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They Left Me to Die at Sea
They Left Me to Die at Sea
Author: Anonymous

1

Author: Anonymous
When I came out of the ER, Sienna was curled up in Ethan's arms.

Owen was crouched in front of her, holding a cup of water for her.

Adrian held her test results and kept asking if she felt all right.

I stopped, bracing myself against the wall. Blood was seeping through the bandage on my arm again.

Ethan saw me and started to get up, but Sienna clutched the hem of his shirt.

"Evelyn, you're alive. Thank God."

Her eyes red, she laid a protective hand over her stomach.

"I'm sorry. Ethan and I really love each other. The baby was an accident."

I didn't look at her. Instead, I stared at Ethan and asked hoarsely, "When did it start?"

"Six months ago."

I gripped my hospital gown until my knuckles turned white.

"The day you proposed to me?"

He didn't answer.

That night, he had knelt in front of me, his hands shaking so badly he could barely hold the ring.

I tearfully said yes, then laughed and asked why he was so nervous.

Now he wouldn't even look at me.

"You said all you wanted was to make a home with me."

My voice cracked on the last word. I turned my head away, but the tears fell anyway.

Ethan frowned. "Evelyn, you can't control who you fall for."

Sienna spoke up softly. "Back then he wanted to break up with you, but I was afraid you'd get hurt..."

"So the two of you lied to me for six months?"

I wiped away my tears, my voice trembling. "Sienna, you helped me pick out wedding dresses every day. You listened to me go on about how wonderful Ethan was. Were you laughing at me the whole time?"

My brother stepped in front of her.

"Enough! Sienna already apologized. What more do you want?"

"I can't even ask what happened?"

"Maybe you should take a look at yourself too. You're always so aggressive. Who could put up with that?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

When I was little and kids picked on me, my brother used to stand in front of me just like that.

Back then, though, he was protecting me.

Owen handed Sienna the water and said accusingly, "If you'd called off the engagement sooner, she and the baby wouldn't have had to go through all this."

I looked at him, and everything went blurry.

"The things you said on the boat... You weren't just trying to scare me, were you?"

No one answered.

I tried again. "I kept calling for you."

Owen swallowed. "It was chaos."

"You looked back at me."

He fell silent.

I looked down. After several tries, I finally slipped off the ring and placed it on the bench.

Ethan slapped his hand down over it.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving it back."

Saying those words hurt so much I could barely breathe.

He picked up the ring, his voice softening a little. "Don't do this out of spite. Sienna's pregnant, and I have to take responsibility for her and the baby. But you can still stay with me."

I stared at him, stunned.

Sienna bit her lip. "I'm not trying to come between you two. All I want is for the baby to be safe."

"I'll make sure you're taken care of," Ethan reassured her. Then he held the ring out to me again. "The engagement party is still on. We'll talk when we get home."

I didn't take it.

Suddenly Sienna clutched her stomach and drew in a sharp breath.

All three men rushed to her side.

My brother turned back and snapped at me, "Go get a doctor! What are you standing there for?"

I staggered and caught myself on the wall. My palm came away covered in blood.

"I'm in pain too."

It came out so quietly that no one heard.

Ethan asked impatiently, "What did you say?"

I looked at him, and the tears welled up again, but I slowly shook my head.

"Nothing. I'll go find a doctor."

I turned around, and a nurse came running toward me.

"Weren't you supposed to wait for us to change your bandage? You're bleeding all over the place!"

She steadied me, and only then did I realize I could barely stand.

Behind me, someone finally called my name.

I didn't look back. Instead, I grabbed the nurse's sleeve and choked out, "Could you please help me first?"

The nurse came over and steadied me as I swayed. Only then did I notice the trail of blood I had left down the hall. It looked like more than the water in Sienna's cup.
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  • They Left Me to Die at Sea   9

    Two years later, the travel projects I ran covered more than a dozen cities.At the company's annual launch event, my name appeared on the center seat in the front row for the first time.When my presentation ended, the applause went on for a long time.My parents sat in the last row. They didn't come up to me. After it was over, they just had a staff member hand me a card.The card read, "Happy birthday, Evelyn. We're not asking you to come back. We just hope you're safe and well."I looked at it for a long time. In the end, I kept the card, but I didn't call that familiar number.One apology can't put some relationships back the way they were.Keeping my distance was already the kindest thing I could offer.My brother sent me a letter every year.He no longer asked for forgiveness. Instead, he wrote about our parents and his volunteer training in maritime rescue.Owen took responsibility for raising the child and left the group chat he shared with our mutual friends.He once wrote to

