Chapter 7

“Forget about it. If he would just abandon the childhood sweetheart who meant so much to him at the drop of his hat. Imagine how much your granddaughter would’ve to suffer if she ended up with him.”

“Oh well, it’s all history now…”

The whole time, Ana overheard the fragments of many conversations of such nature.

She smiled wryly at herself.

Suddenly, every conversation in the hall came to an abrupt stop. It became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

Celeste’s entrance into the venue had captivated everyone’s attention. She was wearing a gown designed by a prestigious haute-couture house and was adorned with jewelry worth the price of several estates. Her smile was so radiant that it outshone the gemstones.

After she was led to the center of the hall by Noah, they stopped at the foot of the marbled staircase and bathed in the attention.

There was an unmistakable look of tenderness in his eyes while he held her hand and looked at her.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he cleared his throat for a moment before continuing in a dignified voice, “Allow me to formally introduce…”

Before he could continue the introduction, the lights in the hall flickered once, then twice, before cutting out entirely, submerging the hall into darkness.

The venue descended into chaos in an instant. Tables, chairs, and people collided in every part of the hall while frantic cries echoed against the walls.

Ana instinctively retreated two steps back toward the corner only to feel someone clamping onto her wrist tightly. It was immediately followed by a handkerchief doused with the scent of a pungent chemical pressed over her nose.

Her consciousness drained away faster than she could realize what was happening. She struggled in vain. The last thing she could hear was a cacophony of screams coming from every direction at once.

After some time passed, she woke up in a blurred state only to hear Celeste hissing sharply while trying to contain her voice, “Damn it! Who told you to do it during the engagement party?

“I said kidnap me and blame it on Ana! How did you mess it up? Why did you even bring her here?

“You idiots! Don’t even expect the rest of the payment even if you execute the rest perfectly. You’ve ruined my plans!”

While Ana slowly regained consciousness, she started to piece together what was happening.

This was another one of Celeste’s elaborate schemes. The only difference was that this time, she may have gone too far and the situation may have spiralled out of her control.

One of the thugs seemed utterly confused by Celeste’s brazen behavior and cried out, “Boss, what’s wrong with her? She sure has some guts to try to negotiate with us when she’s the one being kidnapped!”

The gang leader angrily banged his fist against a steel barrel, which produced a tremendous drumming sound that echoed across the entire cabin.

He ordered sharply, “Knock her out! She’s giving me a headache!”

Following a dull thud, Celeste’s voice was cut short.

Ana pretended to be unconscious, though her curled fingertips suggested she was alert.

Blurred memories were coming back to her. She could vaguely remember one of the thugs being armed with a gun while she was dragged to wherever this place was.

They were not common thugs Celeste hired.

By this point, she realized the droning sound that had persisted since she woke up was the sound of an engine. She could also hear the rhythmic sound of waves slapping against the hull.

When she focused, she caught the salty smell of the ocean drifting through the gaps of the cabin, and a wave of horror washed over her.

Then, it suddenly occurred to her that the gang leader’s voice was very familiar. The thought made her heart drop.

He sounded like Noah’s bitter business rival, who had been utterly ruined a long time ago.

It was evident that they were not concerned with Celeste’s trivial drama.

After some time passed, the gang leader made a video call.

The moment the call was connected, he spoke in a menacing tone, “Listen up, Noah Wilder. I’ve got both your lovers here with me, the old one and the new one. If I let you choose one, which would it be?”

With that, the camera panned to the two women lying side by side. Their beautiful gowns had become crumpled and disheveled. They both lay with their eyes shut, white as sheets.

“One is your childhood sweetheart, your old lover from the last two decades, while the other is the new lover you chose after you lost your memory. Which one will it be?”

Somewhere in the distance, a couple of speedboats bearing Wilder's family crest were in hot pursuit.

Noah calmly glanced at the crew of interceptors who were already waiting for a signal to launch their attack underwater.

However, his composure crumbled the moment he noticed a bright red mark on Celeste’s shoulder. “If you dare lay a finger on Celeste, I'll make your entire family pay with their lives!”

Ana kept her eyes closed, but she had trouble fighting the stinging sensation she felt. A trickle of tears flowed out of the corner of her eyes.

She knew there was no reason to be expectant about his answer. She should have known who he would choose.

The kidnapper let out a raucous laugh. “Did you actually think I was going to give you a choice?!”

With that, he issued the signal to his crew of men.

Ana felt someone dragging her and shoving her into a large glass container.

She was squeezed tightly with Celeste in the container, which was weighted with stones at the bottom.

Immediately after that, the container was hurled into the sea, kicking up a massive splash as it began to descend to the bottom of the ocean.

Fortunately, she had only been pretending to be unconscious this whole time, which meant she had time to escape!

After kicking off her high heels, she grabbed one by its metal heel and smashed it against the glass with all her strength!

A tremendous blast shattered the glass, sending shards flying as a powerful surge of water burst into the container.

She clenched her teeth and grabbed the unconscious Celeste before swimming toward the surface of the sea.

Upon breaking through the surface, Ana was exhausted but continued swimming, fueled by pure adrenaline. After she threw Celeste over a piece of driftwood, she brushed her fingertips gently against her cheek.

She called out, “Celeste, you can’t die.”

She had to be alive. She was Noah’s lifelong obsession.

While she was in the middle of pushing Celeste onto the driftwood, her condition suddenly flared up without warning, causing her arms to go numb in an instant.

Ana felt the driftwood floating away from her. Then her body gave out, and she sank into the seemingly depthless sea.

Her eyes remained wide open as she stared at the beautiful shimmering light dancing on the face of the water.

She slowly came to terms with her death.

So be it, so be it.

Moments before she passed out, she seemed to catch a mirage of someone reaching out toward her with all their might.

Was it a hallucination?

…

When Ana opened her eyes again, she was met with the harsh, blinding ceiling light inside a hospital ward.

A nurse called Ruby King noticed her awake and immediately went up to her. “Thank goodness! You’re finally awake! You’ve been in a coma for two days!

“If you hadn't woken up, we would’ve had to stop your antibiotic injection because we had no way of identifying you! Your lung condition could’ve flared up again!”

Ana asked in a dry and cracked voice, “Did anyone visit me while I was unconscious?”

“Nobody at all.” Ruby sighed morosely. “You poor thing. The other girl who was rushed here at the same time as you were had only swallowed a bit of seawater, but her boyfriend immediately put her into a VIP suite and has been staying by her side all this time.”

Ana was caught off guard at first, then gave a resigned smile.

Then, someone knocked at the door, which was followed by a familiar voice.

“Ana.”

When she looked up and recognized the tall, striking figure, the floodgates broke open, and she started to cry.

“I couldn't reach you, so I figured I’d come and find you.”

With that, the man stepped toward the bedside and pulled Ana into a tight embrace while gently stroking her hair. “Come on, your brother is here to take you home.”

All the emotions she had suppressed for so long were finally released. She was too overwhelmed to speak. All she could do was nod.

When she tried to get up, her legs folded underneath her and she would have fallen if not for the man holding her steady.

Ruby hurried over to help and said, “She’s still very weak since she only just woke up.”

While the three of them slowly made their way toward the elevator, Ruby blurted out, “Where are you taking her?”

“To the rooftop,” the man replied in a gentle voice, “I have a helicopter waiting.”

Ruby was floored by the response.

She helped support Ana while she was taken into the helicopter.

With that, the helicopter took off and pierced through the clouds, bound toward a foreign land.

Ana wiped away her tears before staring out at the horizon and whispering her final farewell.

“Noah, I hope you find happiness with Celeste. We’re never going to meet again.”