Chapter 281 You Didn’t Save My Number?
Chapter 281 You Didn’t Save My Number?
She glanced at Tyler, her tone laced with mockery,
"Don't be so quick to argue. I know you have your own channels and capabilities,
but time is too tight. You simply don't have time to set things up, otherwise Kumb's people wouldn't be chasing you around like a dog."
Tyler looked at her face so close to his. The streetlight cast its glow on her features, highlighting her delicate contours, yet the words coming out of her mouth were sharp and cutting.
His heart stirred, and he suddenly reached out his arm, pulling Della into the car through the window.
Caught off guard, Della let out a startled cry and instinctively struggled to push the car door open,
"What are you doing? Are you crazy! Let me go!"
Tyler tightened his grip, his arm around her neck, pulling her head close to his. Their breaths mingled as he spoke with a playful tone,
"That mouth of yours is really poisonous. I want to see if licking it would poison me to death."
Della's face flushed red with anger at his words. Instinctively, she stuck out her tongue and licked her own lips, her eyes full of defiance.
Tyler looked at her soft lips, felt a surge of heat, and suddenly lowered his head to kiss her.
The moment their lips touched, Della froze instantly, eyes wide open staring at Tyler so close to her. Her mind went blank, and it took her a while to react.
She pushed hard against his chest with her hands, using all her strength to shove him away.
"What are you doing? Are you crazy!"
Della gasped for air, her cheeks flushed red, her eyes full of anger and panic, even her voice trembling slightly.
Tyler licked his lips, savoring the sensation from moments ago. Seeing this, Della shouted in anger and urgency: "What are you doing? Are you crazy!"
Tyler used his thumb to gently wipe away the blood on his lips where she had bitten him, his tone still playful,
"I was just testing whether your mouth would poison me to death."
"You're insane!"
Della angrily kicked Tyler, not hard, but full of fury.
She yanked the car door open and stumbled out,
straightened her skirt, suppressed the panic and anger in her heart, and shouted at the car window,
"If you're going to find Emily, do it quickly.
I heard the Lumaria royal family wants to make her crown prince. Once it's confirmed, the first step will be changing her nationality.
You should know that once her nationality changes, her engagement to James will automatically become void."
Tyler's expression darkened instantly, his tone urgent as he asked,
"Where did you hear that? Is the information reliable?"
"You just got to Lumaria, I've been here for most of the day already,
and I've gathered way more information than you."
Della crossed her arms, her tone carrying a hint of vengeful satisfaction,
"Given your rudeness just now, I don't feel like sharing any more information with you. Get lost."
With that, Della got into her McLaren in her high heels without looking back.
The engine roared, and the red car shot out like an arrow, its exhaust fumes hitting Tyler's car as she sped away.
Tyler watched her figure disappear into the night, a cold smile playing on his lips, though his eyes were full of gravity.
Della's words were definitely not groundless. He had to find Emily quickly,
and get her out of Lumaria before Kumb made the announcement.
He hesitated no more, started his vehicle, and quickly drove down the mountain road toward the prince's residence.
Using his years of security experience and quick assessment of the terrain, Tyler avoided the patrol guards around the prince's residence,
and finally, at dusk, taking advantage of a ball being held at the residence that distracted the guards, under cover of darkness,
he infiltrated the prince's residence through an inconspicuous corner of the wall.
The prince's residence was brightly lit, with melodious music drifting from the direction of the ballroom, mixed with guests' laughter, forming a stark contrast with the quiet outside.
Tyler crouched low, using the garden landscape as cover, silently approaching the ballroom. He knew Emily was most likely there.
At that moment in the ballroom, crystal chandeliers sparkled brilliantly, their light reflecting off the smooth marble floor in dazzling rays.
Emily wore a white lace dress, its hem embroidered with tiny pearls, making her skin look snow-white, like an angel fallen to earth.
She stood in a corner of the ballroom, looking up at the light and shadows flickering on the crystal chandelier, her fingers unconsciously clutching her skirt, her brow slightly furrowed, her eyes full of hesitation and unease.
Today she had agreed to her father's request to attend this ball held for her,
but she knew in her heart that while this ball was nominally to welcome her, it was actually an occasion for Kumb to select a marriage partner for her.
She wasn't ready to enter into an arranged marriage with someone else,
and in her heart, she couldn't quite let go of that person in Emerald City.
What made her even more anxious was that Kumb planned to officially announce her nationality change tonight at the ball.
Becoming a member of the Lumaria royal family, possibly even being made crown prince,
was an honor others would die for,
but Emily's heart felt heavy, as if weighed down by a stone, unable to feel happy about it.
She knew her father meant well, wanting her to completely escape the troubles of Emerald City, but she just couldn't get past that hurdle in her heart.
Seeing Kumb and Arian chatting with several Lumaria royal nobles, their faces full of smiles, Emily took the opportunity to quietly slip away,
taking her phone and hiding in the first-floor corridor.
The corridor was quiet and peaceful, with only a few wall lamps casting soft light, and the garden landscape in the distance barely visible in the night.
She unlocked her phone and scrolled through her contacts, quickly recalling that besides James, the only phone number she could remember was Layla's.
She pressed the call button. The phone rang once, twice, and Emily's heart rose with each ring,
until the fifth ring, when a bored voice came from the other end: "Hello, who is it? Calling so late."
Emily raised an eyebrow, her tone carrying a hint of incredulous teasing,
"What, Layla, did you block me? Can't even recognize my voice anymore?"
Hearing Emily's voice,
Layla instantly perked up like she'd been injected with adrenaline, shrieking on the other end, her voice so loud it nearly pierced eardrums,
"Emily? Is that you?
Emily! You finally contacted me!
I thought something happened to you. I called you countless times and couldn't get through!"
Emily frowned at her shouting and held the phone away from her ear, asking in confusion: "Wait, you just asked who I was. Didn't you save my number?"