Chapter 3

Before the accident, Alana had climbed past the safety barrier at the ocean overlook to take pictures.

I went after her to pull her back, but when a huge wave crashed over the rocks, she grabbed me and held on tight, dragging me into the ocean with her.

However, Mom and Dad rescued her first. Then they rescued Biscuit, her dog.

So much for no one getting left behind. Apparently, that had never included me.

When the last of my memories faded, my spirit drifted weightlessly after them.

The marine rescue team asked one of my family members to stay behind and assist with the search.

Dad responded impatiently, "Corinne can swim. There's no way anything happened to her."

Mom was just as convinced that I'd gone into hiding because they'd rescued Alana first and I was throwing a tantrum. "Don't go looking for her. The more attention we give her, the more she'll think throwing a fit gets her what she wants."

I pressed a hand to my hollow chest and opened my mouth, at a loss for words.

So this was what death was like. At least I couldn't feel that crushing pain in my chest anymore. Maybe that was for the best.

At one in the morning, an alert suddenly went off on Mom's phone. My smartwatch had detected that I'd gone into the water and automatically sent my emergency location.

She glanced at it twice, then deleted the alert. "Her watch is still sending her location. Obviously, she's fine. Ignore it."

What Mom and Dad didn't know was that I hadn't sent that distress signal. My watch had detected a violent impact followed by prolonged unresponsiveness. It had sent one final call for help on my behalf.

Early the next morning, the rescue team came to the hotel and asked for a recent photo of me.

Mom searched for a long time. Her phone held thousands of pictures of Alana, but she couldn't find a single recent photo that clearly showed my face.

In the end, all she could give them was an ID photo from three years ago.

One of the rescuers couldn't help asking, "You're her family. How do you not have a recent picture of her?"

Mom's expression stiffened. "She's always been a loner. She doesn't like taking pictures with us."

Alana quietly chimed in, "Corinne always thinks Mom and Dad favor me. She deliberately stays out of pictures so other people will think we exclude her."

Floating beside them, I almost laughed.

I was already dead, and somehow, they still got to decide why I wasn't in the pictures.

The rescue team pulled up security footage from the ocean overlook, planning to take a still from shortly before I fell into the water and use it for the missing-person alert.

But the footage clearly showed Alana ignoring the warning signs and climbing over the barrier. When the wave crashed over the rocks, it showed her grabbing me and dragging me into the ocean with her.

Alana's face went white. "You can't post that! If people see it, they'll say I'm the reason Corinne fell in!"

Mom immediately pulled her into her arms. "You already have her ID photo. Why do you have to ruin Alana's life over this?"

Dad's expression darkened too. "Corinne is just missing. Alana still has to go to school, get a job, and get married someday. If you put that video out there, how is she supposed to live with that following her around?"

Just then, Biscuit started coughing.

Alana immediately screamed and clutched him tighter. "Did he get water in his lungs?"

Mom and Dad instantly forgot about the missing-person alert and rushed to take Biscuit to the emergency vet.

One of the rescuers stopped them. "We still haven't found the person who went into the water. At least one family member needs to stay and assist with the search."

Dad impatiently brushed his hand aside. "Searching is your job. What difference does it make if we stay? Corinne can swim, and she has a smartwatch. If she were really in danger, she would've contacted us by now."

At the animal hospital, they learned Biscuit had only inhaled a little water and was fine.

While Alana waited for him to finish his examination, she came across a video posted by a small inn on the island.

[We took in a young woman who washed ashore last night. Glad she's safe.]

The video showed only the back of a woman wrapped in a blanket.

Mom immediately remembered the location alert she'd received the night before. The last location had been on the coast near that very inn.

Alana covered her mouth. "I knew it. Corinne made it to shore ages ago. She's been fine this whole time, and she deliberately didn't contact us."

The concern on Dad's face instantly turned to anger. "Just because she wanted to make us regret not rescuing her first, she wasted all these people's time and resources searching for her!"

Mom was trembling with anger too. "She's been playing the victim since she was a kid. Now she's even lying to the rescue team!"

Alana leaned against Mom, thoughtfully coming to my defense. "Corinne probably just wanted your attention. When you find her, don't be too hard on her. Just have her apologize to the rescue crew."

Mom and Dad immediately took Alana and headed for the inn. The whole way there, they discussed how they were going to punish me.

Dad wanted me to pay the entire cost of the search operation.

Mom wanted me to make a public statement saying I'd let go of the flotation board myself and that Alana had nothing to do with what happened.

They were convinced I was hiding in a warm room right now, waiting for them to come crawling back and apologize.

But when their car reached a rocky stretch of shoreline on the other side of the island, the road ahead was blocked by rescue vehicles. Several members of the marine rescue team were carrying a stretcher up from between the rocks.

A white sheet covered the body on it.

Captain Samuel Mercer, the rescue lead, looked down at the ID photo in his hand, then at Mom and Dad.

"Are you Corinne Fisher's family? We just recovered the body of a young woman from the rocks on the other side of the island. We need you to come with us and make an identification."