can we please go search again? I’m really worried!" Dominic ran to the MV director, eyes red. "Aurora grew up in the city. She’s not used to this kind of place. Shouldn’t we call the police? Send more people out..."

"Dominic, Mr. Nelson told us to wait a few more days. I’m sure he already sent people to look. Try to stay calm—we’re not professionals when it comes to search and rescue."

The MV director spoke gently, understanding how Dominic felt.

But hearing the same answer again left her a bit disappointed.

Then again, she thought it over. The MV director had been in the industry for twenty years—he was experienced. If he could stay this calm, maybe that meant Aurora really was okay?

Could it be Everett... took her away? The thought startled Dominic.

She took a deep breath, sat down to the side, twisted open a bottle of water, and took a few long gulps.

Caroline and Autumn came over and sat with her. Autumn patted her hand. "Don’t worry. Aurora will be back soon."

Dominic glanced at Autumn. She looked calm, so Dominic didn’t think too much of it. "I hope so. If the director’s this calm, she must be fine."

Autumn’s heart sank, a shadow passing through her eyes.