Under the Heiress' Facade

Nicholas toppled forward and hit his head on the door. He let out a grunt of pain before clapping a hand to his throbbing forehead, cursing, "What the hell?"

"Sorry, Mr. Sanderson! I didn't get a proper look at you. I thought you were a burglar!" Wayne confessed apologetically, rubbing the back of his neck as he flashed Nicholas a sheepish grin.

"Burglar? Have you ever seen a burglar as handsome as me, you nitwit?" Nicholas snapped. He was about to raise his leg to return Wayne's kick when Wayne dodged.

Upon seeing the red bump on Nicholas' forehead, Catherine quickly opened shop and brought him an ice pack to bring down the swelling.

After that, Everly applied a soothing ointment on the bump. The swelling went down within moments, leaving only a faint, greenish bruise to heal on its own.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

The entire ordeal lasted for about an hour before Hera finally deigned to emerge from the western wing, yawning. She cut a withering look at Nicholas and drawled, "Isn't our flight at noon? What are you doing here so early? Do you crave a beating that badly?"

"All you do is sleep! Are you in hibernation or something? Don't you know how much time one wastes on sleeping? You can sleep all you want after you're dead!" Nicholas barked.

He rubbed his throbbing forehead begrudgingly. The curls he had spent a better part of the morning blow-drying and setting were ruined after the ice pack. He wouldn't be in such a pathetic state had a certain young lady bothered to wake up sooner.

"I suggest you keep your mouth shut, Mr. Sanderson. Hera usually works late into the night and wakes up later in the morning. Also, she's not a morning person, and she hates getting woken up," Everly pointed out.

Nicholas grumbled, "Whatever. Go wash up and have your breakfast, Hera. We'll leave for the airport after that."

"Mr. Sanderson, you just hit your head and might be a little disoriented. It isn't safe for you to drive. How about I come with you? I can drive," Wayne offered.

Nicholas cast Wayne a sidelong glance. He was starting to think Wayne had kicked him on purpose. He ground out, "No need! I'm perfectly fine!" "Oh, just let Wayne drive you guys. Herie doesn't have a driver's license, and Samantha isn't the best driver.

"You'll be exhausted from driving the entire week. If Wayne goes with you, you could tap out any time and have him drive," Catherine suggested gently.

She was Hera's grandmother, and Nicholas wanted to get on her good side. As such, he had no choice but to agree to her suggestion even if he didn't want to.

He was even more certain now that the kick from Wayne had been intentional.

After breakfast, the three headed to the airport, where Samantha was waiting for them. They boarded the plane following that.

Hera brought only a backpack while Samantha had two large suitcases in tow.

n

Nicholas watched as Wayne helped Samantha with her baggage and sat with her during the flight. He began to see the bright side of having Wayne tag along on the trip; he could keep Samantha company while Nicholas spent some quality time with Hera.

He had two tents readied for the trip. If Wayne had not come along, Hera and Samantha might have gotten spooked while camping by the sea at night and burrowed into Nicholas' tent instead.

But now that Wayne was in the picture, Nicholas might just convince him to share a tent with Samantha while Hera bunked in his.

He mentally approved the plan. The romance aspect of the trip was back on track. As he rubbed his bottom, he began to think Wayne's kick had been worth it.

The four of them disembarked the plane at three in the afternoon and gathered by the airport exit.

"We'll be heading toward our first

destination

after our car

arrives-Greecia Lakeside. We'll

watch the sunset and set up camp on the beach. We can stargazezat night and watch the sunrise "

Nicholas listed out the activities he had planned.

"Wow, how romantic!" Samantha said in a sing-song voice. She asked Hera, "What do you think about the plans, Hera?"

Hera was busy scrolling her phone. She answered absentmindedly, "I'm fine with anything."

Nicholas licked his studded lip when he heard this. He was looking forward to spending the night with Hera in his tent. At the thought of that, he quickly made a call and urged his friend to bring the car around.

At that moment, a black BMW X7 pulled up in front of them just as Nicholas heard his friend say on the other line, "I'm here!"

"Get in," Nicholas said, hanging up. He opened the door to the backseat, only to find Bernard sitting inside.

"What are you doing here?" Nicholas demanded loudly. He immediately opened the door to the driver's side, but to his eternal dismay, his friend was not behind the wheel. Shaun was. He cursed under his breath, "This is the wrong car..."

He turned around to see Samantha happily climbing into the passenger seat while Hera made herself comfortable in the middle seat with Bernard. Wayne heaved the baggage into the trunk and slid into the back seat.

Nicholas was the only one left standing outside.

"Are you getting in or not? If not, we'll leave without you," Shaun prompted coolly.