As I was brutally thrown into the churning black abyss, the freezing saltwater filled my lungs.
Sinking into the crushing darkness, I realized I had blindly trusted venomous snakes. My dying thought was of Barrett Kensington-the husband I had tortured with my rebellion, and the only man who truly loved me. If the universe granted me one more breath, I swore a blood oath to tear my betrayers apart piece by piece.
Then, the freezing water suddenly vanished, replaced by stifling heat.
I opened my eyes and found myself pinned against a silk mattress by a furious Barrett. I was back three years ago, on the exact night I first tried to escape him.
This time, instead of fighting him, I relaxed my wrists, looked into his paranoid eyes, and softly whispered.
"Hubby."
--
The freezing Atlantic wind whipped Audrey Hayes's hair, lashing it brutally against her face and stinging her eyes like tiny glass shards. But this was nothing compared to the ice freezing in her veins. Backed against the yacht's fragile railing, she stared dead at the three heavily tattooed mercenaries in front of her.
Suddenly, a harsh crackle of static broke through the howling wind.
The lead thug held up a phone. "Is that dumb bitch dead yet? Hurry up and throw her to the sharks. I'm sick of pretending to love her." Carl Santos's voice echoed from the cheap speaker. It was the voice Audrey had once loved deeply, the voice she had ruined her own marriage for.
"Finish the job cleanly. No bodies, no evidence," Carl ordered. His tone was as casual as if he were ordering a cup of coffee.
Immediately following, a sharp and sweet giggle chimed in the background: "Keep it down, babe, don't scare our baby." Celina Hayes. Audrey's own cousin.
The sound of their flirting sliced open Audrey's chest like a physical blade. Her lungs spasmed instantly, unable to draw in a single breath.
"Wait, don't just push her!" another eager, shrill voice interrupted. "She's wearing the 'Pink Star' diamond bracelet Barrett gave her! Chop off her hand if you have to, but get it! It's worth millions!" That was Jasmin Parsons. Her supposed best friend.
For these people, she had alienated her fiercely devoted husband, handing over her shares, luxury cars, and endless resources. She had single-handedly elevated Carl from a penniless nobody into a wealthy elite, while dressing Celina and Jasmin in head-to-toe designer labels.
But these ungrateful wolves, these parasites who had sucked her dry, had not only conceived a bastard child behind her back-they now wanted to chop off her hand for a final payout after draining every ounce of her worth!
The sheer weight of this triple betrayal hit Audrey like a physical sledgehammer. Her knees buckled, and she slumped weakly against the freezing metal railing. Her hands gripped the cold steel so hard her knuckles turned bone-white.
The lead thug drew a hunting knife, his greedy eyes locked on her wrist. "Hold her down. I'll take the hand."
"Don't touch me!" Audrey screamed, her eyes bloodshot. She would never give them the satisfaction, and she would never let them mutilate her body!
She stared dead into the phone's camera, burning the sound of their laughter into her soul. If she became a vengeful ghost, she swore she would drag them all down to hell!
Without a second of hesitation, she leaned back and threw herself over the railing.
Splash!
The freezing, pitch-black ocean swallowed her instantly. The massive impact nearly shattered her ribs, forcing every ounce of air from her lungs. Salty water violently rushed into her nose and throat. As she sank into the suffocating abyss, endless despair wrapped tightly around her.
In her final moments of fading consciousness, only one man's face broke through the absolute darkness. Barrett Kensington.
She saw his sharp jawline. His deep, intensely burning eyes. And the cold, desperate look on his face the last time she told him she hated him. A profound, suffocating wave of regret washed over her, heavier than the ocean itself.
Tears mixed with the freezing seawater, and her lungs burned like fire. Barrett, I'm so sorry... She swore a blood oath to the deep. If the heavens granted her one more breath, she would tear those traitors apart inch by inch! And then, she would spend the rest of her life loving him.
Darkness completely consumed her.
...
Then, the freezing seawater suddenly vanished.
It was replaced by a stifling, physical wave of intense heat. The air was heavy with the scent of cedarwood, expensive mint, and a faint trace of blood. Audrey's lungs expanded violently. She gasped for air, coughing uncontrollably as fresh oxygen rushed into her body.
"Look at me!" a low, furious roar exploded next to her ear.
Her wrists were pinned fiercely against a soft silk mattress. A heavy, muscle-coiled body suppressed her completely.
Audrey forced her eyes open. Her blurry vision gradually focused, revealing a sharp jawline and a pair of deep eyes burning with rage. Barrett Kensington.
Barrett pressed his entire weight onto her. His face twisted with a terrifying mixture of anger and desperate possessiveness. His chest heaved violently against hers.
"Am I that disgusting to you?!" Barrett's voice trembled, carrying a terrifying mix of rage and absolute heartbreak. He gripped her wrists tightly, his chest heaving. "You'd rather die? You'd rather kill yourself than stay in my house for one more night?!"
Audrey's brain short-circuited. She looked past his broad shoulders and recognized the dark mahogany headboard. The heavy drapes. This was the master suite of the Kensington estate.
It was a place she hadn't stepped foot in for three whole years.
She looked down. She was wearing the exact same emerald silk nightgown she had torn during their most explosive argument years ago.
The impossible truth crashed down on her like a boulder, stealing her breath away once more.
She was reborn, back to three years ago when everything could still be salvaged.