Chapter 4: Dragged Away

(Aliana's POV)

"Hey…" he whispered, cupping my face carefully as he checked me. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

I blinked, shocked by the face leaning over me. Delvin. My husband... the same man who had never once shown me this kind of care. Now he was here, his clothes soaked, his hair wet, water dripping down his face.

For the first time, I saw it… the worry in his eyes. I heard the panic in his voice. I noticed how fast his chest was rising and falling, like he had been truly afraid.

He had saved me. He was the one who jumped in to rescue me. Delvin quickly picked up the jacket he had taken off before diving into the pool and wrapped it around me, covering my wet, revealing dress.

"My goodness, Aliana. Thank God you're okay," Belicia said as she hurried toward us, her voice filled with fake concern.

My throat burned. The audacity. She was pretending to care after she had almost gotten me killed.

She stood behind Delvin, her face changing again... back to the quiet, sweet, and considerate Belicia everyone believed she was. Everyone except me.

I slowly lifted my head to look around. A crowd had gathered. Some people looked at me with pity. Some were recording with their phones. Others were even chuckling, as if me almost drowning was some kind of entertainment.

"What… what happened?" Delvin muttered, still holding my face gently, his fingers slightly brushing my cheeks. "How did you..."

He didn’t finish before Belicia suddenly cut him off.

"Oh, poor Aliana. Why did you jump in like that?" she said, her voice shaking, as if she were about to cry.

My heart twisted violently. Did she just say I jumped in? She had pushed me when no one was watching. And now she was claiming I did this to myself?

Delvin blinked, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked quietly, glancing back at Belicia.

"She jumped in herself," Belicia said firmly. "She wanted to take her life."

"What?" Delvin muttered in disbelief.

"What? That’s not true!" I said immediately, shocked at how easily she could lie.

The crowd gasped in shock. Delvin’s hands trembled slightly against my face as he stared at me, his expression slowly filling with disappointment.

He had always kept his face unreadable, but this time, his expression was clear. And he looked completely shocked.

"I was only speaking to her calmly. But she suddenly became suicidal and jumped into the pool," Belicia continued lying, letting a fake tear fall down her cheek.

"That's a lie, Belicia. You pushed me!" I shouted, unable to take her lies.

"I know it’s humiliating, Aliana," she said softly. "To admit that you tried to take your own life because of Delvin. But you can’t accuse me of lying."

"Because of Mr. Barrington?" whispers spread through the crowd.

Delvin’s lips twitched, and his face hardened. He immediately pulled his hands away from my cheeks and stood up, creating distance between us, as if I was something dirty that needed to be avoided.

"It’s not true! She’s making this up…" I tried to defend myself.

"Didn’t you ask me to leave your husband alone?" Belicia cut in quickly, her tone stronger now. "Didn’t you say Delvin doesn’t love you because of me? And that you couldn’t bear to stay alive and watch us be happy together?"

The crowd gasped again, their eyes wide with disbelief. Some muttered that I was foolish. That I was desperate. That I was embarrassing.

No one cared to hear my side. They all believed Belicia. They looked at me with disgust, like I was worthless.

And then it hit me… this was her plan all along. This was what she meant when she said she would help me remember who truly mattered. She knew everyone would take her side.

Tears filled my eyes as I looked at the man standing in front of me, wondering if he believed her too.

Delvin stared back at me with pure anger. His eyes were red with rage. His jaw was clenched tightly. He was furious.

At me.

He believed her.

My heart cracked as I shook my head, silently begging him with my eyes to believe me and stand by me... just this once.

I hadn’t even achieved my dream yet. I hadn’t even performed my first surgery. How could they think I would ever want to take my own life?

“Please believe me, Delvin. She’s lying,” I pleaded. “I would never do something like that.”

“Stop it, Aliana!” he snapped. “Haven’t you embarrassed me enough?”

Embarrassed?

The word sounded strange. For a moment, I almost laughed. Who had truly been embarrassing who all these years?

"How could you even think that?" Belicia said, her voice trembling as if she were about to cry.

“How could you assume that Delvin and I still have something?” she said softly. “He’s married now. Saying that makes him look irresponsible.”

A bitter scoff escaped my lips. She was very good at acting innocent, as if nothing was going on between them.

I knew exactly what she was doing. She was pretending to protect Delvin’s reputation. He was influential, and no matter how much people shipped them together, openly admitting to an affair would still cause a scandal.

But in truth, she brought up the topic on purpose to mock me and remind me of their relationship.

"Are you not having an affair?" The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Delvin’s fists clenched tightly, as if my words had deeply offended him. "Mind your words."

I tried to stop. I tried to let it go, but I couldn’t. Maybe it was because a part of me was tired... tired of the constant pain and humiliation. I needed to hear it from him, even though his actions had already said enough.

"Are you not?" I pressed again, trying to stay calm even though my heart was shaking.

"Don’t test my patience, Aliana…" he snapped through gritted teeth.

“No, I want to hear it from you, Delvin,” I said, my eyes locked on his. “Go on. Deny it. Deny that you’re having an affair with your ex-fiancée.”

“I am no...” Delvin began, but Belicia cut him off before he could finish.

“Delvin… my head… it hurts,” she mumbled, clutching her forehead as if it might split open.

Delvin paused and turned to her. “Hey… are you okay?” he asked, clear worry in his voice.

Belicia gently shook her head. “No,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. “All this drama is giving me a headache.”

Drama?

A scoff escaped my lips. I couldn’t believe how far she was willing to go with her act. Pretending to be affected by drama when she was the one who created it. Wasn’t she the one who started everything?

“Belicia is fragile. She’s already been through enough. Why can’t you just be kinder to her, Aliana?” Delvin snapped, anger flashing across his face.

Again, he blamed me for something I didn’t do. Would he even look this worried if he knew his sweet, innocent Belicia had almost gotten me killed tonight?

“I really need to rest now, Delvin. Can you please take me home?” Belicia said softly, her voice weak and pitiful.

“Yeah, of course. Let’s go,” he replied immediately, pulling her into his arms.

But then he stopped and turned to me. His eyes were cold. The disgust in them was clear.

“We shouldn’t have come here if I’d known you’d act like this,” he said.

And just like that, he carried Belicia away.

Leaving me there alone, soaked, cold, and surrounded by a crowd that stared at me as if I deserved to be stoned.