He Wouldn't Claim Me — Another Man Did-Chapter 71 - 64: Helicopter

He said he’d be back tomorrow, and Isla Prescott had been looking forward to it ever since she got his message.

She finally understood the little fox’s words in The Little Prince: ’If, for example, you come at four o’clock in the afternoon, then at three o’clock I shall begin to be happy.’

’It turned out time really could be enchanted by a person, making every minute and every second sparkle with light.’

Shane Sterling landed in Meritopia at nine the next morning. After returning home, he asked Isla Prescott to have lunch at Skysea Plaza. After lunch, they went to the flight base at Jaspine Lake.

"Ever been in a helicopter?" Shane Sterling asked her.

"No."

"Then I’ll take you for a ride today."

Isla Prescott didn’t realize what Shane Sterling meant by ’taking her for a ride’ just yet. Not until he went to the locker room and emerged wearing a flight jacket.

"You’re flying?" Isla Prescott asked in shock.

"What? I can’t fly?" Shane Sterling raised an eyebrow. "So you’re saying there’s only one pilot in all of Meritopia?"

That sharp tang of jealousy was in the air again.

’Isla Prescott understood instantly. As far as this jealous Young Mr. Shaw was concerned, she still hadn’t cleared the hurdle that was Silas Lockwood.’

"That’s not what I meant at all."

"Get in." Shane Sterling held her by the waist. "Today, I’ll let you see my skills."

His skills...

’He’s secretly getting competitive again, isn’t he.’

Isla Prescott got into the helicopter, and Shane Sterling helped her fasten her seatbelt and put on her headset.

Watching him skillfully operate the various instruments and controls in the cockpit, she suddenly remembered Annabelle Leighton telling her a long time ago that Shane Sterling was capable of anything, including flying a plane.

She hadn’t taken it to heart back then, having never witnessed it herself. But now, she was seeing it with her own eyes.

After the helicopter started up, the rotor blades began to spin overhead. WHIR-WHIR-WHIR.

Shane Sterling gripped the collective lever with his left hand and pulled it up. The pitch of the main rotor blades slowly increased, and the helicopter began to ascend.

Isla Prescott expected to feel a significant sense of weightlessness, but surprisingly, everything was very smooth.

The helicopter flew higher and higher, and farther and farther away.

Shane Sterling wore sunglasses, completely focused the entire time.

They say a focused man is the most handsome. Indeed, at this moment, Shane Sterling’s concentration was absolute, his movements crisp, and he exuded a steady, profound charm. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Shane Sterling caught her staring from the corner of his eye and smiled. "I know I’m very handsome right now, but don’t just stare at me. Look at the scenery."

"..."

Isla Prescott averted her gaze and looked out the window.

Looking down from above, the sunlight spread across Jaspine Lake like liquid gold, as if sealing a fleeting moment in translucent amber, brilliant and serene.

A breeze swept by, and the shattered amber rippled into a cluster of stars.

"Is it beautiful?" Shane Sterling asked.

"It’s so beautiful."

’It really was beautiful, a kind of beauty that was both intoxicating and breathtaking.’

"Now look at the shore," Shane Sterling prompted.

On the shore of Jaspine Lake, flowers were clustered together. From this angle, it was clear that the thousands of flowers were arranged to form the figure of a dancing person.

It was an incredibly meticulous design; it even perfectly captured the ripples and elegant flow of the dancer’s skirt as she twirled.

"I haven’t had the chance to properly congratulate you yet." Shane Sterling glanced back at her. "Congratulations on winning the gold prize, Miss Isla Prescott."

The helicopter blades were still spinning, the whole world filled with the WHIR-WHIR-WHIR of the noise. But even so, Isla Prescott could still hear her own heart pounding—so fiercely, like a soul’s rebellion against the flesh.

--

After taking Isla Prescott for a flight, Shane Sterling landed steadily on the helipad.

They had just gotten off the helicopter when a tour buggy arrived to take them to the other side of Jaspine Lake.

The flower dancer on the opposite shore was still stunning when viewed from the ground.

"It’s so beautiful! When did you prepare this?" ’This was no small project; it couldn’t have been finished in just a few days.’

