Darkness Within

Splash!

They pushed me off the cruise ship. I fell with a loud splash.

Then, everything went silent in the water.

I only remembered their faces as they pushed me into the sea.

They did this because Violet’s necklace fell overboard while we were on holiday here.

My husband, Shaun Doe, suggested that I go down to search for it because I was the only one who knew how to swim.

My mouth tasted salt. I did not know whether it was because of the seawater or my tears.

I felt as if something had seized my stomach.

I shook my head in an attempt to remain clear-headed. For my baby’s sake, I had to stay alive.

“Shaun, let me up!” I used all my strength to shout at the cruise ship, but my voice sounded incredibly feeble.

The man beside Shaun shouted back, “That necklace is a memento from Violet’s mother! You have to find it, Minerva!”

His voice was not that loud, but I heard it clearly and looked at Shaun.

Was that what he wanted too?

Trying to find a necklace in the sea was basically a death sentence.

To my horror, Shaun got a stick from somewhere and pushed me further out into the ocean.

Still, I remained not too far away from them and could see the words he mouthed at me.

Just be good and do it.

“Blurb… blurb…” I floated in the sea alone and struggled against the seaweeds that bound my limbs.

My tears mixed with the seawater as they entered my mouth, and all I tasted was salt.

It was as if there was some sort of pull from the bottom of the sea. It just kept pulling me under. Even so, my survival instincts pushed me to keep crawling my way upward.

Fortunately, I managed to save myself and lay on the beach.

Blood pooled between my thighs. The cruise ship was nowhere to be found.

I hung my head.

What a joke. I was actually hoping that Shaun would feel regret after seeing how pathetic I looked.

But he was not even within sight.

Very slowly, I lost consciousness.

When I woke up again, I was the only one alone in the otherwise empty ward.

Once the doctor came in, she adjusted the speed of the IV transfusion. She could not help but say, “You just suffered from a miscarriage. You have to take care of yourself. How could you go swimming and not care about your baby?”

I closed my eyes and swallowed the endless wave of bitterness and grief.

I grunted, but my heart was filled with great misery.

The doctor was but a stranger to me, but even she showed concern for me. Yet Shaun, to whom I had been married to for five years, was the culprit behind why I ended up like this.

Since we went on a trip to a seaside city, I was discharged three days later and returned to the hotel.

This time, no matter what, I was going to drive back.

When I arrived at the hotel, Violet saw me and was surprised.

“Minerva?”

I looked down to hide the ruthlessness in my eyes.

Even though Shaun had done something horrible to me, Violet was equally involved in my baby’s death.

“Why are you back?”

The entire group of people had happily set up a grill by the beach and were eating barbecue.

With displeasure clear on my face, I went to Shaun.

“Tell me the password to my room. I tried just now and couldn’t get in.”

I wanted to pack my things up and leave this stupid place to rest and recuperate. After that, I was going to go back home and settle scores with Shaun.

But Violet butted in. “We’ve already checked out your room.”

She looked sadly around to show that she did not do it on purpose. She whispered, “We thought you went home. How were we supposed to know that you were going to be back? Even though Shaun is rich…”

At that point, she looked like she was about to start crying. “You still can’t waste his money like that.”

I was so mad that I sucked in a deep breath and went to Violet. Just when I wanted to speak, a plate flew toward us.

“Look out!”

Shaun had never run toward someone in such a panic before.

With quick reflexes, he shielded Violet in his arms.

The grill beside us was flipped over. The coals burned my calf.

In an instant, my calf turned a terrifying shade of red.

“Hiss…”