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Drowned by Betrayal
Drowned by Betrayal
Author: Rich Cabbage

Chapter 1 Three Days

Author: Rich Cabbage
When I woke up in the hospital bed, the first thing I heard was Elara laughing.

She was showing Everett a video on her phone. "Look at Tessa kicking. Doesn't she look like a turtle flipped onto its back?"

Everett murmured something, and they both laughed, lowering their voices.

The sound grated on my nerves. I tried to speak, but before I could get a word out, I coughed several times.

Elara noticed I was awake and immediately put away her phone, her expression changing to one of concern.

Her eyes turned red in an instant as she rushed to my bedside and took my hand. "Tessa, you're finally awake. You had me so worried. It's all my fault. If I hadn't accidentally pushed you into the water fifteen years ago, you wouldn't have developed a fear of water. And this time, I was so eager to help you overcome it that I almost caused another accident."

Everett immediately put an arm around her shoulders and spoke gently. "It's not your fault. You were only ten back then. What could you have known? And you were only trying to help her this time."

After comforting Elara, he turned to me, a faint note of reproach in his voice. "Tessa, look how scared you've made Elara."

I opened my mouth, but I did not know what to say.

I could only sit there silently, watching the two of them back each other up.

It was always like this. I had nearly drowned, yet somehow Elara was the one who ended up looking like the victim.

The doctor came in for his rounds and asked what had happened.

Elara quickly answered for me. "She has a fear of water," she explained softly. "We were trying to help her get used to it, but she got too nervous."

The doctor frowned. "Desensitization should be gradual. You can't just make her choke on that much water."

Elara's eyes reddened again. "I didn't think it through. I was just too eager to help her overcome her fear."

Everett took her hand, signaling for her to stop blaming herself. "It's also because Tessa's too timid. We're both swimming champions. It's not like we'd actually let anything happen to her."

The doctor seemed about to say something else, but in the end, he only shook his head and left.

…

After the doctor left, Everett sat beside my bed and adjusted the blanket around me. His tone was gentle, almost as if he were soothing a child who didn't know any better.

"Tessa, this was an accident. But you need to think about this, too. I'm on the swim team, and you're so afraid of water that you won't even get in. How are you supposed to fit into my life?"

I had not even had a chance to answer before he was already getting to his feet.

"I'm taking Elara home. She swallowed quite a bit of water trying to save you."

Then, the two of them left.

I watched them walk away before taking out my phone and opening the transfer notice from HR.

Headquarters wanted to transfer me overseas to head its Norridge regional office. HR had sent me the notice yesterday, but I had been hesitating because I did not want a long-distance relationship.

I stared at the email for two minutes before clicking "Accept".

A confirmation box appeared.

I clicked Confirm.

Three days later, I would leave this city and these people behind.
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  • Drowned by Betrayal   Chapter 10 The Road Ahead

    Six months later, I received the Outstanding Manager of the Year award at the company's annual meeting at headquarters.In the photo, I wore a sharp skirt suit and polished makeup, smiling with confidence and ease. Behind me, the company logo appeared alongside the gold lettering, "Outstanding Leader of the Year."I was still afraid of water and never went swimming. But I had taken up indoor rock climbing instead.There was a climbing gym near my apartment. I went three times a week, working my way up from V2 to V5.I still occasionally heard bits and pieces about the people back home through Maris.She had a friend in the sports world there who passed along gossip every now and then.After Elara was expelled from the state team, no club was willing to take her. She ended up at a swimming center in a small, obscure town, working as a training partner.Later, someone filmed her getting into a fight with a customer while drunk. The police took her away, and after that, she disappe

