Chapter 2

When Viola heard the noise, she erupted into a frantic, hysterical scream. "Elden, you lunatic! That structure is worth eight billion dollars!

"If it's destroyed, we're all doomed!"

I didn't reply and just kept slamming the drill bit against the well wall.

When Ron finally realized I wasn't bluffing, he stopped me in panic. "Open it! Open the manhole cover for him, now!"

I no longer trusted a single word he said and intensified my efforts, each pull stronger than the last.

When Ron heard that I hadn't stopped, he furiously shouted, "I hurt my arm lifting it earlier! Can't you just wait a minute?

"I'll go grab a few workers from the site. Just hold on and give me ten more minutes!"

I exploded and started cursing. "Ten minutes? To hell with that! If I'm dying, I'm taking every one of you with me!"

Ron actually laughed. "There's nothing I can do, can I? The cover weighs a ton and won't budge without enough manpower.

"You're the expert, so get back to work and clear the sludge!"

Viola chimed in, "Exactly! Why did you stop? You can't be slacking off, can you? Ruining this drill bit means losing eight billion dollars!"

As I listened to them, I clenched my fists so hard they were shaking. They knew that I was running out of oxygen and couldn't destroy the drill bit even if I wanted to, so they were waiting and watching to see how long until I suffocated.

From the start, they never intended for me to come back up alive.

I coldly asked, "Viola, are you sure you don't want the drill bit anymore?"

She sneered. "You don't have the guts to break it because you can't pay back a fraction of the damages even if your family sells everything they own.

"You wouldn't want your aging parents to kneel and beg for mercy, would you?"

I fell silent because her words struck where it hurt—my parents were my weak spot.

While I was silent, Ron took it a step further. "But if you die down there, Elden, your parents will receive compensation, so think carefully before you make your choice."

My face paled, and my brain was slipping into hypoxia. It was the perfect setup because if I died, a million dollars in compensation would solve the case. And if I lived and completed the task, they would lose nothing.

Either way, they would win, but I refused to give in just like that.

With the last shred of my willpower, I weakly called out, "Please, Viola… Let me out!"

Viola chuckled softly. "If you cancel our engagement, kneel to Ron and bark like a dog, I might think about it. I never loved you anyway, and only a man like Ron deserves me."

Ron seemed utterly touched as he touched her hand. "I've always loved you, Viola. I'd never end up broke like Elden!"

After I heard their words, my mind went blank. It hit me that this was why they had teamed up to seal me in the water and force me out of the picture, just so they could be together.

Furious, I screamed into the radio in a raw, desperate voice, "Help! A murder's happening here! Someone please hurry up and help me!"

But my voice cracked after the first few words. Just as my eyes started to roll back, a new male voice cracked over the radio.

"Why is the cover closed, Ms. Jenkins? Has the drill bit been retrieved?"

I recognized that voice as David Bowen's, the site foreman.

A desperate desire to live flared in my eyes as I gripped the radio and shouted, "David! I'm still down in the well! Please save me!"

When Ron heard my voice, he immediately turned the volume down and smiled at David. "This radio's all glitchy and really slow to respond.

"Elden has come up here to change clothes, while Ms. Jenkins and I are just doing a final check."