Honey, You're a Billionaire?

Although Elijah's tone sounded light-hearted, it was filled with guilt and remorse.

Rose naturally noticed that and comforted him. "Perhaps one day, you'll find her!"

Her words caught him off guard. When he looked at her eyes, he was in a trance. "You're right. Perhaps I'll find her one day!"

But would there be such a day? Elijah took a deep breath.

"Miss, it's easy to get lost while searching for your friend on a mountain with so many branching paths. What if you encounter another man like that guy? It's dangerous out here. "If you trust me, why don't I keep you company during your search?"

Elijah dismissed his thoughts. For some reason, he didn't want to separate from this girl.

"Will that take up much of your time?" Rose naturally trusted him. The more she looked at him, the more she found him amicable.

He laughed. "Of course not. I'm free the whole day. Plus, I came here to find my wife. During her time in Regalia, we met here once. It'd be great if I could see her again."

His gaze was undeniably affectionate when he mentioned his wife. Rose's eyes once again caught him in a daze, but soon enough, he returned to normal.

The pair headed down the path, not going further up but backtracking instead. They planned to try their luck by taking a different branching path.

During their trek, the two chatted happily. When he mentioned his last name, Rose instantly thought of Clover but didn't overthink it.

Elijah told her about the stories of his wife, and through his words, she could imagine his wife was a stunning lady.

After trying a couple of different branching paths, they found no sign of Harriette. However, she noticed there were people at every branching path who made her feel uneasy. But when they saw her with Elijah, they seemed surprised. "The person we knocked out earlier might not have been here by chance." Elijah suddenly pivoted the topic away from his wife.

Rose met his gaze. "You thought so too?"

Her answer took him by surprise. She was quick-witted! He seemed glad. "Do you know anybody who might harm you?"

Harm her? A few figures flashed across Rose's mind. Although she hadn't been in Regalia long, she had already made quite a few enemies. And the suspect for this incident...

"I'm not sure." She shook her head.

He frowned. "Why not?"

"I have too many enemies. I don't know which one it is." Rose smiled self-deprecatingly.

Surprised by her answer, Elijah laughed out loud. "Oh, missy. You look like an endearing girl. What offensive stuff could you possibly have done?"

Endearing? Rose was surprised because no one had ever described her this way. However, she had heard plenty of it being used on Kelly. Knowing her charming personality was a facade, Rose didn't care to be called endearing. When Elijah said it, however, it somehow gave her a nice feeling.

"Etta... was it? I suggest you stop looking for her." His gaze dimmed.

"Why not?" She frowned.

"Don't you have a feeling that these people are somehow connected to her being lost?" He implied that Harriette was attempting to harm her.

"How can that be? Etta..." Rose recalled how Harriette defended her at the charity auction event and had been friendly to her since. How could it be her?

"You don't think so? I guess Etta did a great job disguising herself then. Or perhaps this is all a coincidence." He knew the possibility of the latter was low though.

It had been eerily strange at Aurora Crest that day, with every branching path posted with people. It had to be someone influential to be able to orchestrate that.

If Rose stepped foot on any of these paths alone, she would be defeated by a strong man. In the wilderness, anything could happen. By then, she would be brushed off as another "accident".

Elijah stopped and looked at Rose. "Are we still doing this?"

His voice pulled her back to her senses. After some hesitation, she made a decision.

"No, we're not. Perhaps my brother has already found her. We're here at Aurora Crest today because our grandpa came here and hiked to the summit every year while he was alive."

She gazed at the summit. "Grandpa came here because he missed his daughter, while we came here to reminisce about him."

An act of longing... It seemed they were here for the same purpose.

"Okay then. I'll hike the summit with you," Elijah unhesitantly offered.

Rose was shocked. "But... didn't you just descend from there? You..."

She knew he was sticking around for the sake of protecting her. Despite her gratitude, she refused to trouble him further.

She wanted to tell him they could return to the main path and separate since it would be more crowded there, and they wouldn't have to worry about the attackers.

Yet, before she could say that, Elijah chuckled. "I didn't come from there. It'd be a pity if I don't reach the summit while I'm here. Luckily, I met you and saved myself the regret. Let's go! To the summit!" With that, heted the way.

Watching him from the back, Rose was momentarily speechless. She wasn't sure if he was telling the truth, but one thing was clear-Elijah was a samaritan!

"Come on!" he urged. Snapping back to reality, she grunted and followed suit.

Although Aurora Crest wasn't considered a very high peak, it still took a few hours to reach the summit. During their journey, Rose called Miles and confirmed Harriette's safety, finally relaxing.

In contrast, Harriette seemed slightly grim. "Miles, was that Rosie?"

She sat on one of the rocks, looking normal.

Miles ended the call. "Yeah, Rosie said to meet at the summit."

"But... Isn't it dangerous for Rosie to

hike alone?" She displayed a look of worry and self-blame. "I shouldn't have strayed away all for that

butterfly. If I hadn't gotten lost and fallen off the trail, Rosie wouldn't have..."

Miles looked at Harriette's injuries located on her leg, which had a large scrape and was painful to look at.

"Don't be sorry. Rosie won't blame

you for it. She won't hesitate to look for a stranger, let alone family." He crouched and stroked her hand to comfort her before turning around. "Here. Get on my back. I'll take you up there."

He wanted to carry her on his back to the summit. "That's not a good idea..." She was rather hesitant. "That'll take a toll on you."

"What does that matter? I carried you on my back for like a gazillion times when we were kids," he joked.

After some hesitation, Harriette hopped on Miles' back. Suddenly, she understood how lucky Harriette had been. If only...