Chapter 156
I was losing strength. Just as I was about to fall into the sea, I heard Yosef shout. I don't know where I found the strength, but I needed to see who had pushed me. The force was undeniable; they wanted me dead. I gritted my teeth and desperately tried to climb back up. I can't die yet! I thought. I still had so much to do. The cruise ship hadn't returned to Elysiumville; I'd promised Marlon a trip abroad, and I wasn't divorced from Hayden! And my baby… How could I die like this? No. I couldn't!
But as I struggled, a face appeared. Joanna. “Yvonne! You’ve finally met your match!” she grinned, a demon from hell. My mind raced. I remembered Yosef's earlier words; Sophia was far away. Neither of them could have pushed me. “Did you push me?” I asked.
“So what if I did? I’m doing you a favor,” Joanna said, arms crossed triumphantly. Fear and terror were gone, replaced by the thrill of victory.
“You’re insane! You’re trying to kill me?” I gritted my teeth, clinging to the railing. I never knew I could hold my weight so long. Unafraid, Joanna leaned closer. “All you have left is your mouth, Yvonne. If I were you, I’d let go.”
“You wish!” I retorted, though my strength was failing. Joanna seized the opportunity. “Think about your life. You wasted your beauty on a man who doesn't love you. He hates you! Even dragging your mother into this, he still ignores you. He finds you disgusting!”
Each word was a blow to my dignity. “You think these words can crush me? Joanna, you're the one who got dumped,” I retorted, tears welling. Yet, I lowered my gaze to the churning water below, my heart growing colder.
I felt I couldn't hold on. I never imagined this would be my end. Joanna's voice pressed down. “Who says I was dumped? I’m carrying Hayden’s child! I pretended to be with him to get the Parker Group shares back. Do you really think he loves you that much?”
I lacked the clarity to analyze her words. My instincts took over. Hayden's strange behavior… to get the shares back? “You’re cunning,” I managed.
Joanna continued, “How dare you accuse my mother? You killed her! She loved you most, but you abandoned her for a man, causing her to jump from a building.”
I clenched my teeth, tears streaming down my face, unable to speak. “If I were you, I’d let go,” Joanna pressed. I could endure anything but this—the betrayal of my mother. I hadn't fulfilled my duty as a daughter, and going abroad for Hayden felt like a terrible mistake. I no longer had the strength.
Twenty years of my life flashed before me. I gave everything to Hayden, receiving only disgust and ridicule. For his love, I neglected my mother. I didn’t deserve to be her daughter. My life was a failure. Only now did I understand utter hopelessness. It felt like a hole ripped in my heart, an icy wind pouring in. Slowly, I closed my eyes, my grip loosening.
I plummeted, the wind my only witness. A tremendous splash exploded in my ears, followed by excruciating pain. The water, though soft, inflicted immense pain, perhaps because of the height. Water rushed in, covering my mouth, nose, eyes, then my head. My breath was stolen. I sank, unable to struggle. In my final second of consciousness, I sighed, So this is death.
No more life, no more hope. Everything sank into darkness.
A few people on deck heard the splash. "What was that?" one asked. "A fish?" another wondered. "A shark?" someone suggested, causing laughter. No one suspected someone had fallen overboard.
Dylan was there. While others only saw the surface, he subconsciously looked up, spotting Joanna, Sophia, and Yosef leaning over the railing. He couldn’t see their expressions from seven stories up, but he noted their clothes. They quickly retreated after noticing him. Dylan knew something was wrong. The splash wasn’t small. What did they throw off the roof? he thought.
He ran upstairs. Sophia pulled Joanna and Yosef back. They collapsed, eyes wide with fear.
“Yvonne…” Yosef mumbled. “Don’t blame me…”
“Shut up!” Sophia snapped.
Joanna panicked. “Mom, what do we do? He saw us. Will he know I pushed Yvonne?”