  • Drowned by Betrayal   Chapter 9 The Last Conversation

    I replied to the last senior member of the swim team who had reached out to plead Everett's case."Why should I forgive him? When you all rubbed salt in my wounds back then, did any of you ever speak up for me? What he's suffering now isn't even a fraction of what I went through back then."After sending the message, I blocked them all again and changed my settings so strangers could no longer add me.Then I added Everett myself and sent him a message.Just one sentence. "Some things need to be said face-to-face."I chose a cafe with a view of the ocean.By the time I arrived, Everett was already sitting by the window, a cup of cold black coffee in front of him.He had gotten so thin that his cheekbones stood out. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and after so long spent tormenting himself, he looked almost on edge.I pulled out a chair and sat down.He looked up sharply. There was an almost panicked hope in his eyes.He immediately started apologizing, speaking so quickly it w

  • Drowned by Betrayal   Chapter 8 You'll Never Understand

    Everett put all his effort into preparing for the charity swimming event just to get close to me. He even approached the organizing committee about adding a 6.2-mile open-water challenge as an exhibition event.In his email, he wrote that the challenge was meant to push his limits and that it closely aligned with the event's theme.The organizing committee was only too happy to agree. After all, why turn down a free exhibition?When Maris handed me the event schedule, she pointed to the event and hesitated. "Ms. Winslow, do we need any additional safety measures for Mr. Langley's event?"I signed the form. "Follow the standard procedures. He's a professional athlete. He doesn't need special treatment."The starting gun went off, and Everett entered the water with several other swimmers.I sat in the viewing area as the event's sponsor representative.…Halfway through, Everett's stroke started falling apart. His pace kept speeding up and slowing down.A race official in a boat

  • Drowned by Betrayal   Chapter 7 No Need for Redemption

    When my mom called, I was in my office reviewing a draft of a merger agreement.Her voice was careful. "Tessa, how have you been lately? Have you eaten? Is it cold there?"I answered each question simply, my tone calm. I did not complain or act coy.She spent a long time easing into the subject before finally saying, "Everett has been going crazy trying to find you. He comes by the house every day. He's gotten so thin I barely recognize him. He says he knows he was wrong. That Elara is no good. She's already been kicked off the team—"My mom and Everett's parents had been neighbors for decades, and Everett and I had grown up together. She had always thought it was only natural that we would end up together.I had also complained to her before about how far Everett and Elara had gone with their attempts to treat my fear of water.However, my mom had believed they were doing it for my own good. She had even told me not to be so ungrateful.When it became clear she was about to d

  • Drowned by Betrayal   Chapter 6 A New Life

    I wheeled my suitcase out of the airport and looked at the stream of people coming and going. For the first time in a long while, I felt completely at ease.A young Chinese woman was there to meet me, smiling brightly as she held up a sign with my name on it."Ms. Winslow, I'm your assistant, Maris Holloway. Welcome to Norridge."She took my suitcase naturally and chatted with me in the familiar language of home, her slight regional accent making the conversation feel easy.I followed her to the car, and we headed onto the highway toward the city.…The day I walked into the Norridge regional office, I clipped on my new ID badge identifying me as the regional CEO.The HR director showed me around the entire office before stopping outside a private office.I put my things in the desk drawers, sat in the chair for a while, and looked around at the office that was now mine.The first project I led was the acquisition of a local tech company.When I walked into the conference roo

  • Drowned by Betrayal   Chapter 5 The Truth

    Meanwhile, after comforting Elara, Everett returned to my hospital room, only to find the bed empty.The nightstand was completely bare except for my hospital discharge papers.He picked them up and turned them over. On the back was a single line in my handwriting. "Thank you for fifteen years of 'kindness,' but I'd rather do without it."Everett stared at the words for several seconds before pulling out his phone and calling me.A cold automated message came through the receiver. "The number you are calling is currently busy."He called three more times. The same message played every time.He sent me a message on WhatsApp. It stayed on one gray check mark and never delivered.Everett rushed out of the hospital and drove straight to the apartment I had been renting.The landlord was cleaning the place with the door wide open. The apartment was already empty."Ms. Winslow contacted me yesterday to end the lease," the landlord said. "She had the cleaners haul everything away and

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