Alle Kapitel von The Second Time She Drowned, I Walked Away: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 10

Her scream pierced the suffocating haze of my drowning like a needle of ice.My eyes flew open, and I looked toward the lake, where a noisy crowd had gathered."Help me! Help..."Layla was flailing in the water. The instant our eyes met, a flicker of satisfaction crossed hers.In my past life, I'd fallen for that desperate act without a second thought, jumped in, pulled her out, and given her CPR.Three days later, she went live in tears, claiming I "pushed her in" and "tried to assault her."She sobbed and held up chat screenshots. "He threatened me. He said if I didn't sleep with him, he'd post photos of him kissing me on a porn site... I can't live like this!"The internet exploded.People edited my photos with captions like "Rapist scum, die" and "Doxx his whole family," then spread them across every platform.Michael Carter, the dean, looked conflicted as he tossed an expulsion notice at me. "The damage is too severe. For the university's reputation..."I dragged my suitcase off c

I pulled off my jacket and draped it over Layla, covering her mouth, nose, and chest completely."What do you think you're doing? What on earth is this?!" Dean Carter shouted."Sir, the first-aid manual recommends avoiding cross-contamination during rescue," I replied calmly, hands moving with practiced efficiency. "Especially when the situation is unclear, chest compressions alone work just as well as mouth-to-mouth."Before he could respond, I'd already stacked my hands over her sternum. Years of football training had given me powerful hands, and now that strength surged into the compression.First compression, full power!Through the jacket, Layla's body went rigid. A sharp gasp tore from her throat.Nice performance. Still "unconscious," huh?I raised an eyebrow and added a bit more pressure on the second compression."Cough, cough... cough!!"Layla broke into violent coughing, her eyelids fluttering open to reveal eyes blazing with shock and fury."She's awake! She's coming to!" D

When my eyes opened again, the harsh white light of a police station glared down at me.Before I was even fully conscious, the cold metal on my wrists told me I was cuffed to a chair in an interrogation room."Detective, look! He's awake!"Layla's shrill voice pierced the air. I turned to see her with tousled hair and disheveled clothes, curled up in Cole's arms.A detective stepped in front of me, eyes boring into mine."Sir, this woman is accusing you of rape.""No! I didn't do anything!" I jerked my head up, the handcuffs rattling violently and biting into my wrists. "I have no idea what happened! They drugged me!"Detective Harris paused, then picked up a preliminary report from the table. His voice left no room for argument."But we found what appears to be your semen on this woman's underwear. How do you explain that?"The words hit like a sledgehammer. I stared at Layla in disbelief.She'd actually stoop this low to frame me!The body's spinal reflexes don't shut down even when

He gave me the slightest nod, then slapped a folder down on the table."This is proof that Owen was in the dorm with me!"Layla and Cole froze. When they saw what was in the folder, their eyes went wide.It was... a screenshot of an online match history showing Ryan and me playing together."What the hell is this? You're trying to pass off a game screenshot as evidence?" Cole barked, but there was an involuntary tremor in his voice.Ryan shrugged."This is the clearest proof that Owen had no time to commit the crime. We were both playing in the same live match."If you don't believe me, check the timestamp in the top right corner."Everyone's eyes shot to the corner. They all went still.3:05 p.m.!"Still not convinced? Keep going." Ryan leaned in and flipped to the next page.The shock on everyone's faces was impossible to hide.It was a photo of Ryan and me eating pizza and making goofy faces at the camera. The timestamp read:4:10 p.m.!"How... how is that possible!" Cole's face dra

Evan clenched his fists, anger threading through his voice."When I got Owen's shared location and rushed to the hotel, I saw them hauling him inside."I followed them. While they were stripping him and dumping him on the bed, then leaving to get their camera equipment, I climbed through the hallway window into the room, threw his jacket over him, and carried him out."He paused here and took a deep breath."But right as I reached the stairwell, I heard them coming back. There was no time. I stashed Owen in a storage room, then... quickly changed into his clothes and got back on that bed."What I didn't expect was that they drugged me again with the cloth, just to be safe. In the last second before I blacked out, the only thing I managed to do was hit the record button on the voice recorder hidden in my pocket."The room held its breath. You could've heard a pin drop.Detective Harris nodded slowly, but confusion still clouded his face."So, in trying to collect evidence against them,