Chapter 38 I'll Try One Last Time
Charles: [Hey guys, we're heading to Azure Isle this Saturday!]
Kieran: [Count me in.]
Rupert: [Gotta check if Alice is coming with me.]
Charles: [With you?]
Kieran: [With you?]
Damon: [Not yours, dude!]
Rupert: [She's totally mine!]
Charles: [If my wife goes, Alice will definitely tag along!]
Rupert: [That's 'cause I am going, so she goes!]
Kieran: [You nailed it already?]
Rupert: [Absolutely! Henry, you in?]
Henry's eyes were filled with annoyance as he replied: [Nope! Business trip!]
Seeing this, Esme gritted her teeth. "What the hell,Henry!"
Charles chuckled, "What did Henry do to tick you off?"
Esme snorted and glared at him. "Men are all the same!"
Charles clicked his tongue, "I didn't do anything and still get blamed?" Watching Esme's graceful figure, his lips curled up.
Esme sat in the living room and called Alice. "Alice, Henry said in the group chat that he's not going."
Alice was silent for a moment. "Figures, he's been really distant today."
"Rupert said in the group chat that he had already nailed you."
Alice pressed her temples. "He's really bad news in my love life. So, is Henry not going because he's jealous?"
"Whatever, Rupert's got his eyes on you. If Henry really cared, he'd be there. Stop making excuses for him, okay? There are plenty of good guys out there. If Henry doesn't want you, just find another one."
"No, I won't."
Esme sighed, "Fine, let's just treat this trip as a way to relax. We'll deal with everything else later."
Alice on the other end agreed, "Got it. I'll make some pastries for everyone to enjoy tomorrow."
"Then I want mango mousse, and..."
Alice laughed, "Sure, I'll make them all for you."
"I love you the most, Alice."
After chatting for a while longer, Alice hung up the phone.
Lying on the bed, Alice raised her hand to cover her forehead.
After a long time, she got up and took a necklace with a bullet pendant from the drawer. "Henry, I'll try one last time. If you still don't like me, I'll leave."
The next morning.
Esme arrived at Bluewater Bay to pick up Alice.
Upon seeing the ten boxes of desserts, Esme almost drooled. "Alice, whoever marries you is so lucky! You can do everything. If I were a lesbian, I'd take you home myself."
Alice fastened her seatbelt. "You really are sweet. Let's go."
Since it was an island trip, they gathered at the dock.
When Alice and Esme arrived, there were already quite a few people at the dock.
Rupert immediately opened the door for Alice. "My goddess has arrived!"
Alice felt quite helpless just looking at him. "There are desserts in the back seat. Take them to the yacht."
"Got it!" Rupert obeyed and quickly did as told.
Alice looked around, but Henry was nowhere to be seen. No surprise there.
Everyone boarded the yacht and slowly sailed towards Azure Isle.
Meanwhile, another yacht was also boarding passengers.
Clara clung to Oliver's arm and pointed at a direction. "That looks like Alice."
Oliver looked over, and it really was Alice.
He was delighted and deliberately said, "Didn't expect that bumpkin to come too."
Clara felt jealous. She didn't expect Rupert to treat Alice so well and take her out to sea. "Alice is quite close with Mr. Astor now."
Oliver licked his back teeth with his tongue, not expecting Alice to get together with Rupert so quickly.
No way, Alice was his.
Next month, he was going to get engaged to her!
He said, "Clara, I'll go get your sunscreen."
"Okay, hurry back."
Oliver went into the cabin and rummaged through his suitcase to see if he had brought any aphrodisiacs. After searching for a while, he couldn't find any.
He quickly pulled out his phone and messaged a buddy on Facebook: [Hey, you got any of those aphrodisiacs that make women go wild? I need to take down Alice and get engaged to her next month!]
About a minute later, no reply. Oliver checked and realized he had sent it to Henry by mistake!
Heart racing, he quickly withdrawn the message.
He patted his chest, relieved that Henry hadn't replied, so maybe he hadn't seen it.
Meanwhile, at the airport, just as Henry was about to board, he saw the message. His face darkened, and his expression turned icy.
He turned and strode towards the exit.
Ethan followed. "Mr. Howard, we're about to board."
"Postpone the international meeting for three days." Henry frowned. "Notify the dock to prepare a yacht!"
The weather was perfect, with a salty sea breeze blowing and the sea shimmering.
Alice stood by the railing, trying to calm her recent agitation.
Rupert came over with two fishing rods and two buckets. "Wanna have a fishing competition?"
"What's the prize?"
Rupert smirked, "The loser obeys the winner's command, no matter what it is."
Alice raised an eyebrow. "No matter what?"
"Scared?"
Alice knew Rupert's plan. "Sure! A bet's a bet! One hour time limit."
They sat on low stools, holding fishing rods.
Under the shade of a large umbrella, Damon sipped wine.
Kieran laughed, "Rupert is really serious this time. He's never been this serious about any girl before."
Damon said, "Even so, it won't work out."
"True, after all, Alice is Oliver's ex-fiancée, and she doesn't have much education. The Astor Family won't let her marry Rupert."
Damon glanced at him. "Maybe she doesn't want to either."
"That just means Alice knows her place."
Damon didn't say anything more, just smiled.
Rupert quickly caught a tuna, then looked at Alice who was calmly sitting there. "I'm ahead!"
But an hour later, Rupert looked at the bucket by Alice's feet, there were seven fish in it, while he only had four..
Alice raised an eyebrow. "Time's up, I win."
"How are you so good at fishing?" Rupert felt a bit helpless.
Alice thought for a moment. "I grew up in the countryside, catching fish in the river was common."
Over the years, during her tasks, she had experienced everything when hungry.
Catching snakes, mice, crocodiles in the tropical rainforest, catching bears in the mountains, let alone just fishing now.
Rupert looked at this country girl Alice with admiration and gave her a thumbs up. "Impressive! I accept my loss! What's your command?"
Alice smiled, "I haven't thought of it yet. I'll let you know when I do."
"Alright!" Rupert laughed, "Henry is really good at fishing. If he were here, you could compete with him. He's also great at grilling fish. It's a shame he's on a business trip!"
Alice lowered her eyes. To avoid her, Henry really went to great lengths!
He even arranged a business trip.
Feeling quite down, Alice went into the cabin to eat some desserts to lift her mood, only to see Esme secretly opening the boxes and trying to taste each one.
Just as Esme picked up a light green dessert, Alice stopped her, "That one's for Rupert."
"Really? You're favoring a man now? Are you moving on?"
Alice sat down, elbows on the table, fingers interlocked under her chin. "But if you want to eat it, I don't mind, as long as you can handle it."
Esme narrowed her eyes, sensing a hint of conspiracy.
She switched to another dessert, and she was just about to take a bite when the boat suddenly shook violently.