Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 938

An hour later, they climbed out from underground, dust clinging to their clothes.

The supervisor took them on a quick tour of the area, pointing out the ore washing plant and the refining workshop. When lunchtime rolled around, they just ate with the workers at the site.

After eating, Emmy couldn’t help but yawn, the urge to nap settling in again. Not wanting her to doze off, James led her toward the edge of a stretch of wild stone formations. The rocks here twisted into all kinds of strange shapes. The sea breeze rushed through the gaps, making a low, whistling sound.

As they walked, Emmy stopped. She crouched by a massive boulder, her eyes fixed on a crack between the stones. There, in a narrow crevice with barely any dirt, a tiny wildflower had somehow forced its way out. Its petals were a soft lavender, trembling under the blazing sun and salty wind, but still blooming fiercely.

Emmy reached out, brushing a petal with her finger. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “It must hurt, doesn’t it?”

“To squeeze out from between rocks… roots with nowhere to hold on, getting blasted by wind and burned by the sun.”

James stepped behind her, his tall figure blocking most of the sunlight.

“It doesn’t hurt,” he said.

Emmy looked up, confused.

James crouched down to meet her eyes. They were deep, almost endless, like the ocean stretching behind him.

“It doesn’t hurt,” he repeated. “It knows that if it breaks through the stone, it’ll finally see the sun.”

“Everything alive—no matter how small or beaten down—has the instinct to fight for life.”

“It’s not suffering. It’s fighting back.”

“As long as it wants the light, nothing can defeat it. Even stone will step aside.”

Emmy stared at him, caught off guard. For a second, her heart skipped a beat. He was talking about the flower, but it felt like he was talking about them, too.

The wind swept her bangs across her face, a few strands sticking to her lips.

James’s eyes darkened, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He reached out, gently tucking the loose hair behind her ear. His fingers brushed her warm earlobe. For a moment, their breath mingled, the rest of the world fading out.

All she could hear was the crash of waves against the rocks, steady and wild, like her pounding heart.

James stared at her parted lips, remembering their sweetness. For a moment, his self-control wavered.

He leaned in, slow and intense, fighting to hold himself back.

The distance between them disappeared. Emmy could smell the clean, fresh scent of him, something dangerous and magnetic that belonged only to him.

James followed her gaze. A little gray lizard sat on a stone, glancing back at them before darting away, its tail now a stub.

He let out a breath, muscles relaxing. At least she wasn’t hurt.

Emmy’s cheeks turned bright red. She wriggled out of his arms, rubbing her warm neck and avoiding his eyes. “Maybe we should… head back?”

This was beyond embarrassing. Scared by a lizard, again.

Seeing her flustered expression, James felt his earlier frustration dissolve into something softer.

“Let’s walk a bit more,” he said.

He glanced at the sky. “There’s a higher spot over there with a great view. We haven’t seen the whole place yet.”

If they went back now, she’d just curl up and nap again.

Emmy had no choice but to follow. They wandered through the stone forest, where the rocks rose up in wild shapes, some like swords, some like animals—a masterpiece sculpted by nature itself.

Finally, James led her to the very top of the tallest rocky hill. From there, the whole island and the endless blue sea unfolded beneath them, dazzling and wide open.