The Billionaire's Authentic Daughter ▶️

9 5 | J U L I E T

"Well, this is another disappointment," Nia remarked but thankfully Eli was too excited that we all were there at his beach house for him to hear her.

"My mom planted these and we still take care of them!" He was saying, pointing to the groves of taro leaves, rosemary and lemon trees in the front yard. I broke a twig off of one absently as we passed.

The house looked small from the outside but all the plants and trees in the front made it look pretty. It had a freaking bamboo roof that seriously made me doubt it would remain atop our heads in case of a storm. But its four walls were made up of bricks which was more durable so at least the whole thing wouldn't fly away.

Our fears were confirmed when we stepped into the house to find it only had a tiny kitchen, a decent sized living room, one common bathroom for everyone and a medium-sized bedroom. And this was to be shared with twelve people, including Norman who was going to stay for a couple of days. For a girl like me who was only accustomed to spacious and luxurious resorts and hotel rooms with everything available at my beck and call, this was going to a nightmare but the one thing I'd learned after living in the peasant world was to adjust.

"Do you think Braxton will let us stay in his super cute house if we asked him?" Pari asked her, looking longingly at Eli's neighbour's house which admittedly looked more hospitable to twelve people than Eli's tiny hut of a house.

Nia sighed. "I think we've troubled him enough."

In the living room, we stood around awkwardly as we regarded the interiors.

Pari pouted. "We should've seen this coming. Going on this trip with these guys, what were we even expecting?"

"You know, not everyone is born with a rich daddy we can use like an ATM," Nathan said, coming up behind her.

It felt like a personal attack though he wasn't even addressing me.

"You again," she groaned, rolling her eyes. "Stop getting butthurt over things. Not everyone is going to like everything about you."

I agreed silently, feeling defensive myself.

"But that doesn't mean you have to say that out loud."

"What's for dinner?" Boonsri called out from where she was in the kitchen, going through the fridge. "It's all empty here." Below her, Slone poked her head inside to check.

"We haven't been here for months now so we didn't stock it up. Norman, I told you to get the grocery," Eli said, popping his head out from the refrigerator.

Norman blinked at him. "I thought you said you'd do that."

"When the hell did I say that?"

"You didn't?"

Eli gave his cousin an annoyed look. Norman grinned sheepishly, grabbing Sloane's hand. "I'll show the others around. Come on, Sloane."

The others followed him but Pari rolled her eyes. "What's even there to show? The house ends before it even begins."

I stayed put and so did Nia eyeing me warily, Nova looking at me expectantly and Eli, Boonsri and Colin who were the ones not looking at me. Also, Abeo on the couch who hadn't moved at all since we got here. He had flopped down on it face down as soon as he had entered the house. I just hoped he want dead.

"Is there a shop around?" Boonsri asked.

"Yeah, a single one but that's all the way to the other side of the island," Eli replied.

"Perfect! Colin and I will walk there and get everything we'll need," Boonsri said, bounding to him and looping her arm around his.

There she went again with her attempts to make Abeo jealous. Abeo didn't even look like he heard her as he gave no reaction. That ice cream box had really killed his arms.