Reclaiming Her Heart

Someone gulped, suddenly losing their appetite for the boxed lunch in front of them.

Selena grabbed a disposable bowl and ladled some soup for Raymond. "Raymond, give this a shot."

Raymond took the bowl, sipped, and was pleasantly surprised.

Even though he was super picky about his food, he had to admit this soup was amazing.

While everyone else was stuck with their dry, tasteless boxed lunches, this wild mushroom soup was a real treat.

Selena then served a bowl to Carter and Alex, ignoring everyone else.

The few who had just made snarky comments swallowed hard and kept trying to convince Alex. "Alex, aren't you scared of getting poisoned?"

Alex downed the soup in one gulp. "What's there to be scared of? If there's poison, Raymond would be the first to get it."

The soup, made from spring water and wild mushrooms, was delicious, and all four of them went for seconds.

There was still half a pot left, and the others thought Selena was going to share it with them. Some even had their bowls ready.Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

But to everyone's shock, Selena poured the remaining mushroom soup out right in front of them.

"Selena, you're so selfish."

"Yeah, you'd rather waste it than share. You should be ashamed."

"You're so mean!"

Selena frowned, knowing it was pointless to argue with them.

She was sitting a bit away from the others, while Raymond was looking at a map with Alex, planning to pick wild fruits together the next morning.

Selena's phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number: [Selena, come down the small path to your right, walk about six hundred feet, and meet me.] It was from William.

There was a hot spring at the campsite, and the women were planning to take a bath there later.

But for now, the women were still chatting and no one had gone to the hot spring yet.

Selena told Raymond she was going to take a bath.

Raymond didn't suspect anything, just told her to be careful.

Selena followed the small path, walking six hundred feet until she could no longer hear the others.

Sure enough, there was a shadow ahead, sitting on a rock not far away.

"Mr. Montague," she called out and slowly walked over to sit down.

William coughed, his cloudy eyes looking at her.

Selena didn't even know how he ended up here.

So many people were looking for him, yet he appeared here.

"Selena." William's health was clearly failing. He slowly raised his hand and grabbed hers.

Selena could feel how much weight he had lost.

"Mr. Montague, what do you want to tell me? After you finish, I'll take you to see Raymond. He's very worried about you," she said.

William was silent, slowly letting go of her hand.

William took a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the blood from his cough.

Selena raised her hand to pat his back, but heard him say, "It was my mistake. I shouldn't have let you and Raymond be together. If I had known it would be like this, I..." Before he could finish, William started coughing violently.

Selena patted his back, still not understanding what he was trying to say.

William's health was so poor that he coughed after every few words.

After catching his breath, he said in a frail voice, "It was my mistake. I shouldn't have let you and Raymond be together. Fate is cruel."

"Mr. Montague, don't rush," Selena said.

William suddenly took out a small box and placed it in her hand. "Selena, you must give this to Raymond. Make sure he gets it."

William's consciousness was fading. Selena was about to call Raymond when a strong force suddenly pushed her from behind. She and William tumbled down the slope in front of them.

Selena tried to cushion William's fall, but she heard footsteps quickly approaching.

"Mr. Montague, run!" she shouted. As soon as she finished speaking, she heard chaotic noises from afar, indicating trouble there as well. Selena looked up to see several masked men standing in front of her. She recognized the one closest to her as Mario.

He was wearing the same outfit as yesterday.