  • They Left Me to Die at Sea   8

    Six months later, the court handed down its verdict.Sienna and the crew member were both held criminally responsible for what they had done.At the end of the trial, Sienna apologized to me through tears."Evelyn, I just wanted a family so badly. I never thought it would turn out like this."I looked at her across the courtroom, my voice calm. "If you want a family, you can build your own. You don't burn down someone else's house and then complain that you're cold."Her sobs stopped abruptly.When we walked out of the courthouse, reporters surrounded Ethan.He faced the cameras and publicly admitted that he'd been seeing Sienna while still engaged to me—and that he'd allowed her to drag my name through the mud."Evelyn Shaw never came between anyone. I'm the one who betrayed our engagement."His long-overdue statement made the local news.The relatives and friends who had pointed fingers at me at the party sent apology after apology.I sent all of them the same reply. "Noted."That sa

  • They Left Me to Die at Sea   7

    Once word about Sienna got out, my parents took down every ultrasound photo in the house and put my old photo albums back out in the living room.My mother took a picture and texted it to me."Your room's all ready. Come home."I didn't reply.A few days later, they showed up at my office.My mother held a box of my childhood favorite cookies, dark circles under her eyes."Evelyn, Sienna fooled me, too."I didn't take them. Blinking back the sting in my eyes, I kept my voice low."Did she make you say I couldn't hold on to a man? Or did she make you rip Grandma's necklace apart?"My mother's lips trembled, and she looked down.My father frowned."Parents make mistakes too. Now that the truth's out, there's no reason for us to keep holding grudges."I looked up, my eyes red, and answered calmly."Before the truth came out, you had already disowned me.""That was just something we said in anger.""I took it seriously."I asked the front desk to show them out.As the glass doors closed, m

  • They Left Me to Die at Sea   6

    The breakthrough came from the yacht's backup navigation unit.The main navigation system had been damaged by seawater. But a crew member had hidden the backup unit in a storeroom, so it never appeared on the original accident inventory.The yacht company found the discrepancy when it took stock of its equipment.The technicians pulled the data and confirmed that the planned route had been deliberately altered three times.The first change was made the night before departure, the second before the return trip, and the third just 40 minutes before the yacht struck the reef.Every change was made from Sienna's account.More importantly, the unit had saved an audio recording.The crew member she'd paid didn't know how to plan a course, so Sienna guided him through the process over a voice call, directing the yacht toward the reef.The man sounded hesitant."There are no navigation markers out there. What if something goes wrong?"Sienna sounded completely relaxed."Just go slow. All you

  • They Left Me to Die at Sea   5

    After I left, the party descended into a complete farce.Ethan demanded a paternity test in front of everyone.Owen denied everything at first. It wasn't until someone pulled up the hospital security footage that he finally admitted it, his voice hoarse."We slept together. Just once. She said she was drunk and thought I was you."Ethan slammed his fist on the table."So you knew the baby might be yours, and you still helped her lie to me?""I wasn't sure," Owen said. He looked at Sienna with resentment, and with something he still couldn't let go of. "She begged me to keep it secret. She said the only way the baby would have a whole family was if she married you."Sienna grabbed the hem of Ethan's jacket, crying."It doesn't matter whose baby it is. You're the one I've always loved."Ethan looked down at her and suddenly scoffed, "And what about Evelyn? Just because you love me, does that mean she deserved everything you put her through?"My mother tried to calm him down, but for the

  • They Left Me to Die at Sea   4

    On the day of the party, I showed up at the hotel in a black dress.Photos of me and Ethan hung in the lobby, but Sienna's ultrasound pictures were laid out on the welcome table.Sienna wore my dress, her arm linked through Ethan's.A guest laughed and asked, "So this is the bride-to-be?"Ethan didn't deny it right away.Only when he saw me did he pull his arm free."Why are you wearing that? Didn't I have someone send you the gown?""I told you. There's no engagement."He lowered his voice. "There are so many guests here. Don't make a scene."Someone in the party group chat suddenly shared a long post.Sienna claimed that she and Ethan had been in love since college, and that I'd used our engagement to force my way between them.Now that she was pregnant, she was begging me to leave them alone.The whispers around me grew louder."So she's the other woman.""No wonder nobody bothered with her on the boat."I opened the post and looked at Ethan. "You knew about this?"He avoided my eye

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