"The day you went to Nordenburg for the competition."

"Did you know I would definitely win?"

"If you won, it’s a celebration. If you didn’t, it’s a consolation."

Isla Prescott smiled. "Young Mr. Shaw is quite thoughtful."

"Of course." Shane Sterling leaned against the lakeside railing, pushed his sunglasses up, and gazed at the sparkling lake surface. Then, with an air of extreme casualness, he asked, "By the way, how was my flying?"

"You flew very well."

"Such a perfunctory answer."

"Then how do you want me to answer?" Isla Prescott teased him. "Should I say you fly even better than Silas Lockwood?"

"Has Silas Lockwood ever flown with you alone?"

"No."

Shane Sterling looked smug. "Then there’s no comparison, is there?"

"You’re right, there’s no comparison. You win, hands down."

As if he had heard the exact answer he wanted, the tension in Shane Sterling’s brow immediately eased.

Seizing the moment while he had the upper hand in Isla Prescott’s heart, he feigned casualness again to ask another question.

"Besides being able to fly a plane, what else did you like about Silas Lockwood?"

Isla Prescott found this incredible. "You really want to know?"

"I’m just curious."

The truth was, Isla Prescott hadn’t liked Silas Lockwood because he could fly a plane.

Even she herself would find it hard to pinpoint the exact date her feelings for him began.

Isla Prescott first met Silas Lockwood at a charity event on Mount Caelan.

That day, many distinguished guests came to the mountain village. Dressed in glamorous clothes, they put on benevolent expressions for the cameras as they looked at the ragged local children. The moment the cameras were off, however, their disgust and unconscious sense of superiority were laid bare.

Her younger sister, Sienna Prescott, was very little back then. She had never seen a car before and, finding it novel, she toddled over, wanting to touch it.

But before she could even reach the car, she fell.

As fate would have it, her sister fell right at the feet of those guests.

When the crowd saw this dark-skinned, shabbily-dressed child suddenly fall, they all recoiled in unison, as if terrified her hands might touch them. Only Silas Lockwood, who was at the very back, ran forward. He scooped up Sienna Prescott, gently dusted her off, and coaxed her to be brave and not to cry.

Isla Prescott was nearby and saw the whole thing.

To Isla Prescott, Silas Lockwood seemed to glow with light that day.

But the real seed of affection was planted in her heart after she moved in with the Lockwood Family.

Isla Prescott’s original name was Zoe Prescott. She had hated it since she was a child, because her given name literally meant "beckon a brother." To her, it was a triple inscription of gender, economics, and culture. It was like a prism, reflecting an agricultural society’s anxiety over procreation and mirroring the rifts of individual awakening in the modern age. She refused to live her whole life with a name that turned women into tools.

She brought up the idea of changing her name to Mrs. Lockwood.

Mrs. Lockwood agreed casually and didn’t give it another thought. But Silas Lockwood remembered. A few days later, he gave her a new, beautiful name: Isabelle.

He said he hoped the rest of her life would be filled with joy and contentment.

’A life of joy and contentment.’

’What a beautiful wish.’

It seemed that from that day on, Silas Lockwood became someone completely different in Isla Prescott’s heart...

"Wait!" Shane Sterling cut Isla Prescott off. "So you liked Silas Lockwood just because he gave you a name?"

Isla Prescott nodded. "Because that name was an important turning point, the start of my new life. The name is incredibly meaningful to me, so naturally, the person who gave it to me is also incredibly meaningful."

Shane Sterling’s face tightened, his jawline as hard as stone.

Isla Prescott wanted to continue, to talk about how she’d secretly loved Silas Lockwood, and how he had suddenly confessed his feelings to her, but Shane Sterling cut her off again.

"That’s enough. Don’t say any more."

His tone was fierce, as if someone owed him a huge debt.

Isla Prescott muttered under her breath, "You were the one who asked. And now that I’m telling you, you don’t want to hear it. You’re just making things uncomfortable for yourself."

After this incident, Isla Prescott came to a conclusion: never, ever talk to your current partner about your ex. Not only can your present happiness be easily tainted by the ink of the past, but the emotional landmines are simply too unpredictable.

’And today, she had stepped squarely on one.’