Chapter 2

I barely slept that night.

By morning, the yacht was buzzing with laughter and conversation, as if nothing had happened. Last night's betrayal had already been brushed aside, reduced to nothing more than a stupid joke.

Claire came over carrying breakfast and set the tray down beside me, almost as if she were trying to make peace.

"Eat something."

I didn't touch it, causing her to frown.

"Are you seriously throwing a tantrum?"

I looked at her with disbelief. "You really think I'm throwing a tantrum?"

A flicker of impatience crossed her face. "I already explained everything last night."

She sighed, her voice growing sharper. "The marriage was an accident, Julian. Why are you taking it so seriously?"

A cold laugh escaped me as I pushed the tray back toward her. "Claire, I finally see you for who you really are."

Her expression changed.

"Julian Whitmore."

The warning in her voice almost made me laugh again.

"Don't talk to me like that," I said. "You seemed perfectly clear-headed when you handed me that drink last night."

My words carried farther than I intended. The conversations around us gradually died down, and people turned to look.

Claire noticed them, too. She reached for my arm and lowered her voice. "Do you really have to make a scene in front of everyone?"

I shook her off.

"I'm the one making a scene now?"

Daniel happened to walk over and stop beside Claire. He glanced at me before speaking in a calm, almost reasonable tone. "Julian, everyone's watching. At least show Claire a little respect."

I almost laughed.

"Respect?" I looked at him. "Then why didn't you think about respect when you took out that marriage certificate yesterday?"

The color drained from his face.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I just wanted to win the game. I got carried away."

I stared at him, feeling nothing but a deep, familiar coldness settling in my chest.

So this was what our friendship had meant to him—a game and a joke. Something he was willing to throw away just to win.

After all these years, I finally understood.

"Don't bother explaining," I said quietly. "I'm not interested."

Claire's face tightened. Humiliated by the attention around us, she grabbed Daniel by the arm. "If he doesn't appreciate what we're doing, then forget him."

She pulled Daniel toward the other side of the yacht. "Come on. Let's go fishing."

I watched them walk away.

They deliberately left me out and started a deep-sea fishing competition on the deck. Before long, Daniel lost the game. His punishment was simple. He needed to jump into the ocean.

Everyone immediately started cheering.

"Rules are rules!"

"Come on, Daniel! Get in!"

Daniel stood at the edge of the deck, hesitating.

Then Claire spoke up. "He drank too much last night," she said. "His stomach's still bothering him. He shouldn't be jumping into the ocean."

Something twisted painfully in my chest.

She remembered that?

She knew when Daniel's stomach was bothering him. She remembered what he drank the night before. She noticed every little thing about him.

Then, as if what she said next were perfectly reasonable, she turned to me. "Julian, you go instead. Consider it an apology to Daniel."

I stared at her blankly. For a second, I honestly thought I'd misheard her. "You want me to take his punishment?"

"Julian—"

"Claire, you know I'm afraid of water."

Her expression flickered, and for the briefest moment, I saw something like hesitation. Then it disappeared.

"There's a life ring," she said simply.

I turned and walked away. I'd barely taken two steps when Daniel caught up with me and grabbed my arm.

"Julian, please. I really don't feel well. Just do me this one favor."

I ripped my arm out of his grip. "Why should I take your punishment for you?"

The people around us were already getting impatient.

"It's just the water!"

"What's the big deal?"

"You'll have a life ring!"

Their voices closed in around me.

Before I knew it, everyone had crowded around, leaving me nowhere to go.

Desperate, I looked at Claire. She was the one person I expected to stop this.

Instead, she walked toward me, picked up a life ring, and forcibly pulled it over my head.

I struggled against her. "Let go of me. Claire, stop!"

Her hands froze, but just for a second.

I looked at her, waiting for her to change her mind, but she didn't. Instead, she lowered her voice. "You'll be fine."

Then she shoved me overboard.

The freezing ocean swallowed me whole, and water rushed into my mouth and nose. Everything went black.

I thrashed wildly, my arms and legs kicking uselessly beneath the surface as panic tore through me. I couldn't breathe or see.

When I was a child, I'd nearly been swept out to sea by the waves. I'd been terrified of the ocean ever since.

She knew how badly I feared the water. And yet, when it came to Daniel, she still pushed me overboard.

I choked on mouthful after mouthful of seawater before finally breaking the surface. I gasped for air as I watched the yacht moving away. I clung desperately to the life ring and watched it grow smaller in the distance.

At first, I told myself not to panic. They'd come back. So I waited. I kept telling myself to hold on a little longer. Just a little longer.

But the sun began to sink, the sky darkened, and the yacht never came back. That was when I finally understood that they had truly forgotten about me.

My hands slowly went numb as I clung to the life jacket. My body grew heavier, my strength fading with every passing minute.

As darkness settled over the ocean, memories began flashing through my mind.

I remembered Claire back when she had nothing. I remembered holding her when she cried and the promises she made—that once she had everything, she would spend the rest of her life treating me well.

I remembered Daniel taking my hand and laughing as he promised that one day, I'd stand beside him as his best man.

And I remembered the three of us and all the times I'd swallowed my pride and given in because I thought our friendship was worth protecting.

And in the end, they had completely forgotten about me.

At some point, I realized I wasn't crying anymore. I didn't have the strength for that, either.

The cold seeped deeper into my bones, and the darkness stretched endlessly around me.