He Waited She Wilted (Ottilie and Yorath) novel Chapter 148

He licked his lips, practically salivating at the thought.

His phone rang. It was Huxley Tarrant.

"Don't completely break her, Heath. Leave some leftovers for me."

"Sure thing," Heath replied lazily. "Just wait your turn."

He hung up, shoved his hands in his pockets, and began his casual trek up the mountain.

In his head, he scoffed. Who did Huxley think he was?

He wouldn't even get the scraps.

If it weren't for his well-connected sister, the Tarrant family wouldn't even be fit to shine Yorath's shoes.

June 29, 2026.

Ottilie entered the mountains with the production crew.

On the very first night, a torrential downpour hit.

It was the crew's last night together at base camp.

At dawn, the contestants would split up, heading to their designated drop zones to begin their solo survival runs.

The cameramen weren't contestants, so they were given tents.

Fabian sat dry inside his, pointing the lens right at Ottilie.

Thunder crashed and lightning split the sky, but she had nowhere to hide.

Terrified of venomous bugs crawling up her clothes, she tucked her pants tightly into her socks and her shirt into her waistband.

Then she pulled out her map, reading the trail by the faint glow of the tent's lantern in the pouring rain.

"Our drop zone is still a day's hike away. We move out at first light."

Fabian's lashless eyes remained fixed unblinking on the monitor, watching her every move.

Black clouds smothered the sky as the rain lashed down mercilessly.

Her thin clothes were completely soaked, clinging to her skin and perfectly outlining every curve of her body.

She was breathtaking.

He adjusted the focus, slowly panning the lens down from her face.

Capturing every single inch of her on film.

The storm worsened. In the dead of night, the director checked in via radio.

Fabian reported that everything was fine.

2:00 AM.

The rain was still pouring. Ottilie leaned against the trunk of a massive tree, resting her eyes despite the deluge.

Suddenly, a deep, rumbling sound echoed through the air.

The ground trembled violently, and the trees began shaking with a deafening crackle.

A second later, a deafening crash swallowed everything.

The world spun upside down. Rocks, mud, and shattered trees slammed into her as the mountain gave way.

She clawed desperately, trying to grab onto anything.

But whatever she caught was instantly ripped away by the churning earth.

Boulders and branches battered her body, making every bone scream in agony.

Even drawing a breath felt like swallowing razor blades.

She didn't know how long she tumbled before the world went black, and she lost consciousness.

Morning.

Yves Walden was recovering at home. He kept a strict schedule, waking up early.

Knowing she was in the Patagonian Wilds, he had the local news playing in the background.

The morning anchor's voice drifted through the room.

[A catastrophic, once-in-a-century landslide occurred on the outskirts of the Patagonian Wilds last night. A wilderness survival reality show crew has lost all contact with the outside world.]

Yves shot up from the couch, shouting at the nurse making breakfast in the kitchen, "Joanna, call Yorath Fordham! Right now!"

Joanna looked startled. "What's wrong?"

He dragged his injured leg over, grabbing her wrist in a panic. "Just call him!"