The air shimmered with heat as Lena followed Zayn up the winding stone path. The island’s wild beauty surrounded her — vibrant flowers spilled over the cliffs, and birds sang somewhere deep in the canopy. The sea’s murmur faded behind them, replaced by the rhythmic hum of cicadas and the distant whisper of waves.
For a few stunned seconds, she forgot her fear.
This place… it didn’t look real.
A clearing opened ahead, and she stopped in her tracks.
The villa rose from the jungle like it had grown there — its wide terraces and curved glass walls reflecting the turquoise of the sea and the lush green around it. Sunlight poured over pale stone steps, over wide decks shaded by palm trees. Pools mirrored the sky. It wasn’t just beautiful — it was breathtaking, the kind of place you’d see in
