From Betrayal to Brilliance Her Rise to a New Life novel Chapter 138

Chapter 138 Prove Yourself

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Athena looked at the man in front of her; from both his face and his voice, he was exactly like Zaden–could he really be him?

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Prove it.”

Zaden thought for a moment and asked, “How do I prove it?”

But how was he supposed to prove it?

She thought hard… Athena racked her brain, trying to come up with questions only the two of them would know the answers to.

But after scanning her mind, she realized, to her surprise, that she didn’t actually know Zaden that well, even though their legal ties were close now.

Before Athena could speak, Zaden seemed to guess what she meant and said slowly, “When you’re drunk, you get really quiet. And when you sleep, you always lie on your right side.”

She didn’t know what to say.

When did he learn that about her?

After a moment of silence, Athena asked cautiously, “Are you really Zaden?”

“Absolutely.”

Zaden stepped in front of her, looked down to make sure she was okay, and the tension on his face eased a little.

Athena tilted her head up and looked at him–now she was certain it was Zaden.

She said, “When I turned around before, I couldn’t find you and Teri, and then I wandered alone for ages, but couldn’t find the way down the mountain, just kept circling the same spot.”

Athena wasn’t fragile, but even saying it now, there was a tremor of fear in her voice; Zaden guessed she must have been terrified but was forcing herself to stay calm.

He reached out and took her hand.

“Let’s go down.”

Athena felt the warmth of his big hand around hers and something inside her steadied; a wave of safety washed over her.

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She fell into step behind Zaden in silence; the two of them walked the mountain path without talking.

“Why did you come back alone? Where’s Teri?”

Zaden said, “I took her back to the hotel and left her with the group leader for now.”

Bringing a child around while searching would be inconvenient and dangerous, so Zaden had no choice.

Athena nodded–so that explained it.

Because there was no signal up here, she couldn’t call anyone and hadn’t checked the time; she must have been on the mountain a long while.

Luckily, Zaden found her.

Athena no longer had to worry about finding the way down; she only had to follow him.

As they walked, Athena suddenly felt her face grow wet; she looked up and, to her dismay, it had started to rain.

Perfect. When it rains, it really pours.

“Zaden, we need to find shelter or we’ll get hypothermia if we get soaked–this could be life- threatening.”

Hearing Athena, Zaden nodded.

He pulled her along to pick up

the

pace.

This mountain was sparsely populated but not completely barren–there were signs and a few man–made paths.

After a stretch, they finally saw a crude thatched hut.

“We can take cover there.”

They hurried into the hut; Athena’s hair was matted in clumps, and she looked a mess, her clothes soaked. But luckily, she was wearing outdoor gear–if she took them off and dried them, it should be fine.

Zaden was in no better shape; he looked just as drenched.

Athena couldn’t worry about embarrassment now; she said to Zaden, “Let’s take off our outer layers so we don’t catch a cold.”

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They took off their coats and hung them by the window, standing in the hut watching the rain.

The drizzle turned into a steady downpour, showing no sign of stopping.

Athena frowned in worry. “If this keeps up, do we have to wait here until it stops?”

Heading down in the rain risked hypothermia.

Staying put was safer under the circumstances.

Zaden nodded, “There’s really no other choice.”

Fine.

Athena let out a miserable sigh, sulking to herself.

Ever since she signed up for this camp, it felt like she’d been cursed—one unlucky thing after another—and if she could go back, she’d smack herself twice and pry her hand off that “register” button.

They cleared a small patch of ground and sat down.

Athena felt a flicker of relief that Zaden was there; left alone on the mountain, she didn’t know how she’d have gotten through the night.

The light faded, and the rain intensified, growing heavier by the minute.

It looked like they were stuck on the mountain for the night; thank God they hadn’t tried to force their way down in that storm–who knew if they’d have frozen before they made it back to the hotel.

At last, the sky went fully dark.

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