The man slowly descended the gangway.
As he drew closer.
The crowd finally got a clear look at his devastatingly handsome face. A wave of sharp gasps rippled through the onlookers, everyone stunned by his flawless features.
Isabella was completely mesmerized the second he appeared.
She stared blankly, tilting her head up at the god-like man stepping off the billion- dollar mega cruise ship.
The sea breeze caught the edges of his coat.
The sun behind him framed his silhouette in a golden halo.
He was so blinding, so... breath-taking.
Isabella's heart launched into a frantic rhythm.
A tidal wave of grievances, bitterness, and an indescribable surge of hope crashed over her the moment she saw Nicholas.
Her legs moved entirely on their own, carrying her toward him.
She stumbled slightly, her steps clumsy from sheer excitement and nerve-wracking anticipation.
"Nicholas..."
Her eyes reddened. She looked at him with a gaze overflowing with pitiful dependency and sorrow.
Nicholas had actually come.
He had sailed a billion-dollar mega cruise ship all the way here.
Was it for Serena?
Did he really love Serena that much? Loved her so intensely that he was willing to cast aside his status and travel thousands of miles just to reach this remote island? Did he even know...
Did he have any idea how miserably she was suffering, what kind of nightmare her life had become?
The more Isabella thought about it, the more wronged she felt. Her gaze toward Nicholas took on a hint of coquettish blame.
She had, after all, once been his fiancée in name.
They shared so many beautiful memories.
If... if he was just willing to save her, one single word from him could pull her out of the Doyle family's toxic grip She could reclaim her life as the infinitely glamorous heiress.
She was absolutely sick of her current reality.
Sick of Sebastian Doyle, sick of Bianca, sick of the entire Doyle family!
Among the contestants were a few wealthy heirs who ran in elite circles.
Hearing the name, one of them froze. "Nicholas? Nicholas Blackwood? Is that... is that The Blackwood Crown Prince?!"
The comment jogged the memory of a girl wearing glasses. "Is it really him? I saw him on the cover of a finance magazine once!"
Several students stared wide-eyed at the towering cruise ship.
"That ship belongs to the Blackwood family?"
"Obviously! Did you see the security detail on the deck? This level of extravagance is insane!"
"Am I hallucinating? What is The Blackwood Crown Prince doing here?"
"Is he here to pick someone up? But who?"
The moment the question was voiced.
Every set of eyes instinctively darted toward Isabella.
After all, Isabella had been the first to call his name, strutting toward him with the shy, blushing demeanor of a lovestruck girl.
The boy who had first recognized Nicholas muttered under his breath, "The Blackwood Crown Prince... Isabella Lancaster... the Lancaster family..."
His voice suddenly spiked in volume. "Right! I heard the Blackwood and Lancaster families arranged a-
marriage when they were kids. His fiancée is the Lancaster family
daughter, right?"
And wasn't the Lancaster daughter Isabella?
"So... that cruise ship is here for Isabella?"
"This display of wealth is just unbelievable!"
"Ah! I'm so incredibly jealous! Bianca gets picked up by the Doyle family, and Isabella gets picked up by her billionaire fiancé. One is crazier than the next."
"The Lancaster heiress and the Doyle heiress... we really can only stand back and envy them."
"I seriously want to fight these rich people!"
"Being born into money is a literal superpower..."
Listening to the chorus of extreme jealousy and awe surrounding her, Isabella's momentary flash of guilt was swiftly swallowed by a massive Surge of pride and vanity.