Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary - Chapter 141: Chapter 141

Adrian had once said Adrian'd only have the right to pursue her after calling off his engagement, but this time she said they'd give it a shot after that.
As soon as the words slipped out, Elara felt a pang of regret. She felt that she yielded too soon.
Adrian turned to meet her eyes and said, "Are you sure?"
"No," Elara shot back.
"You can't go back on your word," he grinned.
"Yes, I can!" Elara shot back. Then she stood up and darted away with the coconut in her arms. Adrian immediately took off after her.
Elara's messy hair danced wildly in the gentle sea breeze as she laughed, completely carefree. Adrian didn't hurry to catch her. Instead, he slowed his pace, choosing to join in the fun and chase her around.
It didn't take long before Elara was totally out of breath. The coconut was ridiculously heavy. She slumped against a coconut tree and panted, watching Adrian stroll over to her, step by step.
Adrian took the coconut from her hands and tapped her on the nose with his finger, not holding back at all. "That's all the energy you've got? You really thought you could get away from me?"
She was still catching her breath. When she was about to snap back, she spotted Justin heading their way. "Where did you two run off to? I've been searching everywhere for you," Justin complained.
"What's up?" Elara asked.
"Lucas and I are thinking about going deep diving, so I came to see if you guys want to join us," Justin said.
"Sure, I'm in," Elara replied without hesitation.
Elara had always been into extreme sports. Back in college, she used to go diving all the time and even got her diving certification. But later, she quit because of Alex. Now that no one was restraining her, Elara couldn't wait to jump back in.
"Adrian, you in?" Justin asked.
"Of course," Adrian replied.
The three of them made their way to the dock, where Lucas and Jade were already waiting on the yacht. Everyone slipped on their bright orange life jackets and climbed aboard the yacht.
The yacht driver was full of energy, taking them for a spin out to the deep sea. The yacht sped ahead, sometimes fishtailing and circling around with wild turns.
Waves soared higher than the yacht itself, sending cool sprays of water over everyone. The driver's loud cheers and hollers amped up the excitement, getting everyone's adrenaline pumping.
After a while of playing around, the yacht finally slowed down.
The diving instructor went over the safety rules one more time with the five of them. Even though Elara had learned all this abroad, she still listened carefully, not wanting to miss a thing.
Then, it was time to suit up. They strapped on heavy scuba tanks, put on their masks, attached their regulators and backup octopus, and finally slipped on their fins.
A single tank of air usually lasted about an hour underwater. The instructor would be diving with them, and there was also a dedicated videographer coming along.
With a couple of splashes, Lucas and the others were already in the water. Elara glanced back at Adrian and said, "Come on, let's go."
"Right behind you," Adrian said.
Elara slipped into the water, took a moment to steady her breathing, and then started kicking her fins, slowly finding her groove.
Adrian was right behind her, swimming forward until he was side by side with Elara. The two of them kept pace with Justin and the instructor ahead, following them as they gradually dove deeper.
As they descended to about 33 feet, small schools of fish started to appear all around them. Just a little deeper and they'd be able to spot the rocky reef at the bottom.
Elara felt a surge of excitement and instinctively glanced over at Adrian. To her surprise, he was right there, sticking to her like a private instructor and keeping a close eye on her every move.
She realized she'd forgotten to mention to Adrian that she was actually a pretty experienced diver—certified and everything—so there was really no need for him to be so worried about her.
But now that they were underwater, there was no way to tell him. Still, having him stick close wasn't so bad—it actually made her feel kind of safe.
Once they hit the ocean floor, everyone began their underwater adventure. They couldn't talk down here, so they had to rely on hand signals to get their messages across.
Lucas was like Jade's personal bodyguard, shadowing her every move wherever she went. Justin, meanwhile, was like a carefree merman, darting all over the place and even flirting with the fish along the way.
Elara knew she didn't have the stamina to keep up with Justin, so she just took it slow, kicking her fins and hugging the ocean floor as she swam.
All around her, the only sounds were the gurgling bubbles from her nose and the rhythmic thumping of water as she moved.
In front of her, jagged rocks, vibrant coral, starfish as blue as enchanted flowers, and all kinds of shellfish she couldn't even name made Elara's heart race with excitement.
As she swam past the rocks, tiny fish darted everywhere, and a few clownfish peeked out from the seaweed, playing hide and seek.
Above her, a few slow-moving flatfish glided by. Elara looked up at them, and they just stared back, too clueless to even think about swimming away.
Suddenly, Adrian touched her hand to get her attention. She turned to look at him, and he took her hand, guiding her as they swam over together.
There was a pair of gorgeous blue crabs on the sandy seabed, and their shells were shimmering with a beautiful gradient. The two crabs were shuffling along side by side, and they could spot a cluster of eggs tucked under the female's belly.
Elara, with her protective gloves on, reached out and gave the male crab a gentle poke. Instantly, it scurried in front of its mate, raising both claws like a tiny bodyguard ready to defend its wife.
Elara was amused by the little crab's antics at once. At the same time, Elara felt Adrian gently squeeze her palm, like he was asking her whether it was fun. She squeezed his hand right back to tell him her answer was yes.
