My chest tightened as I clutched Layla close.
After a violent crash and wave of turbulence, seawater gushed into the cabin. Panic erupted, and the passengers scrambled in chaos.
I tore open Layla’s seatbelt and half-carried, half-dragged her toward the emergency exit.
"Any injured passengers?" a rescuer shouted through a megaphone. "There aren’t enough lifeboats right now. We’ll get the wounded out for treatment first, then evacuate the rest in groups!"
I shot my hand into the air, ready to call out.
However, before I could speak, Marcus clamped a hand over my mouth, his eyes blazing. "Vanessa and I are getting on first. That old hag isn’t stealing our spot!"
I wrenched free, fury chilling my veins. "You cowardly bastards! Get out of my way!"
Shoving him aside, I guided Layla forward. "This woman suffers from severe panic disorder. If she doesn’t get medical attention immediately, she’ll suffocate and die!"
Vanessa’s eyes burned with malice. "You’re so selfish! Look at all these people waiting for rescue. Why should some half-dead old woman go first?"
Her words struck the crowd like sparks on dry tinder.
"Let the healthy ones go first!"
"Why waste a seat on someone about to die?"
"Exactly! Save us instead, or we’ll report you all!"
I stared at them in disbelief. Layla’s face had turned blue while despair was etched across her features.
"You… all of you!"
The rescuers hesitated. They weren’t saints, just men doing a dangerous job for a paycheck. One complaint could cost them dearly. They exchanged uneasy glances, then one of them finally ground out, "Fine! You two go first."
Vanessa and Marcus smirked triumphantly as they strutted past me, climbing aboard the lifeboat without looking back.
Seeing this, a few other men panicked, shoving people aside in their rush to seize seats on the boat.
I held Layla against me, her weight sagging like a lifeless doll. My heart pounded. "Layla! Stay awake!"
Turning desperately to the rescuers, I pleaded, "Take her! I’ll stay behind and give up my spot, but you must take her, or she’ll die!"
They wavered, torn between me, the mob behind us, and the frail woman slipping away in my arms.
"They can threaten you with complaints," I said, my voice shaking but fierce. "But so can I. And if she dies here, how will you answer for it?"
The oldest rescuer hesitated, glanced at Layla, then finally gave a firm nod. "Fine. Get her on board."
Relief surged through me as I helped Layla into the lifeboat. I was about to turn away when her hand clutched my sleeve, refusing to let go.
Vanessa’s mocking laugh rang out instantly. "Didn’t you just say you’d give up your spot? What, changing your mind now?"
Her venomous glare raked over me as she raised her voice, stoking the mob again, "She’s trying to cheat her way on! Throw her off!"
"Get down, witch, or I’ll kill you myself!" a man in the crowd roared.
I ripped my sleeve free, steeling myself to leave, but Vanessa’s voice slithered after me again. "She can’t go either!"
She turned to the confused rescuers, her words as poisonous as a snake’s bite. "What if that old woman dies on the way? She has to take her along."
Before anyone could object, she cut them off again, her tone dripping with malice, "But her seat’s already taken. So tie her to the back of the boat."
She sneered, eyes glittering with cruelty. "Drag her along behind us."
