The wings of the private jet cut through the sea of clouds. Below, the glittering lights of the city could already be seen, looking like a handful of crushed diamonds scattered across the ground.
In the rear cabin, upon that massive double bed, Sugar Valentine was curled up in a corner wrapped in a leather blanket, looking like a cat that had finally had its fur smoothed down. Silas Thorne leaned against the headboard, a laptop resting on his lap as his slender fingers continued to process cross-border contracts worth billions. However, his other hand remained firmly locked around Sugar's slender ankle.
He was afraid she would run—even at an altitude of thirty thousand feet.
"Silas Thorne, I'm hungry." Sugar turned her head. The sharpness she had displayed back in Cairns had faded from her fox-like eyes, replaced by a laziness born from being pampered.
Silas closed his laptop and leaned over her. His thin lips brushed against her forehead as he whispered in a low, magnetic, and husky voice, "What do you want to eat? Should I have the chef at the manor prepare something once we arrive, or... would you like to have some other 'dessert' first?"
Sugar's exquisite face flushed red. Recalling that absurd "punishment" in the clouds earlier, she kicked him lightly with her toe in annoyance. "Can't you fit some decent code into that brain of yours?"
Silas took the opportunity to catch her snowy ankle. His gaze was deep and dark, yet his tone became uncharacteristically serious. "Sugar, the most 'decent' line of code in my life is the one that wrote you into my spouse column."
He pulled a small velvet box from his chest pocket and slowly opened it under the dim glow of the wall lamp.
Inside was not some "pigeon egg" diamond ring. Instead, it was a tiny, exquisite USB drive crafted from pure gold, its top inlaid with a deep blue diamond chip that looked exactly like that patch of sea at the Cairns marina.
"What is this?" Sugar was stunned.
"This is the original draft of the chip you stole, and the encrypted keys to every overseas asset under my name." Silas slipped this heavy "engagement ring" onto her finger, his voice as deep as a chiming clock. "Miss Valentine, if you want to steal something in the future, you don't need to jump off boats or crawl through rainforests. As long as you speak the word, even I, as a person, am your private property."
Looking at the "key" on her fingertip, Sugar's eyes suddenly grew hot.
This man had intercepted her using the most obsessive methods, yet he had also set her free with the most ultimate form of trust.
"And what if... I still want to run?" she choked out jokingly.
Silas gathered her into his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head. He inhaled the faint fragrance on her body, his tone domineering yet tender. "Then I will build another island and name it 'Sugar.' No matter which corner of the world you escape to, your final destination can only be me."
A polite reminder from the captain came through the cabin intercom:
"Mr. Thorne, Miss Valentine, we are beginning our final descent. It is 8:00 PM Beijing time, the ground weather is clear. Welcome home."
The moment the plane touched down, the fuselage vibrated slightly.
Sugar looked out through the porthole at the distance. The humid heat of Cairns, the heart-pounding moments in the rainforest, the frantic interception at the airport—it all felt like things from a past life. Now, she had landed in a harbor that belonged truly to her.
"Silas Thorne."
"Hmm?"
"Actually, back in the hut that night, I didn't finish writing the note I left for you."
Sugar leaned in close to his ear. Taking advantage of the roar of the engines as the plane decelerated, she softly breathed out the truth that had been hidden deep within her code:
"To 'Forget me'... is impossible. Because, I hacked into your heart a long time ago, too."
Silas's body stiffened violently. In the next second, he tightly cupped the back of her head and, at the end of that long runway, gave her a deep kiss that declared his total sovereignty.
...
[THE END]