恶霸鲁尼 奖学金

"I\'ll kiss you…"

Those last three words coming from Abigail gained different reactions from them. Stephen was amused by her boldness while Veronica was fuming with rage. Kathleen, on the other hand, was so proud of Abigail. As far as she knew, no one would dare challenge Nathan Sparks like that.

When they glanced at Nathan, the baffled expression on his face was now replaced by a cheeky smirk.

\'If you kiss me… will you do it better than the first one?\' Nathan thought to himself, eyeing Abigail mischievously.

Stephen\'s jaw dropped upon seeing the playful smirk on Nathan\'s face. He seldom shows this kind of expression. This was just once in a blue moon.

Realizing that Stephen was looking at him, Nathan wiped away the smirk on the corner of his lips, putting on a straight face.

"Do that if we are alone… not in front of others. I want it to be private," Nathan nonchalantly said as he whispered to her. He quickly turned around, getting the ball from Stephen.

Abigail: (0_0)

She couldn\'t believe that Nathan said those words. Was he just trying to tease her and get even with her for her bold remarks?

"Let\'s play now!" Nathan said to catch the attention of other players.

"Step aside, Veronica. We are going to play now!" Kathleen said in her sarcastic tone.

Veronica just glared at her before stepping to the side.

Kathleen and Stephen went to the opposite side of the court while Abigail and Nathan positioned themselves inside their half court.

Stephen and Abigail were both determined to win but Kathleen and Nathan were thinking the opposite. Kathleen wanted Abigail and Nathan to win the game so that Stephen would kiss her.

Stephen let Nathan serve the ball first. When the game started, Stephen was very focused on receiving the ball, sending it to the other side of the volleyball net.

With her competitive attitude, Abigail tried her best to return the ball also in order to score. Stephen and Abigail were busy exchanging moves to send the ball to the other side. Kathleen and Nathan were just standing there, not wanting to interfere. Both of them had hidden agenda for doing so.

Meanwhile, Veronica was wishing that Nathan and Abigail would win this game so that Nathan wouldn\'t be punished. She would erupt like a volcano once she saw Nathan carrying Abigail on his back! Nathan didn\'t even do that to Monica. How could someone like Abigail get that kind of privilege? She wouldn\'t allow that to happen.

When the four were so focused on the game, Veronica thought of a dirty move. She scooped some sand in her right hand. When Abigail was about to receive the ball from the other side, Veronica splashed the sand in the air, causing the tiny objects to get into Abigail\'s eyes.

Abigail reflexively closed her eyes as some foreign objects entered her eyes thus hurting them.

"Abi, look out!" Kathleen yelled at her to warn Abigail as the ball was about to hit her face.

Stephen also got worried since the ball\'s direction was toward Abigail\'s face. She had to move aside but it seemed that Abigail hurt her eyes. She stood there on her spot while trying to rub her eyes.

Veronica rejoiced inwardly. She couldn\'t wait to see Abigail being hit by the ball right into her face. This was her revenge as Abigail ruined her moment with Nathan. Besides, she had nothing to worry about as Abigail and Nathan were still in the lead with three points.

She thought they would still win this. She just got annoyed by Abigail\'s closeness to Nathan, that\'s why she used an underhanded technique to hurt Abigail.

The ball was about to land when suddenly someone grabbed Abigail by her waist and turned her around.

Thud!

The ball hit Nathan\'s back, instead of Abigail\'s face. He was literally hugging her in his arms, shielding her and protecting her against the ball.

No one had anticipated that thoughtful action from him. Even Stephen and Kathleen were surprised that the cold and aloof Nathan Sparks tried to protect Abigail from getting hit by the ball.

"Are you okay?" Nathan asked Abigail. Though he asked her with a neutral tone, there was a hint of concern in his blue eyes. Unfortunately, Abigail couldn\'t see it as her eyes were still hurt.

But she could already feel his hands holding her waist tightly and her face was almost touching his sturdy chest. She could smell his masculine scent and it was so pleasant in her nose. It somehow distracted her from feeling the discomfort in her eyes.

"I\'m fine. I got something into my eyes… and I feel some discomfort." Abigail honestly responded to Nathan.

Nathan immediately cupped her face with one hand, lifting her chin to check her eyes. Nathan had a serious look on his face as he assessed Abigail.

