All Chapters of They Laughed While I Was Dying: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

Adrian’s friends moved faster than he did.One of them reached out and ripped it from my hand, ending the call mid-ring. Another laughed under his breath, like he’d just seen something absurd.“Seriously?” someone scoffed. “Your fiancée runs into a little trouble and the first thing she does is call her mommy?”Another chimed in, shaking his head with a laugh. “Adrian, this is next-level childish. We’re grown adults, not kindergarteners. What’s she going to do next—cry for a nanny?”A few people chuckled, the sound light and careless, cutting all the same.One of them snorted and gestured toward the endless stretch of water beyond the rail. “Does she really think a phone call can summon her mom out here? We’re in the middle of the ocean.”The laughter spread again.Adrian turned away, clearly frustrated, clearly embarrassed, saying nothing at all as the mocking voices continued behind him.None of them had any idea that the woman he dismissed so casually was the silent shareholder behi

Just as my fingers brushed the edge of the emergency kit—A boot slammed down.Hard.It crushed the back of my hand against the deck.Pain detonated up my arm, white-hot and blinding. It was her.“Oh!” she cried, instantly lifting her foot—just enough to look innocent.“I’m so sorry! I didn’t see your hand there.”She blinked rapidly, then frowned, confusion carefully arranged on her face.“But—” she added softly, tilting her head,“weren’t you just saying you couldn’t breathe? That you were about to pass out?”Her gaze swept the crowd, uncertainty trembling perfectly in her voice.“Then why would you crawl all the way over here?”“And why would you put your hand under my foot like that?”Her eyes filled again, tears pooling on command.“Is this… is this another way to make it look like I hurt you?”Her words were gentle.Only I saw it—the flicker of satisfaction in her eyes.She bent down, close enough that her breath brushed my ear—“How does it feel,” she murmured,“not being able t

I woke to the steady rhythm of machines and the muted hush of a private medical suite.The ceiling above me was unfamiliar—sleek, white, quietly expensive. The kind of room that did not belong to a cruise ship’s public infirmary, but to something far more private. Far more controlled.My throat burned. My chest felt tight, bruised from the inside out, as if every breath had scraped something raw.“You’re awake.”My mother’s voice came from beside the bed.She sat there without moving, coat removed now, sleeves rolled back, her posture immaculate even after chaos. One hand rested lightly on the arm of the chair, the other holding mine as if she had never let go.“How bad was it?” I asked hoarsely.Her jaw tightened—not in anger, but restraint. “Bad enough.”She reached for the doctor’s chart, flipped it once, then set it aside as if the numbers offended her.“Acute hypoxia,” she continued calmly. “Trauma-induced asthma attack. Significant blood loss from blunt force compression to the a

By the time I was strong enough to walk again, my mother had already moved.The main deck had been cleared.Not dramatically, not with sirens or raised voices, but with the kind of quiet efficiency that only comes when everyone understands exactly who holds authority. Crew members stood at measured distances. Security formed a perimeter that did not invite discussion. The ocean stretched endlessly beyond the rail, dark and calm, as though it, too, were waiting.I walked out beside my mother.My arm was secured in a sling, the pale fabric stark against the darker wool of my coat, but I did not lean on anyone. Every step was steady. Every breath, though still sore, was controlled. There was no spectacle left for anyone to consume.The captain stood at attention. So did the heads of security, medical operations, and navigation. This was no longer a social gathering, and it was no longer a family dispute.This was an operational assembly, convened under Sterling authority.Emma was not pre