Chapter 211: A Peaceful Horizon and the Ultimate Gift

A month slipped by.

"3... 2... 1... Happy New Year!"

"Boom!"

Fireworks exploded across the midnight sky right at 12:00 AM over the crowded beach of a tropical island, where Eric and the girls were spending their holiday. Eric, Emma, Chloe, Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Laura gathered on the deck of a luxury yacht, one Eric had just pulled from his system inventory, anchored in the middle of the sea. They watched as the once-dark sky burst into a vibrant display of light. Sitting back casually on the lounge chairs along the deck, they all stared up at the spectacle above.

"Thanks for bringing us out here, babe," Emma said, turning her head to look at Eric beside her.

"You’re welcome... and happy birthday," Eric replied, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Oh yeah... happy birthday, Emma!" Priya, sitting on the other side of Emma, wrapped her in a hug and kissed both of her cheeks.

"Yeah, happy birthday! You’ve got the very last birthday out of the six of us, but you definitely get the biggest crowd celebrating it, haha," Monica teased, throwing her arms around Emma.

"Right on January first, New Year’s Day! Though according to your birth certificate, you weren’t actually born for another three hours, hahah," Heidi laughed, hugging Emma as well.

"Happy birthday, Emma. Here’s a little something from me," Chloe said, kissing Emma’s cheek.

"Yeah... same here! This is from me too," Laura added, leaning in to kiss Emma’s other cheek.

"Hehe... thank you, guys! Come on, let’s take a group photo... I wanna send it to my mom," Emma said excitedly.

The six of them immediately huddled into position, and "click!" Emma snapped the picture before forwarding it to Miranda and Kevin, who were still on duty. Eric simply watched with a quiet smile, lying back to gaze up at the sky where fireworks continued to paint the night with dazzling color. He felt a genuine, unfamiliar warmth wash over him; for as long as he could remember, he had always spent New Year’s Eve alone at home, ignored by a family that never even spoke to him.

"So this is what it feels like to celebrate New Year’s with a crowd," Eric thought to himself.

"Ding!"

A flood of notifications chimed on his smartphone. He unlocked the screen to find a wave of incoming messages. Ruby had sent a photo of herself and Tania at a rooftop restaurant alongside two guys who looked about their age. Martin sent a picture of himself sitting in front of his TV, showing the New Year’s countdown broadcast. Caleb and Avery shared a photo featuring baby Abby, captioned: "Baby Abby’s very first New Year’s!" Jade and Mike sent a joint photo, while Katie, Melissa, and Norman appeared to be celebrating together in a snap of their own.

Eric smiled warmly as he scrolled through them all. He snapped a quick selfie with the girls, who were busy chatting in the background, flashing a peace sign, and hit reply. The moment his message went out, a barrage of replies came flooding back with everyone asking where in the world he was, and he happily filled them in. But amidst the avalanche of messages, one notification caught his eye, a text from an unknown number. He tapped to open it, and the smile on his face instantly froze.

"Happy New Year, Eric... I’m sorry, I just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year. I don’t mean anything by it... I hope you grow even more successful and happy... I plan on moving to another state this year to continue my studies... we won’t see each other again... so... once again, I’m truly sorry for everything I did to you, and goodbye, Eric... - Vivian."

Eric sat in complete silence, the smile fully gone from his face. His thumb hovered over the digital keyboard on his screen, ready to type out a response, but right as his finger neared the glass, he paused. Instead of typing, he hit the delete button and erased the message without sending a single word back. With a soft "sigh," he placed his smartphone down on the side table, rested a hand over his chest, and closed his eyes, silently tuning into what his heart was feeling.

There was nothing. No lingering sting, no hidden ache, he didn’t feel a single thing, and even Vivian’s face had completely faded from his mind. In truth, Vivian had stopped being the center of his universe a long time ago, whether he had realized it or not. Right now, he felt utterly hollow toward her, but in place of that old void, a new sensation settled gently inside him, a quiet, comforting sense of peace. That message from Vivian was the final closure he didn’t know he needed.

Eric opened his eyes. The fireworks had stopped, leaving behind only a thin layer of smoke drifting across a sky filled with thousands of glittering stars. He turned his head to look at the six girls still noisily chatting beside him, sat up in his chair, and spoke up,

"Hey... wanna head back to the hotel? We’re heading home tomorrow, right?" Eric asked.