Suddenly, a massive sea turtle swam into view. Justin swam over and tapped Elara on the shoulder, giving her a signal to watch what he was about to do.
Then he swam right up next to the turtle, imitating it by lifting his head and quickly paddling all four of his limbs like flippers. Elara couldn't help but laugh again.
After that, the turtle didn't leave. It just kept following Justin around, playing with him like he was its own grandchild.
Schools of fish parted and gathered around Elara as she weaved through them. The little ones darted playfully after her, and some even chased the strands of her hair drifting in the water.
Elara's figure was stunning, and her sleek swimsuit outlined every perfect curve. Her legs were long to begin with, but with the fins on, they looked even more slender and graceful.
She moved through the water with effortless grace, and her waist swayed as her fins fluttered up and down, like a mermaid who had slipped away from the human world—only to swim straight into someone's heart.
Justin swam back into Elara's sight, striking a series of dramatic poses underwater. First, he spread his arms wide as if welcoming some underwater deity. Then he lifted both arms and bent them to make a heart.
Then somehow, he magically took out a pink starfish and offered it to Elara.
Elara couldn't help but wonder where Justin came up with so many flirty tricks. He even roped Lucas and Adrian in, making them join him and copy all his silly poses.
Lucas, usually such a block of wood, somehow had a sudden epiphany and, as if possessed, made a heart gesture at Jade.
Adrian just stayed there with his arms crossed, watching the two guys show off with a haughty look on his face.
Seriously, making Adrian—someone so cold and aloof—do a heart pose was totally out of character for him.
After swimming for a while, Elara started to run out of steam. She gave the instructor a signal that she wanted to head up first. Everyone else figured they'd had enough fun, too, so they all got ready to head up together.
Suddenly, Adrian swam right in front of Elara and gave her arm a gentle tug. Then he motioned for her to look toward the deeper part of the sea. Elara turned to look in the direction he was pointing.
Elara thought, 'Wow, it's a barracuda storm!'
It was a rare underwater phenomenon—hundreds, even thousands, of barracudas gathering together to form a massive vortex, like the eye of a storm. They were unbelievably lucky to witness it.
It was Elara's first time seeing something so breathtaking. A dense, shadowy mass of fish swirling like an underwater tornado, sweeping right past her eyes.
Adrian signaled for her to stay right there and just watch. Elara nodded. Then she saw Adrian start swimming toward the barracuda storm, diving into deeper waters—where anything could happen.
Before long, Adrian caught up with the massive vortex of barracudas. His figure grew smaller and smaller until he was swallowed up by the swirling storm. Elara searched his figure, but he'd completely vanished from sight.
But then, something incredible happened—the barracuda vortex, which had been drifting away, suddenly started circling back toward them.
Elara thought, 'Wait, is Adrian actually herding the fish?'
The barracuda storm—already jaw-dropping from afar—was now swirling right above her head. Elara's heart was pounding so wildly that she felt like it might leap out of her chest at any second.
And then, through the eye of that vortex, Adrian's striking silhouette cut through the chaos, emerging like a sea god who commanded the very power of the ocean itself.
Elara looked up at him. Adrian stood with his back to the breathtaking barracuda storm. He spread his arms wide, forming a cross with his body.
In each hand, he held a regulator, and as he released air through them, two roaring columns of white bubbles shot upward.
Then, holding his breath for a moment, he exhaled through his nose, sending up a third stream of bubbles—all three rising together in a dazzling display.
Elara knew just how difficult this was—pulling off a move like that took expert-level skills and nerves of steel. Down here, there was zero margin for error. Trying something like this was seriously dangerous.
Her gaze locked on Adrian, utterly transfixed. Then, in one smooth motion, Adrian lifted both hands above his head, bent his arms so his fingertips touched the top of his head, and made a heart gesture—right at Elara.
Elara's heart skipped a beat. She could barely handle how stunning this was. She thought, 'Seriously, he's way too charming today.'
With the barracuda storm swirling behind him, Adrian was front and center, making that heart gesture like he was born to steal the show. The photographer snapped the perfect shot of it.
When Adrian swam back over, Elara was still floating there, completely caught up in the whirlwind of emotions from what had just happened. In the end, they all snapped a group photo together before getting ready to surface.
Adrian stayed right behind Elara as she swam up to the surface. When she broke through, Justin reached out and helped her up onto the yacht.
Exhausted, she just plopped down right there, not even bothering to take off her gear. She pulled off her regulator and gasped for air, thinking, 'My stamina is seriously lacking. I really need to start working out more.'
Jade came up as well. Then the instructor and the photographer climbed aboard, too. Lucas surfaced next, holding the pink starfish he'd gone back for.
Elara glanced at the water, realizing Adrian still hadn't come up. She waited for a while and then felt something was off. She asked, "Where's Adrian?"
Justin, catching his breath, looked around. "Yeah, wasn't he right behind you?"
Lucas chimed in, "I was the last one up, and I didn't see him."
Then, Justin watched Elara dive into the water again.