CHAPTER 535: CHAPTER 535: EXPLOITATION

Henry Hale stayed outside for a while before he started shivering.

His deep gaze looked at Paige Sterling through the glass, but Paige was unmoved.

After a while, Paige finally opened the car door.

Henry quickly got into the car and took a big gulp of water, "They say when a woman makes up her mind, men don’t matter at all. That’s really true."

Paige didn’t speak, crossed her arms, and squinted her eyes as if she was about to sleep.

Henry said, "Give me the car key, let’s get out of here."

Paige moved slightly, "Didn’t you say we were out of gas?"

Henry replied, "We can last until we’re out of here."

Paige let out a sound of acknowledgment and took out the car key from her bag.

But she didn’t hand the car key to Henry. She was sitting in the driver’s seat and stepped on the gas, driving straight into the desert.

There was a road in the desert too, just covered by sand, but the car could still drive over it without issues.

Henry looked at Paige, "Paige, what are you doing?"

Paige’s lips curled into a smile, "Don’t you like excitement? Let’s make it big."

Paige was driving aimlessly, and in the end, she didn’t know where they ended up. The road had long been lost.

Henry’s face turned grim, "Paige, do you really want to die in the desert? Stop the car right now."

During this season, no one comes to the desert. If they truly got lost in the desert and couldn’t get out, once the supplies in the car ran out, they’d be waiting for death.

Yet Paige ignored him and kept driving until the car really ran out of gas and stopped. Paige said, "Now it has stopped."

Henry looked out of the car, seeing only the endless desert. He silently looked at Paige, and after a while, he asked, "Paige, the car is really out of gas, so how are we supposed to get out of here?"

Paige replied, "Then we just won’t."

"What do you mean by that? Do you really think trapping me in the desert means Julian Hawthorne will find us here? Paige, aren’t you being naive?"

"I have never been naive," Paige said with an indifferent expression, "You overthink things. I simply wanted to take a trip to the desert. Who knows, I might not have the chance once I get busy."

Henry fell silent for a moment, the car was quiet for a long time, with only the sound of the wind and sand hitting the car.

After a while, Henry suddenly pointed to somewhere not far away and said, "Paige, look, there’s an oasis over there."

Paige squinted her eyes. There was no oasis there just now, how could one appear?

It was merely a mirage.

But in this season, wasn’t the chance of seeing a mirage quite low?

So Paige looked over but didn’t see anything.

They had only been in the desert for a few hours. Was Henry already having hallucinations?

Paige’s lips twitched involuntarily, but she didn’t say anything.

Henry said, "Paige, let’s go over there, to the oasis."

He opened the car door and got out, then went around to open the driver’s side door, trying to pull Paige out.

Paige refused, and Henry said, "Why won’t you go? We’re just going over to take a look."

But it was just an illusion. Even if Henry walked for a lifetime, he wouldn’t reach the oasis.

Paige said indifferently, "Henry, there’s nothing there."

Paige refused to go, and finally, Henry walked alone toward the oasis without knowing how long he walked, though the oasis was right in front of him, he couldn’t reach it.

Henry already believed that the oasis was just his illusion.

But he refused to give up, just like his feelings for Paige—never had, never owned, so he would never let go until he reached his goal.

So Henry wouldn’t stop walking until he was too tired to go on.

When he turned back, he realized he couldn’t see the car or Paige anymore.

And when he looked back at the oasis, the green bamboo was gone too.

He ventured forward blindly, only to find out that he hadn’t found the oasis and had lost Paige.

Henry stood in the vast desert, suddenly engulfed in panic and despair, shouting loudly, "Paige!"

But there was no response from Paige; only his own echo answered him.

Henry began walking back, but he couldn’t find the route they had come in on.

He suddenly realized he was not only lost in the desert but also separated from Paige.

Henry had never felt so panicked and desperate; it was more terrifying than being alone and helpless.

He didn’t know what had happened to Paige, nor did he know what would become of her.

He brought Paige here and had never intended for anything to happen to her here.

No, nothing can happen to Paige, Henry kept moving forward.

But just then, he suddenly heard a sound beyond the sandstorm; it was... a car?

Henry looked toward the sound and saw the Jeep.

Paige had driven the Jeep over, and she stopped it next to the exhausted Henry, lowering the window with a smile as she looked at him.

"Mr. Hale, how’s the experience of surviving in the desert?"

Henry lay exhausted in the desert, and though he should be angry at the moment, upon seeing Paige, he found himself no longer feeling any anger, just relief.

Relief that Paige was still alive, relief that he could still see Paige.

It took him a while to climb out of the sand and get into the car, "Wasn’t the car out of gas?"

Paige shrugged, "There was another can of gas in the trunk."

She had casually put it in there, buried at the bottom, so Henry hadn’t seen it.

"Why come looking for me?" Henry asked, "Are you starting to care about me?"

Paige laughed, "I told you, someone like you deserves to spend a lifetime in prison."

Dying here would be too easy for him, wouldn’t it?

Some people’s sins need a lifetime of suffering to atone for.

Henry leaned back in his seat. Paige didn’t start the car, and Henry watched as the sand hit the car, layer after layer, quickly covering the windshield.

"Paige, you know, I was really scared just now. I didn’t even know what I was scared of, maybe it was death, or maybe I was scared of dying somewhere no one knew, but when I saw you, I realized I was just scared of dying in a different place than you..."

He closed his eyes, "If you had been by my side at that moment, no matter how desperate I was, I wouldn’t have been afraid at all."

He always thought his feelings for Paige were just temporary interest and manipulation.

So the sweet words he said in front of Paige, not only did Paige not believe them, neither did he; he was simply used to using emotions to deceive.

But until that moment just now, he realized that even if his initial feelings for Paige were interest and manipulation, they no longer were.

He had fallen in love with this woman, truly in love.

But after lying so much, would Paige believe him now?

Maybe Paige didn’t care at all, he might just be an insignificant person to her.

Henry took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Paige, I know you don’t care whether I like you or about me as a person..."

"If you know, then stop wasting words and asking me meaningless questions."

Henry was suddenly at a loss for words, feeling that Paige’s expressionless face at that moment was as cold as a heartbreaker.