Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1284

The thought barely formed before he pushed it away. No way. He had planned for everything. For this moment, he’d shelled out a small fortune to hire the best mercenary divers in the business. They’d slipped into the hidden caves deep in the rainforest weeks ahead of time. Not a soul had noticed them. They dodged every resort security check. Later, they came in underwater from the open sea, blending in with the swarms of migrating fish, and carefully attached the new explosives to the ship’s hull. Everything was perfect. Or at least, it should have been.

So why, after all this time, was the cruise ship just sitting there, not even a ripple on the surface? Abis stared out at the calm water, a spark of irritation flashing in his eyes. The show couldn’t even begin until the ship started to move.

He glanced at Mercedes, who looked seriously annoyed. His eyes narrowed, then he dropped his voice, acting like he was genuinely concerned.

"Mercedes, you shouldn't stay here. It's not safe," he said, sounding almost caring. "Way too many people are watching you. All it takes is a single mistake and someone could drag you off to a private lounge."

"You know, these businessmen and politicians are not people you want to cross. None of them are."

Mercedes shot him a surprised look. Emmy’s admirer, looking out for her? That was unexpected. Still, she couldn’t deny he was being realistic. Just earlier, a foul-smelling tycoon had tried to hustle her into his cabin for a little 'deep conversation.'

Mercedes took a steadying breath. "Alright, I’ll move somewhere else," she said. "I’ll keep my eyes open for Nico and let you know if I spot anything."

But Abis didn’t step aside. Instead, he acted like it was an afterthought. "I just checked the time," he said. "We’re more than five minutes past the lucky hour. The ship hasn’t even started warming up yet. Ms. Lincoln’s over there, probably drowning in small talk and forgot to give the start order."

"It's pretty quiet up at the bow," he added, "no crowd, no creeps. You could wait there. Maybe even give the captain a nudge about getting things moving. If we miss the lucky time by too much, it looks bad for everyone."

Mercedes’ eyes lit up. He had a point. With the lucky hour already past and Emmy still not giving the signal, this was the perfect chance to make herself look smart and responsible. If she was the one to remind the captain, she wouldn’t just avoid the grabby men—she’d look great in front of Nico for handling things with common sense and care. And even better, it’d make Emmy look like she didn’t know what she was doing as the hostess.

With that little realization, Mercedes’ bad mood faded. She lifted her chin. "Fine, I’ll go check it out. You focus on your girl." She waved to her bodyguards and assistant, and the trio clicked their way across the deck toward the bow, high heels tapping against the boards.

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