"Oh... you wanna go back to the hotel already?" Emma asked, her face dropping into a pouting look.

"Seriously? Already? But we were gonna sleep on the yacht tonight!" Priya added, looking equally disappointed.

"Weren’t we gonna celebrate Emma’s birthday right here?" Chloe asked.

"Oh... right, hahaha! I just thought if you guys were tired, we could head back," Eric chuckled, rubbing his neck.

"Nope! We’re not tired at all! Look, totally energized!" Heidi declared, raising both arms in the air.

"Yeah, exactly! Besides, why are you sitting all the way over there? Come over here!" Laura called out, walking over to grab Eric by the hand.

Eric gave in and joined the six girls, diving headfirst into the fun as they sang, joked, and chatted the night away. After a while, they all moved inside to sing "Happy Birthday" to Emma and cut the birthday cake they had prepared earlier. Once the cake was sliced and devoured, the seven of them gathered around the lounge sofa.

"Hey... aren’t you guys gonna put some actual clothes on? What if you catch a cold?" Eric asked, noticing that Emma, Priya, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, and Laura were wearing nothing but bikinis under thin, flowing cardigans.

"Yeah... we’re about to change. We’re sleeping here tonight, right?" Monica asked.

"Yep, we’re sleeping on the yacht," Eric confirmed.

"Awesome... okay... I’m gonna shower first, I smell like seawater, hehe," Laura said, heading off.

"Same here... count me in," Chloe added.

The girls retreated into the cabin to take turns showering, leaving Eric sitting alone on the sofa. Eric stepped back outside to clear off the deck, carrying everything down into the lower salon where they had just been. Once everything was tidy, he stepped back inside and pulled the door shut behind him.

"Ding!"

A new message notification popped up on his smartphone. He glanced down to see it was from his mother. Opening the text, he found a straightforward "Happy New Year" wish—no strings attached, no hidden motives. After staring at the short message for a long moment and reading it over a few times, he typed back a reply, wishing her a Happy New Year and thanking her. Settling his mind, he walked down the corridor toward the main cabin to join the girls.

The moment he pushed the door open "yank!" Eric was suddenly grabbed and thrown onto the bed. Turning around in shock, he found Chloe, Priya, Monica, Laura, and Heidi all fully dressed, staring down at him.

"What’s going on?" Eric asked, bewildered.

All five girls climbed onto the bed and surrounded him, clapping a hand over his mouth as they leaned in close to whisper.

"You’re giving Emma her present, got it?" Chloe whispered.

"Huh... what present?" Eric asked, utterly confused.

"YOU are the present, hehe," Heidi giggled.

"Just leave everything to us," Priya added with a grin.

They quickly whispered their plan to him, and Eric casually nodded along. The girls then tucked him neatly inside a giant gift box resting on the bed. Looking around from inside the box, Eric realized he was buried under dozens of smaller gift boxes, the actual presents the five of them had gotten for Emma. Once the lid was pulled shut over him, the five girls slipped out of the cabin back into the salon, leaving the bedroom in quiet darkness.

Moments later, the bathroom door clicked open, and Emma stepped out wrapped in nothing but a bath towel. She froze, stunned to find a massive, human-sized present sitting right on her bed, while Eric and the other five girls were nowhere to be seen.

"What kind of game are they playing now?" Emma muttered in her head.

Curious, she walked over to the bed and crawled toward the massive box. She untied the oversized ribbon and lifted the lid, "gasp!" Emma gasped in absolute shock. There was Eric, tied up in a satin ribbon, completely buried under a mountain of smaller gift boxes.

"Um... happy birthday again," Eric said with a wry smile.

"Hehehe... thank you! So you’re my present for tonight, huh?" Emma chirped, her eyes sparkling.

"Looks like it... though I actually prepared a real present for you too," Eric replied softly.

"Alright then... don’t mind if I do," Emma purred, unwrapping her towel to reveal her body.

She pounced, wrapping her arms around Eric as she pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss. He wrapped his arms around her in return, and needless to say, that night became an unforgettable memory for both of them.