Chapter 524 Locked Up

Night had fallen by the time Vito returned from the village chief’s house.

Standing at the door, Miriam pulled him into the woods outside the courtyard.

“How did it go at the village chief’s house?” she asked after making sure Christina wouldn’t be able to hear them.

Vito recounted everything truthfully. The village chief’s roof was severely damaged, but with everyone’s help, all the broken pieces had been cleared out. What remained was for the village chief to patch his roof with some new tiles.

Yet, Miriam didn’t care about that. Thinking about how Christina had asked about the village chief’s phone today, she fell silent for a moment before asking. “What happened to his phone?”

“It’s broken,” Vito answered.

A smile formed on Miriam’s face. Everything was going exactly as she had planned. “Let’s go. It’s time for dinner.”

While seated, Christina noticed the two return together.

“Vito,” she called out to him softly.

Hearing the woman call his name, Vito scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not knowing where to look.

Having interacted with him for the past few days, Christina was no longer surprised by his demeanor. Miriam, on the other hand, gave him a light slap on the head in frustration.

Then, Vito swiftly began scooping out the food from the pot.

“You must be starving.” Miriam served Christina’s portion of food on a plate.

The latter smiled and shook her head. “Not at all. I haven’t done a lot today, so I didn’t use much en she replied while pushing the plate toward Vito instead.

“You must be hungry, Vito. You were busy helping out at the village chief’s place all day.”

Miriam took note of Christina’s kind gesture, feeling more pleased.

With that, the three of them sat at the round table and ate harmoniously while enjoying the sea breeze.

“I’m going out for a walk,” said Christina after dinner. “Could you come with me, Vito?”

The man didn’t say no, but he glanced at Christina’s leg out of concern. “Is your leg okay?”

She knew he was worried about her, but there were some things she had to discuss with him in private. “It’ll be fine. We won’t be so far out.” Miriam would grow suspicious if they were to wander off too much. Miriam just so happened to hear Christina’s response and agreed that the two needed to spend some time alone. “Take Christina out for a walk, Vito. Just don’t go too far,”

she chimed in.

With his mother prompting him, too, Vito could only accompany Christina on her walk outside the courtyard.

Christina struggled to walk and could only proceed slowly with the help of a cane. Meanwhile, Vito stayed by her side, ready to help her at any time.

The two said nothing to each other and arrived at a slope before realizing it.

They could admire the vast sea and sky full of stars from there.

Christina found a large boulder and sat on it. Then, seeing Vito remain standing, she invited him over. “Don’t just stand there, Vito. Have a seat too!”

With unease written in his eyes, Vito pursed his lips. “I-It’s fine.”

Clearly, this was his first time talking to a girl alone. He simply didn’t know what to do.

Noticing his nervousness, Christina decided not to pressure him. “It’s so pretty out here. I’ve never seen a night sky as lovely as this,” she exclaimed, gazing out into the distance.

After a few exchanges, the atmosphere between them eased slowly, and Vito was no longer as tense as before.

Christina pouted and lowered her gaze. “I miss home. I don’t even know how my family is doing now.”

Seeing her pained expression made Vito feel upset too. “Give me a few days to fix the boat, and I’ll take you back.”

From that, Christina concluded that Miriam and Vito weren’t lying about the boat being broken.

Still, she didn’t want to wait any longer.

“Is there no other boat we can take?” Christina glanced up at him.

She knew from the start that there weren’t many motorboats on the island; most boats here could only be rowed with paddles.

There was no way she could get home using the latter.

Vito’s fishing boat had been left behind by his father, and the young man was usually in charge of selling the fish they caught with it.

Now, the boat had malfunctioned, and that was why Christina remained stuck on this island for so long.

Upon meeting the woman’s dazzling eyes, Vito didn’t know what to say. He bit his lower lip and kept mum as he remembered his mother’s instructions.

From that, Christina knew there was definitely another boat that could take her out of this island.

If I’m not wrong, it would be at the village chief’s house.

“You’re a good man, Vito. You saved me, and I’m so thankful for that.” Christina began. “It’s just that I’ve been missing for so long, and my family must be so worried about me. If you had gone missing, I’m sure your mother would be bawling her eyes out too.”

Vito was a simple man. Feeling sorry for her as soon as he heard her words, he couldn’t resist telling her bout the village chief’s plans to head out to sea tomorrow.

‘Really?” Christina was delighted to hear that. “Will you help me, then?”

Seeing her smile, Vito froze before turning red and nodding rigidly.

‘Keep this between us, okay? Don’t tell anyone else about this, including your mom,” Christina urged arefully.

This peaceful and remote island’s full of kind-hearted people, but what if they’re a little old-fashioned? I’ll be in rouble if they don’t let me leave.

Vito nodded in agreement, and the two headed down the slope.

Miriam, who had been waiting outside the courtyard the whole time, watched them return safe and sound. Moreover, Vito didn’t appear as shy as before while walking next to Christina.

That made Miriam feel as though good things were coming. Not interrupting their time together, she turned around and headed back into her room to rest.

Christina could barely sleep all night.

While in a half-asleep state, she kept waiting for Vito to contact her and take her to the village chief’s boat.

Alas, she didn’t hear a single knock on her door even after the sun had come up for a while..

Sensing that something was amiss, the woman hopped out of bed and went to the door-only to find it locked from the outside.

Alarm bells went off in her head at that moment. “Vito! Vito!”

No matter how much she cried out, the courtyard remained in complete silence, and no one re her.