Chapter 470

Elizabeth coughed up a few mouthfuls of seawater. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw a group of unfamiliar faces staring at her; some looked worried, others plainly mocking. She turned her head and saw Ivan kneeling beside her, his clothes half-dripping wet. Then she looked up and saw Felix.

Felix, looking both nervous and excited, blurted out, “Elizabeth, are you okay?”

Ivan glanced up at that. Elizabeth coughed again and instinctively grabbed onto Felix’s clothes. Felix’s eyes were red, and he snapped, “You said you didn’t need me to follow you!”

Felix thought, If I hadn’t insisted on following her, would I have never seen her again? She’s such a good boss, and Base M relies on her. What would we do without her? “Now look what happened!” Felix kept scolding her. Ivan just stood there, stunned. What was the deal between this guy and Elizabeth?

Elizabeth clung to Felix’s sleeve as he helped her up. She was weak, her face pale as a ghost. The water was freezing. But what hurt more was seeing Alexander save Esme and leave her behind again. Felix hugged her, his heart breaking.

“For Alexander, look at what you’ve done to yourself!” Felix’s voice boomed. Elizabeth slowly closed her eyes, her heart aching. She felt terrible for those who truly cared about her. She had let them down. Elizabeth buried her face in Felix’s arm, crying silently. The people on the cruise ship exchanged worried glances. Felix quickly took her away.

Nolan’s boat arrived, and he took Alexander away. On the deck, Esme coughed and spat out water. When William showed up, everyone was pointing at Esme.

Isn’t it because she instilled the idea of being Alexander’s lover? It’s inhonorable.

“And Alexander’s no better! Just now, in the… incident between Elizabeth and Esme, didn’t he choose Esme? So, the betrayal is on both of them.”

Esme clutched the deck, her shoulders trembling, her lips moving. Through her blurred vision, she saw William approaching but couldn’t say a word. She had messed up. She wanted to kill Elizabeth, but it seemed she had failed. Esme closed her eyes, the voices of people criticizing her ringing in her ears: “She could have been a proper lady of the Russell Family, but she insisted on being someone’s lover!” Soon, Esme fainted again.

In the hospital room, the smell of disinfectant filled the air. Elizabeth lay quietly on the bed, while the TV on the wall broadcast the news: “Yesterday, at the Lisbun cruise party, Esme and Elizabeth fell into the sea together! Alexander faced a difficult choice.” A video of Alexander jumping into the sea appeared on the screen, with people on the cruise shouting, “Elizabeth is in trouble. Save her!” But after hesitating for a long time, he swam towards Esme. Elizabeth remained silent, and the TV was suddenly turned off.

Looking up again, she saw Rose standing by the bed, her face cold and particularly grim. Elizabeth pursed her lips and smiled at Rose. “Mom.” Rose scolded, “I sent you to the party to make some new friends, but look at you. You ended up like this!” Elizabeth turned her head in shame, unable to look at Rose. Rose scolded her but still hugged Elizabeth with concern. The two of them were silent for a while. After a moment, Rose gently asked, “Elizabeth, were you very scared at that time?”