Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Love Swindler

Lila’s POV

The smile on Lilith’s face froze, like a mask that had its supports suddenly yanked away. Her fingers, holding the wine glass, tightened almost imperceptibly. The myrtle wine in the glass rippled with a fine, uneasy tremor.

“Caleb… you misunderstand me…”

Just then, Martha’s figure appeared at the entrance to the observation gallery.

She watched from a distance, not approaching immediately. She just stood there, her hands folded in front of her, her cream-colored cashmere cardigan glowing softly in the sunset. The same gentle, impeccable smile remained on her face, but beneath it, an extremely faint yet exceptionally sharp, cold glint flashed in her eyes.

She didn’t move.

She just watched quietly.

’It’s good for my daughter to face a little rejection.’

’Let her learn that being a person, especially a woman, isn’t about just aggressively chasing what you want. That’s not always effective.’

Just then, Zoe appeared.

She was like a breeze carrying the fresh scent of mint and citrus, gliding lightly through the crowd and stopping precisely in front of Martha.

“Aunt Martha!” Zoe’s smile was radiant, her eyes curving into two crescents. Her voice was as crisp as a wind chime. “I heard you have some brilliant insights on art, especially your unique critiques of the early paintings from Star Dust Creative that were auctioned off… Could I borrow you for a moment to tell me more?” She tilted her head slightly, her smile open and sincere, like a spring of pure water. “I’m currently planning a small exhibition on ’Forgotten Female Artists,’ and I’m in desperate need of guidance from a senior like you.”

The curve of Martha’s lips didn’t change in the slightest.

But the smile was like a thin layer of glaze on porcelain—exquisite, yet cold.

The cold glint in her eyes quietly receded, transforming into a deeper, more inscrutable calm.

She nodded, her voice as warm and steady as the earth. “Of course, Zoe. I’d be happy to.”

Then, she took Zoe’s arm, turned, and walked toward the salon area on the other side of the deck. Her steps were light, her posture elegant, as if that fleeting moment of sharpness had never existed.

Beneath the observation gallery, only Lilith and Caleb remained.

The air was as still as amber.

The color drained from Lilith’s face, bit by bit, leaving behind an almost translucent pallor. She still held the glass of myrtle wine, her arm suspended in mid-air like a statue about to collapse.

“I know! Of course, I know you’re engaged!” Her voice suddenly shot up, then was forcibly lowered, carrying the sharp edge of someone pushed to their limit. “But it’s just a business alliance! You two don’t have any feelings for each other!”

Caleb finally turned his gaze back to her.

He looked at her.

His gaze was calm, distant, and devoid of warmth, as if he were looking at an exhibit in a glass case that had nothing to do with him.

“That has nothing to do with you.” His tone was so flat it was almost cruel, each word like a frozen bead hitting the ground. “What’s important is that I’m not interested in you.”

Lilith’s face went white as a sheet.

Humiliation and anger, like molten lava, instantly washed away all her reason and pretense. She violently smashed the glass of myrtle wine in her hand onto the teak deck at her feet.

“SMASH—!”

The sharp sound of shattering glass startled a seagull perched on a gallery pillar, causing it to take flight.

The wine splattered everywhere, like a pool of dark red, broken blood.

Without giving Caleb another glance, she turned and fled. Her skirt billowed around her like the wings of a broken bird as she stumbled away in a panic.

In a small, private lounge, it was just the three of us, and the air was thick with a strange tension.

Zoe picked up a glass of amber whiskey, the ice cubes clinking softly inside.

Then, she pressed it into Caleb’s hand. Her fingertips pushed against his broad palm—a touch so light, yet carrying an undeniable force.

“Caleb,” she said, her voice extremely low, but each word cut through the air like a precision scalpel, “don’t be so quick to reject Lilith.”

She tilted her head up to meet his gaze, her eyes clear yet bottomless. “In our plan, approaching the Thorne family through the simple and predictable Lilith is how we hope to get more information about Lila’s parents before they died. If you were to date Lilith, it would be much easier than me trying to do it as her best friend, wouldn’t it?”

Caleb was silent.

He looked down at the whiskey in his hand. The ice spun slowly in the amber liquid, refracting slivers of cold light.

“No,” I said, instinctively refusing for Caleb. “You have a fiancée, and you have your dignity. I don’t need to get information by deceiving a girl’s feelings.”

“…Especially since I was once that girl, the one who was deceived and left completely broken.”

The air suddenly froze.

It was as if even the seagulls returning to nest on the gallery pillars held their breath.

Caleb shot his head up.

The setting sun hung behind him, casting a thin layer of gold on his profile, but it couldn’t illuminate the surging, tumultuous dark tide in his eyes. Within that tide was guilt, pain, an unspeakable weight, and a sliver… a sliver of desperate hope that even he himself hadn’t noticed.

He took half a step forward.

He was so close I could see the fine, soft shadows cast by my eyelashes. I could feel the faint but real warmth of my breath, tinged with mint and the sea breeze.

His voice was as hoarse as sandpaper on wood, each word like he was cutting open his own chest.

“Lila… I didn’t lie to you.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed. The movement tugged at a faint old scar on the side of his neck, a mark smoothed by time but one that would never truly disappear.

“From the time you were adopted into my family, all these years… we were like brother and sister, but it was definitely more than familial love.” His voice dropped, carrying a confession that was almost tragic. “Losing you wasn’t my choice. My hands were tied.”

Zoe narrowed her eyes slightly.

She didn’t speak, just unconsciously rubbed a bead of condensation on her mojito glass. In the sunset, the droplet refracted slivers of cold light.

“So now…” My voice was soft, with a subtle tremor I hadn’t even noticed myself. “You’re willing to put on another act for me?”

Caleb shook his head.

He raised his hand, not pointing at Lilith, but at the giant, gentle sun on the horizon, slowly sinking into the embrace of the azure sea.

“I’m not acting.” His voice was calm now, but it carried a heart-stopping weight. “I’m just… going to try to accept her advances.”

“If you think this method is also dirty…” His voice was low but exceptionally clear. “I’ll get off this ship right now.”

Just then, Zoe’s phone rang. The low, clipped report of the security captain, Riven, came from the earpiece: “The King has returned from Black Water Town. Please confirm your return time.”

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