The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress

He was just about to speak when something on his phone screen suddenly changed.

The hotel app he'd been checking now showed a vacant room.

"There's one available," Sebastian said, his eyes lighting up.

Without hesitation, he clicked to book it, but the screen flashed a message- reservation unsuccessful.

"What's going on?" he muttered.

Sebastian tried a few more times, but each attempt failed.

Citrine thought for a moment. "Maybe there's a glitch with their system?"

She suggested, "Why don't we just go there and ask? Looks like it's not far from here."

"Yeah, let's do that." At this point, they didn't have much choice.

They walked for about ten minutes before finally arriving at the hotel with the supposed vacancy.

Inside, Sebastian handed his ID to the front desk. "Hi, we'd like to book your last available room."

The owner looked apologetic, worry lines creasing his face. "I'm so sorry, but we're completely full tonight."

Citrine stepped forward. "But your app says there's still a room left."

The owner gave an embarrassed smile. "Ah, that's just a glitch in our booking

system. There aren't actually any rooms left."

Sebastian pulled out his wallet. "Is there really nothing at all? Even a staff room or something-any price is fine."

Citrine nodded in agreement.

The owner shook his head. "I'm afraid I only have my own place in the back, and that's just a single room. There's nothing else, sorry."

Citrine and Sebastian exchanged glances, their hope fading.

They thanked the owner politely. "Thank you anyway."

They turned to leave.

Watching them go, the owner

glancing out at the chilket

evening breeze coming in from the

Sean &

His conscience got thenoveldrama

of

him.

"Wait, you two-hold on a second."

Citrine and Sebastian spun around at once, eyes fixed on him.

From under the counter, the owner pulled out a folding tent and placed it on the desk.

"This is the only tent I've got, but if you don't mind, you're welcome to use it tonight."

Citrine and Sebastian looked at each other, relief and delight flashing across their faces. "Thank you so much!"

Once the surprise wore off, Sebastian calmed himself and asked, "How much do we owe you for the tent?"

The owner smiled. "Don't worry about it. Just bring it back tomorrow morning, that's all."

"We can't just borrow it for nothing. We really appreciate your help," Sebastian insisted, placing a few bills on the counter.

Citrine smiled too. "Yes, we can't just use your tent for free."

Seeing their insistence, the owner realized these two weren't the type to take advantage. He finally accepted the money with a chuckle.

He glanced at them, then grabbed a few bottles of water and some basic supplies

from the shelf, packing them into a plastic bag.

"Here these are for you. Hope you have a good night out there."

"Thank you," they both replied.

Gathering up the tent and supplies, they left the hotel.

Outside, they stopped at a nearby store to pick up bedding, then finally made their way to the beach.

Not wanting to deal with crowds in the morning, they found a quiet spot to pitch their tent.

Citrine, who'd spent plenty of nights camping out during her time in the military, made short work of setting up. Sebastian hadn't served, but he'd been on enough school camping trips to know his way around a tent.

Working together, they had the tent up in no time.

Next came the bedding. Citrine was just

Scrawl inside when stopped her. "Let mel.ne

stand there and supervise.”

do it.