Chapter 1
Enrico opened his eyes as the sky began to darken. He looked around and found himself on an island filled with tall trees. "Where am I?" he muttered.
It was still vivid in his memory how horrible the accident had been. The cruise ship with three thousand five hundred and four thousand passengers on board, including twenty from a movie studio company, had departed about three days ago.
The beautifulness and the luxuries made all the passengers feel like they were in heaven. However, everything disappeared instantly when the cruise ship hit an iceberg, causing a leak.
The entire ship quickly filled with water. The passengers, who were sound asleep then, panicked when the cruise team woke them up and told them that the boat would sink in just fifteen minutes.
This situation made conditions even more chaotic as passengers scrambled to get on the lifeboats. They elbowed each other, pushed each other, and some were even trampled.
When the ship was left with only the bow, the passengers who didn't get a lifeboat, including Enrico, were desperate to jump into the ocean. Their bodies felt like giant needles had pricked them as the ice-cold water touched them.
Enrico swam with all his might, trying to reach a floating piece of the ship. His nearly frozen body fought hard against the cold.
One by one, the passengers who had jumped overboard became motionless. They fell silent, resembling ice sculptures. Enrico, who saw it all, could only surrender, feeling his breath begin to pant along with his slowing heartbeat.
Before finally losing consciousness and waking up on this island, Enrico could only remember that he continued to be carried by the current, getting further and further away from the scene of the incident.
Enrico walked along the sea's edge, hoping to find other passengers who might have survived and swum to this island. However, as far as the eye could see, only a few seagulls were seen flying in the sky.
He was pensive, sitting down to stare at the moon, slowly covered by thick clouds. His gaze became distracted, and he looked at the ocean. His eyes squinted as he noticed something bobbing.
Enrico could see it was a brown-haired woman wearing a life jacket similar to his own.
She must be a passenger on the cruise ship. He ran, swimming over to her.
She was covered in scratches all over her arms, and her luxurious dress was wet and torn in places. Enrico immediately checked her condition. It turned out that she was still alive, but her pulse was so weak.
Enrico quickly brought her to the shore, performing CPR before her pulse was lost.
Soon, the woman started to move; her face looked so pale as her eyes opened, and she vomited a lot of water. She staggered backward as she realized her breasts were slightly exposed while in front of her was a strange man. "What are you doing?" How dare you touch my breast!" she scolded.
"Don't misunderstand me, Miss. I just want to help you," said Enrico, who remained calm.
She glanced at him, who was wearing a shirt not from a reputable brand. "Oh yeah? I know exactly what kind of man you are—an ordinary office worker who likes to curry favor with the boss in order to get a promotion," she said sarcastically.
"Sorry, but I'm not what you think I am. You can't generalize about everyone." Enrico sighed, trying to be patient.
"Stay away, a poor man like you shouldn't be anywhere near an Anderson family member!" The woman, whose name turned out to be Valerie, said this with great pride.
Enrico smiled wryly. No wonder she was arrogant and felt herself the holiest creature. It turned out that the woman was a member of a billionaire family that owned many companies in various fields.
"Alright, I'll go, but you should know that this island is said to be filled with many wild animals. From what I heard, a model who was doing a photo shoot here was dissappeared and was found dead by a tiger," Enrico said, deliberately bragging, teaching the haughty woman a lesson.
Valerie shuddered in horror. She didn't want her body, which had always received expensive treatments, to be food for a wild animal. "Hey, stop!" she shouted, running after Enrico, who was far ahead of her. Unfortunately, her foot accidentally stepped on a sea urchin.
Enrico turned around when he heard her moaning in pain. He went back to her. After all, he was still a man with a heart. He would not leave a woman alone on an island in the middle of nowhere, injured. "Your leg is bleeding," he said as he checked her condition.
"This is all because of you. I just told you to stay away, not leave!" Valerie scolded.
Enrico didn't reply but was busy removing the sea urchin thorns stuck in her leg.
"If my father knew, he'd be furious that a man would leave his daughter alone." Her voice sounded rose.
"Can't you shut up a little? My head hurts listening to you talk." The look in Enrico's eyes was like a sharp arrow.
"Don't you ever tell me to! I am the ...."
"The Anderson family. You said it earlier," snapped Enrico, who was getting annoyed with her.
"It's good that you remember. So you realize yourself and don't try to mess with me!" said Valerie.
Once all the thorns were removed, Enrico washed the soles of her feet with seawater before tying them with the knot of his shirt. "Come on, we have to find something we can use for shelter, it's going to rain soon," he said.
The woman brushed his hand away and said, "I'm not coming! You must be planning something evil for me."
Enrico's patience had run out this time, and he pushed the woman to the sand. "You know, you're so annoying! I shouldn't have helped you and let you drown eating sharks!"