The air inside the room immediately felt heavy and tense.
Zofia let out a quiet sigh of relief, shot me a defiant glare, then turned to Dominic with fresh tears in her eyes.
“Now we finally have proof I’m innocent. It was Hannah who hid your daughter. Maybe when she passed the awards venue, she got jealous and reported me out of spite.”
Dominic slowly turned toward me, I could see the veins in his forehead bulging. The air itself seemed to tear under the weight of his anger.
Panicked, I clutched my daughter’s belongings and documents to my chest.
I spoke so faintly, “It’s not like that! My daughter is truly dead, these are what's left of her! When they prepared her body for burial at the funeral home, her tracker was taken off with her clothes. If you don’t believe me, send someone there to check.”
My pleading didn’t even touch Dominic. It couldn’t cut through the storm of his anger.
His eyes dropped to small box I was clutching along with her crumpled death certificate.
Before I could react, Dominic snatched it from me and smashed it to the ground.
“You’re faking it! What’s your problem with Zofia and her daughter? You even buy this cheap box of... stuff and thought I'd just believe you?”
Dominic grabbed a piece of the broken box, “Hannah—eat this.”
He’d gone completely mad. He shoved the pieces of the box toward my mouth and I could feel the sharp pieces in my mout. Blood soon bubbled between my lips.
I broke down, sobbing, my heart shattered.
The pain reached a point where I couldn’t cry anymore. I started laughing instead—a hollow, bitter sound.
“Yes! Fine! It was me. I tried to killed Zofia and her daughter now!”
“Dominic, you’d better kill me now, because as long as I’m alive, they will never be part of your family.”
I had never lost control in front of him like this and Dominic was stunned. Seeing my blood-soaked appearance, a fleeting glimpse of pity flashed in his eyes—a emotion he didn’t even notice himself.
Zofia saw it too and panic flashed across her face.
She grabbed Clementine and made for the balcony. “You two are the real couple. Clem and I are outsiders. With your wife hating us like this, what kind of life do we have left? We might as well end it now!”
Dominic’s pupils tightened. Without thinking, he rushed over to stop them, holding them tightly in his arms to comfort them.
“Zofia, don’t do anything stupid. As long as I’m here, no one will lay a finger on you.”
Then he looked up at me, his voice suddenly cold. “Hannah, apologize to Zofia!”
I stayed still.
A slow smile crept across his face. “Fine, be in denial all you want. I won't let this slide without teaching you a proper lesson.” He continued, “Now, what are you going to do?”
I was all too familiar with his threatening tone and it sent a chill down my spine.
Ignoring my struggles, he bound my wrists and ankles, dragged me out and hauled me onto a nearby boat.
The night sea was pitch-black and terrifying. Several sharks broke the surface now and then, moving closer.
Dominic hadn't ordered his men to throw me in—yet. Instead, he tied the rope around me to the railing of the deck.
“Hannah, just admit you were wrong to Zofia and I’ll pull you back up right now,” his voice was tightening.
I saw exactly where this was going. My voice rose into a furious shout. “Dominic, you will regret this!”
His expression hardened and he personally threw me into the sea.
“Stay in the water until you come to your senses. The moment you’re ready to apologize, I’ll pull you out.”
“No!”
The sharks surged toward me, jaws opening wide. I screamed in pure despair…
Back on deck, Dominic stepped off the boat with Zofia, but he couldn’t shake a sense of unease.
My own desperate screams still echoed in my head.
Zofia called Dominic’s name several times, but he didn’t seem to hear her.
Just as they stepped off the boat, his assistant Bennie came running, drenched in sweat and panting hard.
“Mr. Gardner, the tracker data has just been restored! It shows your daughter’s last location was at the funeral home.”
“I went there to verify,” he continued. “We found her clothing. Your daughter really was killed by the kidnappers… her body has already been prepared for burial.”
The color drained from Dominic’s face. Without a word, he bolted back toward the boat.
When he saw the scene in the water, he let out a terrified scream, “Hann!”
