Chapter 3

The man yelped in pain as Damon's grip tightened around his arm.

Fiona lightly tugged at Damon's sleeve, her tone annoyed. "Damon, what are you doing?"

Damon's expression remained cold. "Olivia is a guest of the Holloway family today. Anyone who disrespects her is disrespecting me. Got it?"

With that, he released the man.

The man didn't dare argue with Damon, but he shot Olivia a vicious glare.

Olivia instinctively looked up at Damon. She hadn't expected him to stand up for her.

Fiona clenched her teeth, then forced a smile and quickly changed the subject.

"You know Trevor Pierce is always joking around. Why get into it with your friend over some outsider? We came here to set off fireworks, remember? I'll go light them."

Damon nodded, his tone softening. "I'll help you."

"No." Fiona deliberately tightened her hold on his arm, staking her claim as she spoke in a playful tone. "I told you, this fireworks show is my gift to you and your grandpa. All you have to do is enjoy it."

Damon smiled and reached up to brush the tip of her nose.

It was a gesture that had once come naturally to him, yet now there was something oddly deliberate and awkward about it.

Almost without thinking, he glanced toward Olivia.

She wasn't watching them at all. She was looking down at her phone, apparently replying to someone's message, a faint smile softening her features.

That look used to be reserved for him.

A strange flicker of irritation passed through Damon, but before he could dwell on it, a scream cut through the air.

Olivia looked up at the same time.

A row of fireworks in the yard had toppled over because of Fiona's mistake, their launch tubes pointing straight at where Olivia stood.

"Watch out!"

Damon's expression changed instantly. He lunged forward, but as he rushed past Olivia, he accidentally knocked her to the ground.

Before Olivia could react, she saw Damon holding Fiona tightly beneath him, shielding her with his body.

The next second, burning sparks from the fireworks flew straight into Olivia's eyes.

Searing pain exploded deep inside her eyes, so intense that her scream caught in her throat.

She instinctively tried to get away, but one burst after another scorched her hair and back, burning through her clothes and searing her skin.

Darkness and terror closed in on her from all sides.

She could only inch blindly to the side, her fingertips groping desperately for a way out.

Just as panic threatened to overwhelm her, her fingers brushed against the toe of someone's shoe.

Olivia clutched the person's pant leg as if it were a lifeline.

She fought desperately to steady herself, but her voice still trembled.

"Please... take me..."

Before she could finish, the person in front of her turned and walked away without hesitation.

Then a familiar low voice hit her like a blow, crushing the last of her hope.

"Olivia, Fiona passed out. I'm taking her out of here first. Find somewhere safe and wait for me. I'll be right back."

Olivia's fingers went slack. Whatever hope she had left vanished.

Her eyes burning and bloodshot, she struggled inch by inch toward the edge.

A pair of hands suddenly helped her up.

Still trembling all over, Olivia was about to thank whoever it was when they shoved her hard. She was sent crashing into the pool.

A burst of gleeful laughter erupted around the pool.

"Olivia, a loser should know her place. You still think you can compete with Fiona for Damon? What, did you leave Calverton and try your luck somewhere else, realize no man wanted you, and decide to come crawling back to Damon?

"Give it up. Once Mr. Holloway recovers, Damon and Fiona are getting married. So you'd better behave, or we'll make your life hell."

Olivia struggled in the water, barely aware of the pain throughout her body.

She tried to call out, but no sound came from her throat.

Eventually, her strength gave out, and her body began sinking deeper into the pool.

Unable to breathe, she finally lost consciousness.

When Olivia woke again, the strong smell of antiseptic filled her nose.

The hospital room was empty and still, so quiet that she could hear a doctor speaking in the hallway outside.

"The patient's corneas are badly damaged. There's a very high risk she'll lose her sight..."