My Captain's Love Sank Before I Did

In the end, Elijah bent over and gave Kristen mouth-to-mouth. I sat on the edge of the boat, watching in a daze. To be fair, anyone would've pitied Kristen in that moment. She was helpless and sobbing. Even I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for her. Then, I looked down at my weightless body. My heart had long stopped beating, yet somehow, my chest still ached. When Kristen finally caught her breath, she lightly touched her lips where Elijah had just kissed. Flustered, she asked, "Will Gwen be jealous if she finds out? I'd hate to come between you two."Uncertainty flickered in Elijah's eyes, but it quickly gave way to firm resolve. "Kristen, it was an emergency. I had to do it. What matters now is that you're safe. Gwendolyn will understand," he replied. At those words, a bitter laugh escaped me. What was I supposed to understand?Was I supposed to understand that, in a life-and-death moment, he wouldn't even glance at his girlfriend struggling in the water? Or th

All at once, the air in the room grew heavy with tension. After a brief silence, Elijah said, "That's impossible. She has to be on one of the lifeboats. Look again, or contact any nearby vessels. Maybe she was rescued by passing fishermen.""Captain, I've already checked several times. There isn't a single person named Gwendolyn Clark on any of the lifeboats. Besides, there are sharks in these waters. No fisherman would risk coming this far out," Oscar replied.Frustrated, Elijah ran a hand through his hair. "You didn't search carefully enough! Get the entire rescue team to look again!""But the ship went down miles from shore, and the waves are rough," Oscar answered, his voice trembling. "It's past midnight now. Even if we find her, she's probably already—""Shut up!" Elijah shot to his feet and snapped, "She'll be fine!"A beat later, he drew in a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. "Send me the coordinates of all the rescue vessels. I'll find her myself."Having said

Grief washed over me as I closed my eyes. I hadn't wanted Elijah to find out. I placed a hand over my flat stomach and whispered an apology to the baby I had lost. It was all because I had loved the wrong man. Otherwise, they might have had the chance to see this world. I thought Elijah wouldn't care. To my surprise, he bolted out of the hospital like a madman. He sped through the city, running one red light after another until he reached our house. Then, in a panic, he rushed to the nightstand beside our bed. After every voyage, I'd leave a gift for him in that drawer. Sometimes, it was a lucky charm engraved with the words "safe travels". Other times, it was a pressed yellow leaf from the fall season he missed while he was gone. Elijah's hands trembled as he opened the drawer. This time, the gift waiting for him was a neatly folded ultrasound scan and a sparkling diamond ring. The ring had a unique design. It was the very one I had stopped to admire for a long time during

Kristen was eventually sentenced to 15 years in prison. To reduce her time, she went back to her old tricks. Day after day, she wore that same pitiful look, hoping to gain the guards' sympathy.Her cellmate, however, was nothing like Elijah. The woman had no patience for Kristen's feigned helplessness. More than once, she threw Kristen to the ground, humiliating her and beating her senseless.As the days passed, the hatred in Kristen's eyes grew sharper. One night, she lunged onto her cellmate's bunk, clamping her hands over the woman's mouth and nose. But her cellmate overpowered her, and Kristen's head struck the bed frame. Just like that, she died on impact.Meanwhile, Elijah had his captain's license revoked after the accident. Still, the company had no intention of giving up on such a gifted captain.Yet, whenever he stepped onto the bridge as an assistant, he would fixate on the red dot on his phone. Then, he'd steer the ship straight toward the open sea. After repeated inc