Chapter 2:THROWN TO THE SHARKS

The ocean swallowed me whole.

For one terrifying second, I couldn't tell which way was up.

Cold water pressed against my face. It rushed into my ears, filled my nose, and dragged at my body as if the sea itself wanted to claim me. My dress clung to my legs, heavy and suffocating, while my hair floated around my face like dark ribbons.

I kicked desperately.

My head broke through the surface, and I gasped for air.

“Marcus!”

My voice barely escaped my throat before another wave crashed over me.

I struggled to stay above the water, flailing my arms as the yacht's lights blurred in the distance. They looked so small now. So far away.

“Help me!” I screamed. “Somebody, please!”

For a moment, I thought I saw Chloe standing beside Marcus at the railing.

She wasn't moving.

She wasn't screaming for anyone to save me.

She was simply watching.

My heart twisted painfully.

“Chloe!” I cried. “Please!”

She looked away.

That single movement hurt more than the freezing water.

She was my stepsister. We had shared a home, meals, family celebrations, and countless moments when I had defended her against people who called her ungrateful. I had trusted her with things I had never told anyone else.

And now she was watching me die.

A wave swallowed me again.

I sank beneath the surface, kicking until my lungs burned. Panic clawed at my chest. I had never been a strong swimmer, and my soaked dress dragged me deeper with every movement.

When I finally surfaced, I saw Marcus leaning over the railing.

For one foolish moment, hope rose inside me.

He would pull me out. He would realize what he had done. He would reach for me and tell me it was a terrible mistake.

“Marcus!” I sobbed. “Please, I can't swim!”

He stared down at me.

There was no fear in his eyes. No regret. Not even the slightest hesitation.

“You should have made this easier, Elena,” he called.

I froze.

“What?”

“You were supposed to sign the papers and walk away. You made everything difficult.”

I stared at him, struggling to understand how the man I had planned to marry could speak to me so calmly while I fought for my life.

“I loved you,” I whispered.

He heard me. I knew he did.

His expression barely changed.

“That was your mistake.”

The words struck deeper than the water ever could.

I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to remind him of every promise he had made, every night he had held me close, every time he had looked into my eyes and called me the woman he wanted to spend his life with.

But the ocean stole my breath before I could say another word.

I sank again.

My hands searched blindly through the water, grasping at nothing. My chest tightened until the pain became unbearable. When I forced myself upward, I could barely keep my head above the waves.

The yacht was moving away.

“No!” I cried.

I tried to swim toward it, but my arms felt weak and clumsy. Every movement seemed to carry me nowhere. The lights grew smaller, and the sound of the engine faded beneath the roar of the sea.

They were leaving me.

Marcus and Chloe had thrown me into the ocean and were leaving as if I had never existed.

A sob escaped me.

I thought about my father.

I thought about the life I had believed was waiting for me. The wedding dress I had chosen, the future I had imagined, the home I had wanted to build.

All of it had been a lie.

And I had been too blind to see it.

I had trusted Marcus with my heart. I had welcomed Chloe into my life. I had believed that loving people meant they would never deliberately hurt me.

How foolish I had been.

The water rose over my chin.

I forced my head back, fighting to keep my mouth above the surface. My body was shaking so violently that my teeth began to chatter.

“Please,” I whispered into the darkness. “Someone, please help me.”

No one answered.

For the first time in my life, I understood what it meant to be completely alone.

I was twenty-four years old.

I had money, a family name, and a future I thought I controlled.

Yet none of those things could save me now.

Another wave rolled over me. I swallowed seawater and coughed, my throat burning. My arms barely moved when I tried to swim again.

I was tired.

So tired.

A part of me wanted to stop fighting. The cold had settled deep into my bones, and the darkness around me seemed endless.

But I didn't want to die.

Not like this.

Not because two people I had loved had decided my life was worth less than what they could steal from me.

I tried to lift my head one last time.

The sky above me was a blur of black clouds and distant stars. Somewhere far away, the yacht's lights disappeared completely.

Marcus was gone.

Chloe was gone.

And no one was coming for me.

Tears slipped down my cheeks, disappearing into the seawater.

“If I ever get another chance,” I whispered, barely hearing my own voice, “I won't let you destroy me.”

My arms gave out.

The next wave pulled me under, and this time, I couldn't fight my way back up.

My lungs screamed for air. My fingers stretched toward the faint glow above me, but the surface kept moving farther away.

The last thing I felt was the cold wrapping around me.

Then even the pain began to fade.

My eyes closed.

And the darkness took me.