Chapter 6

“Every second you’re around, Caleb’s reminded of his brother and sister-in-law’s death! He hates you, *despises* you! And you’re still clinging to him like a leech, aren’t you shameless? You should just die! Don’t ever appear in front of Caleb and me again! If you were gone, everyone would have some peace!”

Serena’s eyes were full of hatred. She grew more and more agitated, then lunged at me without warning!

“Go to hell!”

She shoved my shoulder hard. I abruptly lost my balance and fell backward.

In her excitement, her foot slipped, and she fell into the sea with me.

I barely knew how to swim, just enough to dog paddle and keep myself from sinking to the bottom.

I didn’t want anyone to die, so I struggled to grab Serena.

But she didn’t cooperate at all, thrashing about, trying to push me down to climb ashore.

The more she struggled, the faster she sank.

“Help! Help! Someone!”

I called for help repeatedly, finally waking the others.

“What’s going on? What happened?!”

Caleb saw Serena and me both in the water, his face ashen. He immediately ran towards us.

Leo quickly followed, jumping into the water too!

The moment he hit the water, Caleb glanced at me, then coldly turned away, swimming towards Serena.

Leo also jumped in, pulling me onto the shore in one swift motion.

Serena had swallowed a lot of seawater and lay on the ground, barely conscious.

Caleb cupped her chin and gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Finally, Serena regained consciousness, coughing up all the seawater from her lungs.

“Caleb… you scared me so much!”

Serena clung tightly to Caleb’s neck, crying hysterically.

“What happened?”

Serena sobbed, “Jocelyn said she needed to talk to me, so I went out with her. She resented me for taking your attention away, told me to stay away from you, and even cursed me to die… Then, then she got more and more agitated and shoved me…”

I had no strength left to argue, leaning against Leo’s chest, panting heavily.

“Is that really what happened?”

Caleb stood up and demanded, looking at me.

I said nothing, burying my head in Leo’s chest and letting the tears flow freely.

Seeing me leaning against Leo, Caleb’s gaze instantly turned sharp.

That inexplicable possessiveness surged within him. He frowned deeply, pulled me roughly from Leo’s embrace, and demanded,

“Speak! Is what she said true?!”

I rested my head against his chest and said softly,

“Think whatever you want.”

I was done trying to explain.

A sharp pain pierced Caleb’s heart. Looking into my inexplicably sad eyes, he felt a strange difficulty breathing.

“…Consider all the years I raised you a waste.”

Caleb hardened his heart and shoved me to the ground.

He took Serena’s hand and walked away decisively.

Leo caught me, steadying me, and draped his jacket over my shoulders.

“Why didn’t you explain? I know you’re not that kind of person.”

Hearing Leo’s words, I felt an even deeper sense of irony.

Even a stranger could see I wasn’t such a malicious person.

But my dearest uncle, he didn’t believe me.

Was it disbelief, or unwillingness to believe?

Days turned into weeks. Unbeknownst to us, half a month had already passed.

They didn’t wait for rescue; instead, they faced a terrifying disaster.

The day had been perfectly clear, but the night brought ominous clouds and raging winds.

Deep-sea fish mysteriously washed ashore, and the tide receded eerily.

“Something’s wrong here, we need to fall back immediately!”

Caleb had a bad feeling. These strange phenomena couldn't mean anything good!

Serena and the others didn’t take it seriously.

“It’s probably just going to rain again, it’s fine.”

“No, everyone, retreat quickly!”