On the other hand, Veronica was rendered speechless as she watched Nathan and Abigail. At that moment, she reached her boiling point. She had the urge to pull Abigail\'s hair and drag her away from Nathan. However, Nathan\'s presence stopped her from doing that.

In the end, Veronica chose to leave to cool herself down. She could no longer stay there and watch Nathan and Abigail.

\'I will make you pay for this!\' Veronica marched out with a raging fury.

When she got far away from them, Veronica called someone.

"I want you to give me all the information I need about Abigail Scarlett! Find anything suspicious about her. Let me know her weaknesses… and everything about her!" When Veronica was done instructing her underling, she hung up the phone and walked away.

She would resort to another strategy. And this time she would make sure that Nathan would be hers… Only HERS!

Meanwhile, on the beach volleyball court, Nathan was now blowing Abigail\'s eyes, helping her out to ease the discomfort in her eyes.

Kathleen and Stephen just watched the two in awe. They looked like a sweet and loving couple.

"Are they feeding us dog food?" Stephen blurted out jokingly. He glanced at Kathleen and smiled sheepishly. She could only smile back before shaking her head helplessly.

"Are we going to continue the game?" Kathleen asked Abigail and Nathan.

"Of course… the game is not yet over," Abigail promptly responded.

But Nathan also spoke up, contradicting Abigail. "No. We can\'t continue anymore. We should go to the hospital and have your eyes checked before they get irritated further."

"I agree with Nathan," Stephen butted in. He was also concerned about Abigail\'s eye condition. Her right eye became red already. "You shouldn\'t have rubbed it with your fingers," Stephen added.

"Okay. Let\'s end this as a draw then. No one wins," Kathleen said. "Abi\'s health is the most important thing. Let\'s go to the hospital!"

"By the way, where is Veronica?" Stephen asked them when he didn\'t see her around.

"Just forget about her. I think she is the reason why Abigail\'s eyes were hurt." Kathleen snorted, suspecting Veronica. Although she didn\'t see what Veronica did, Kathleen had this feeling that she was responsible for this.

Nathan just narrowed his eyes, emitting a chilly aura around him. He was also suspecting Veronica for what happened. The four of them proceeded to Stephen\'s car as they left the White Paradise Resort.

Nathan chose to bring Abigail to the hospital where Phantomflake was being treated and examined.

Abigail felt that Nathan and others were overreacting. She was just fine and there was no need for her to have an eye check-up. But Nathan was firm with his decision and Stephen was supporting his best friend. Abigail had no choice but to follow them.

Kathleen accompanied Abigail to the Optometrist to have Abigail\'s eyes examined. Meanwhile, Stephen and Nathan went to see Phantomflake together.

*****

In Phantomflake\'s Private Ward…

"So the reason you came here is her… Phantomflake." Stephen mumbled as his eyes were fixed on the unconscious woman in the sickbed.

Nathan just nodded his head. Then Stephen heaved a deep sigh.

"Can\'t you stop this already, Nate? You should move on and free yourself from anger and hatred. Through this… you can only be happy." Stephen said meaningfully, holding Nathan\'s shoulder.

"You know that I can\'t do that Steph. Besides, I don\'t care about being happy or not. I just want to do this… for Monica. How can I do nothing… if the person who killed her is in front of me? I want her to live so that she will also experience the same pain I had experienced when Monica died."

"Furthermore… I still need to know the person who gave her the mission to kill Monica." Nathan folded his hands into tight fists. He could feel the rage surging up in his heart as he recalled the moment Monica was assassinated in front of him.

"Nate… what do you think about Abigail?" Stephen immediately changed the topic, diverting Nathan\'s attention. He could sense that Nathan was getting furious as hell again whenever he would remember that tragic moment.

Stephen was Nathan\'s psychologist so he knew how hard it was for Nathan to recollect those bad memories. He didn\'t want him to feel that pain over and over again. As much as possible, he would think of a way Nathan\'s focus would be diverted. And this time… he used Abigail and it looked like he succeeded.

"What do you mean by that?" Nathan asked Stephen curiously.

"It seems that… you care about Abigail and you are starting to loosen up in her presence. I saw you smiling because of her. I saw you getting mad because of her. We thought only Monica could affect your emotions… but now, I can see that Abigail has started to affect yours as well."

Nathan was at a loss for words when he heard those words from Stephen.