Hearing his response, Suzzette was satisfied.
Before ending the call, she gave him one final instruction.
"Jaren, make sure to destroy Reese’s identification. I need her to be completely erased from the outside world."
"Just hold on a little longer. Once I convince my parents to officially revoke her identity, you can come back."
Jaren fell silent. He hesitated at the mention of returning.
Suzzette’s smile faltered, and she pursed her lips in displeasure. “You haven’t actually fallen for Reese, have you? Do you not want to leave her?”
I held my breath.
Without hesitation, Jaren firmly denied it.
"Miss, I will never fall in love with Reese."
After the call ended, Jaren opened the refrigerator, took out a piece of meat, and left—pretending it was something he had just hunted.
This was how he had been deceiving me all along.
The moment he was gone, I rushed to unlock the cabin.
I tried twice but the passwords were incorrect.
Biting my lip, I entered Suzzette’s birthday.
"Password correct. Unlocking."
Smiling bitterly, I balled my fist. Jaren’s devotion to her ran deeper than I had imagined.
I stepped into the cabin and was instantly overwhelmed.
Not only were there three fully stocked refrigerators, but the entire island was under surveillance. There was even a weather monitoring system.
Jaren had gone to great lengths to ensure I would never escape.
And I trusted him so foolishly.
Clutching my injured leg, I pounded the ground in anguish.
The very hand I had clung to in my darkest moment turned out to be the one that had pushed me into hell.
Just then, the weather monitoring system on the large screen flashed a red warning.
As a geography major, I recognized it immediately.
A tsunami was coming in a week.
This was my chance.
I altered the system’s data, erasing all warning signals.
I would use this tsunami to escape—once and for all.
Jaren returned, pretending he had been out hunting.
Ignoring the pain in my leg, I took a shortcut and arrived back at the cave before him.
He gently kissed me awake.
Stretching lazily, I turned to see him holding out his hand.
In his palm was a small rabbit.
"Reese, this is to keep you company. Do you like it?"
Suppressing the wave of disgust rising within me, I forced myself to smile.