Chapter 62
Shane raised his mug. He was about to take a sip when Damon suddenly brought up the earthquake incident from years ago.
The mug slipped from Shane’s grasp, crashing onto the carpet as the drink slowly seeped into
the fibers.
His face was filled with disbelief. “What… what did you say?”
Meeting Shane’s stunned expression, Damon’s lies curled into a mocking smile as he continued, speaking as if to himself.
“That foolish woman’s ship was caught in a tsunami. Their vessel was swallowed by the sea, and she clung to a piece of driftwood, floating on the open ocean for two days. (If my cargo ship hadn’t come across her, she would’ve died out there.
“When my crew brought her on board, she was barely alive. Two days and nights without food or water, exposed to the sun and battered by wind and waves–her skin was burned so badly it peeled, and her body was dangerously weak.
“I had the ship’s doctor treat her, and I personally arranged for her recovery. As soon as we docked, she returned to the Schultz family without a moment’s rest.”
Hearing Damon recount my ordeal made me feel strangely detached. I had already lived through it, and the emotions had dulled over time.
Still, I vaguely remembered the searing sun on my body, as if I were roasting on a fiery grill) utterly adrift on the endless sea.
There was no food and no water.
The days were blisteringly hot, while the nights were bitterly cold.
The stormy waves lashed against me, stinging my sunburned skin with every salty spray.
But the physical pain paled in comparison to the psychological torment. I had grown accustomed to the bustling lights of the city, and even on the ship, the nights were always
illuminated.
Out there, there was nothing.
nothing no light, no stars, just endless darkness.
The ocean felt like a monstrous beast, its gaping maw ready to swallow me whole at any
moment.
Each time the waves surged, I was dragged beneath them.
I clung to the edge of the wooden plank with all my strength, drifting helplessly and swallowing mouthfuls of seawater, barely surviving.
Now, Damon had Tald bare the truth of my ordeal
Shane muttered, “You’re lying. If Allison really did all that, why didn’t she say anything?”
I did, but no one believed me.
All it took was Aimber saying I had been on a luxury cruise.
My family called me ungrateful, and Shane labeled me cold–blooded and disgusting.
And now he dared blame me for not speaking up? How laughable.
“Is that so?”
Damon pulled out his phone and cast images and videos onto a screen.
There were things I had never seen before–footage and photos.
The first clip showed the moment I was pulled from the ocean by Damon’s crew, captured by a
security camera.
The subsequent photos showed me in a pitiful state, lying on a bed, barely clinging to life.
So, this was how I looked back then.
Damon’s voice was deliberate and cutting. “Back then, we thought she wouldn’t survive, so I took these photos. I figured, if nothing else, it would serve as a keepsake, a way to remember her. I never thought they’d be used on an occasion like this.
“If Allison knew that all her sacrifices for you were met with such misunderstandings, I’m certain she’d regret ever loving you. Because Shane, you’re unworthy of her love.”
Damon’s words were harsh, but they were exactly what I wanted to say.
Shane staggered backward, collapsing into a chair. He stared at the screen, at my pale and haggard face, with an unreadable expression.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
“Damon, is Allison hiding with your help? If she is, tell her to come back. I’ll forgive everything.”
Damon shot him a deep, piercing look. “I wish I could say I had hidden her away.
“Damon, what do
you
mean?”
“To be blunt, I don’t know where Allison is.”
Retrieving his phone, Damon added, “And Shane I won’t give you another chance.”
