Chapter 4The Calculated Reunion

For a second, I was sure I'd misheard him.

After a few stunned blinks, I quickly waved my hands. "I was just kidding."

But his expression didn't change. "I'm not."

Now I was completely lost. I remembered Izzy's joke about getting her brother to marry me and wondered if she had actually asked him. But Sebastian wasn't the type to do things just because his sister asked.

"Marry me," Sebastian repeated. "You can name your terms."

I started to stammer. "I-I don't think so."

A frown creased his brow, a clear sign of his displeasure.

He was about to say something else when Izzy came back up, carrying a plate of cake.

"Seb?" she said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Just passing through. I'm leaving soon." He turned to go, then paused and looked back at me. "Think about it."

"Passing through what? The middle of nowhere?" Izzy watched him go, confused. "What were you guys talking about? I swear my brother looks even angrier than usual. His iceberg face is extra frosty."

I didn't know what to say, so I asked her cautiously, "Did you, by any chance, ask your brother to marry me?"

"Nope!" she said, shaking her head. "I was going to, but then I saw his face and chickened out. I was afraid he'd tell me to get lost, so I dropped it."

That only made me more confused, but I didn't press the issue.

After that, Izzy kept dragging me on "getaways," sometimes to a resort her brother had invested in, other times to one of his properties. "I don't know what's gotten into my brother lately," she'd say. "He's suddenly being nice to me! He says yes to everywhere I want to go. I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth!"

I tried to refuse, but she was relentless. I only agreed to go after making sure Sebastian wouldn't be there.

Our fourth trip was to a beach house he'd bought a year ago. Izzy said she'd only been allowed to stay there once since it was renovated. We ended up just curling up in the home theater to watch a movie. Halfway through, Izzy complained of a stomachache and ran to the bathroom.

I paused the movie to wait for her.

But she wasn't the one who came back. It was Sebastian.

Before I could even think of some polite small talk, he cut straight to the chase. "Have you made your decision?"

I just stared at him blankly. "Huh?"

"Marrying me," he clarified. "I can pay off your family's debt."

I didn't answer right away.

To be honest, I was tempted.

But my hesitation must have looked like a refusal to him. His brow furrowed. "Why not? Is it because of that childhood fiancé of yours?"

I was shocked. Izzy had even told him about Noah!

"No, that's not it," I tried to explain. "That whole thing was..."

He didn't seem interested in my explanation. "Forget it. It doesn't matter."

He produced a glass of milk from somewhere and handed it to me. "Drink."

"Oh, okay." I took the glass obediently and took a sip.

"Finish it," he commanded.

I dutifully drank the rest of it. "It tastes a little bitter," I remarked.

"Mm," he said, taking the empty glass back. "Are you tired?"

Now that he mentioned it, a wave of drowsiness washed over me. I rubbed my eyes. "Yeah, a little."

My thoughts suddenly felt fuzzy, and my eyelids grew heavy. In the last few seconds before I lost consciousness, I heard his voice, low and soft.

"Go to sleep."