Chapter 1

The ocean water was freezing, the sort of icy cold that seeped through the skin and right into my bones. It was even more painful than when I was trapped in the freezer last year.

My spirit floated in mid-air, watching as my blue-tinged body lay limply in the sandy bottom of the cave.

Marissa Payton, my adopted younger sister, swam over to me. Her swim fins stirred up a cloud of silt, which landed right on my face and covered it. Stretching out a leg, she kicked hard at my body.

"Look, Jamie! Nat sure is going all out in her act this time. She isn't moving at all."

Her delighted giggling came over the communicator, the sound filled with triumphant glee.

The voice of James Payton, my older brother, swiftly came over the line, his tone coldly indifferent as he said impatiently, "Stop that, Natalie. It's enough to put on this show once. There's no need to keep pretending. Now, hurry up and get up. Stop wasting everyone's time!"

I stared at James, my older brother by blood, as he held on tight to Marissa's hand. Clearly, he was worried about her getting swept away by the currents.

He didn't even bother looking at me when he spoke, assuming that I was still throwing a tantrum at having my oxygen shut off.

At that moment, our diving instructor, Jackson Morris, came over. Using the high-powered dive light he held, he shone it straight into my eyes.

"Ms. Natalie, stop pretending. Your heart rate monitor already cut off earlier. Did you pull the sensor off yourself? With such outstanding acting skills, why don't you try your luck at winning an award?"

Marissa's smile widened further.

"She's just trying to make Jamie feel sorry for her. After all, she's not as charming as I am."

From where I was floating above their heads, I sorely wanted to scream at them that I wasn't putting on an act.

I was truly dead.

My lungs were already injured from when Marissa shut me in the freezer last year on April Fools' Day. She claimed she was just playing a prank on me.

At the time, James stood beside her, glancing at his watch as he said, "Nat, if you can hold on for ten minutes, then I'll gift you that necklace you've been wanting."

I screamed for help, pounding madly on the door, and when my asthma kicked in, it felt as though knives were slicing at my lungs.

In the end, it wasn't until I had collapsed to the icy floor that they took their sweet time opening the door.

After that incident, the doctor reported that my respiratory system had suffered irreversible damage.

James apologized to me then, telling me that he knew he was wrong. He promised to bring me diving in this underwater cave this year, saying that it would be a sort of recovery training and also as compensation.

I believed him, happily putting on my diving suit, only to once again face death 65 feet below the ocean's surface.

"Natalie, I'm only going to say this one more time—get the hell up."

When I remained unresponsive, James genuinely grew angry. Letting go of Marissa, he swam over to me in a flash and seized my air hose. Then, using the hands that should have protected me, he lashed out to slap me on the cheek.

With the scuba mask and seawater as a buffer, his slap landed with a dull thud.

My head was thrown to the side by the force, my scuba mask sent askew. Immediately, icy saltwater gushed into my mouth and nose.

Nonetheless, I couldn't feel the agony of choking on the seawater anymore.

Like a deflated balloon, my body swayed with the force of his blow before slowly drifting back to the ocean floor.

"Jamie, it looks like Nat is truly angry this time." Marissa came up to James and grabbed his arm, a look of fake concern on her face. "Maybe we should go. Let's leave her alone here to calm down a little. She must be using this method to force you into buying her the new limited edition handbag."

James snorted, his eyes shining with disdain.

"It's amazing that she hasn't grown tired of playing the pity act yet, because I sure have. Since we were young, she's always pretending to be sick or dying whenever I don't fulfill her wishes. In stark contrast to her, you're so kind and obedient, Mari. Even now, you're speaking up on her behalf."

He reached out to pat Marissa's head with gentleness practically overflowing from his eyes.

That was the sort of warmth that he had never given me.

Subsequently, he took out a sharp knife from his belt.

Even though I didn't have a heartbeat anymore, my heart still trembled slightly when I caught sight of the knife.

What was he planning to do with that?

I didn't have to wonder long, as in the next second, he slashed at the safety line connecting me to the rest of the group. The sound of the nylon rope snapping was particularly jarring in the dim cave.

"Since you wish to stay here so much, I'll oblige you. Swim back up yourself whenever you've finally come to your senses."

With that, he used the communicator to announce to the rest of the group, "Natalie has left our group to reflect on her actions. Everyone else, follow me. We're heading deeper into the trench."

Following that, he took Marissa's hand again and continued swimming forward, not even looking back once at me.

I gazed down at my corpse. Without the safety line, I had become nothing but a sacrifice left behind in this dark cave deep in the ocean.