"Milo, did you really not see what just happened? I only pulled my hand away. I didn't push her."

Dakota stepped forward and tugged on Milo's arm. "She really didn't mean to push me."

"I didn't push you at all. Dakota, have some conscience when you speak. If you want to be with Milo, I can just step aside."

"Alia, what are you talking about? Milo and I are innocent. If you misunderstand me and give me trouble, fine, but Milo is your husband. Don't you trust him? Do you two really not even have the most basic trust between husband and wife?"

Dakota looked at me pitifully. "I've been yielding to you in every way and even speaking up for you, yet you still talk about me like this. Alia, about something you came to me for earlier, I wasn't planning to bring it up, but now I have to."

I didn't understand what she meant about me going to her, but she was already speaking again. "Everyone, listen to this. This is a recording from when Alia came to me earlier."

I listened to the recording in shock. I had never been to Dakota at all.

The colleagues all looked as if they had suddenly figured everything out.

"I know Dakota isn't that kind of person. How could she purposely invite a heavily pregnant Vice President Alia Coleman to ride a jet ski? Turns out she went to Dakota in private, forced her to do it in the name of work, and planned to later accuse her of trying to cause harm. What a trap, just because Dakota is capable, she's jealous. With a person like you, this company is doomed sooner or later."

"Yeah, if Dakota didn't have this recording, we'd still be in the dark. Truly a venomous heart."

"You wicked woman," Milo glared at me. "What do you have to say now?"

"Milo, I never went to Dakota in private."

"With the recording right there, you still won't admit it?"

"In court, recordings can't even be used as evidence. Technology is advanced now; she could easily fake my voice and make a fake recording."

Milo slapped me hard across the face, first on one side, then the other. "Even now, you still dare to slander Dakota. How blind was I to have fallen for such a vicious woman like you?"

"Right now, kneel down and apologize to Dakota."

"I don't ask her to apologize." Dakota wiped her tears away. "I just don't want to be wronged for nothing. As long as everyone knows the truth, that's enough."

"Milo, my fate with this company is shallow. Everyone, enjoy yourselves. When I return, I'll resign and no longer disturb your and your wife's life."

Milo pulled Dakota into his arms. "With me here, no one can bully you."

His words left me stunned. As an orphan, I had always been bullied. The first time he stood before me to shield me from the wind and rain, he had said those very words.

Now, he was no longer my shelter; he was the one hurting me.

"Alia, kneel down and apologize to Dakota, or I won't let this go."

My face burned with pain, but my heart hurt even more.

Seeing I didn't speak, Milo hit me again. "Something born of a mother with no father to teach her, kneel down and apologize, didn't you hear me?"

Before I could react, he raised his foot and kicked me in the stomach. "Still thinking of using the child to secure your place? I'll kick you to death."

I fell to the ground, my heart aching as if it were bleeding. I was an orphan. When he first learned that, he had promised to protect me and give me a real home. Now, he was using it to attack me, throwing those cruel words about being born of a mother but not raised by a father.

I tried to get up, but Milo came over and pushed me back down. "Kneel for me."

"Milo, I have a child in my belly. I can't kneel. I know I was wrong; it's all my fault. Please stop hitting me."

I felt pain in my stomach, and if it kept up, I might lose the baby. I said quickly, "I'll ride the jet ski, I'll ride the jet ski, just stop hitting me."

"Milo, everyone came out to have fun and be happy. Seeing you hit your Alia like this makes me feel bad too." Dakota came over to help me up. "Milo's just angry right now. Let's go ride the jet ski for a bit. Once his anger passes, it'll be fine. Let's just stay away from him for now."

"Dakota is really generous."

"It's rare to find someone this kind nowadays."

The colleagues all spoke up one after another. With that, Dakota pulled me toward the jet ski area.

I was truly scared now, because no one was willing to help me. I was used to swallowing my anger.

Dakota was not a good person, but what she said was right. I needed to stay away from Milo for now.

There were two jet skis. Dakota got on one, and I got on the other. The engines roared as we sped over the waves toward the open sea.

I thought that if I were careful, riding the jet ski would still be better than being beaten by Milo. But I didn't expect the driver to keep doing dangerous tricks.

On the shore, colleagues kept shouting in surprise. When the jet ski lifted into the air again, I fell into the water.

Dakota's side also had trouble; she fell in, too.

After we both fell, Milo jumped into the water. When I saw him swimming toward me, I felt conflicted. Maybe, in the face of life and death, he still cared about me.

But when he swam right past me and headed toward Dakota, my heart went completely cold.

"Dakota's on her period. You hold on a bit longer," he said, then swam farther toward her.

Those words were like a knife to my heart. Watching him get farther away, a desperate will to survive rose inside me. You want me dead? I refuse to die.

Calm down… I had to stay calm.

In recent years, there had been more focus on drowning prevention, so I had read a lot about it. Even if I couldn't swim, if I stayed calm and didn't thrash after falling into the water, my chance of survival was much higher.

Good luck to me. I kept leaning back, keeping my face above the water so I could breathe. There was hope.

It didn't matter if Milo saved Dakota first, as long as he still came back for me.

Milo brought Dakota to shore, and he did seem ready to go back into the water for me. But Dakota suddenly clung to him. "I'm scared, I'm so scared."

"I thought when Alia privately asked me to invite her to ride the jet ski, it was just to use her old trick to make me leave the company. I didn't expect she wanted my life."

Milo frowned. "That's not possible. She's been unreasonable lately, but usually she wouldn't even dare kill a fish. Calm down, I'll go save her."

"Milo, it was the driver who pushed me into the water. I can't swim; by common sense, you should have saved me first. But I was farther from shore, and by the time you came for me, I would have drowned."

"My instincts are always right. Look, the two drivers have already run off. This was clearly on purpose. It's murder."

Dakota pointed at me. "Look, she can swim. Think about it, didn't she thrash on purpose earlier to get your attention so you'd save her first?"

Milo's face grew colder. When I first fell in, I had panicked, thrashing and shouting for help. But once I calmed down, I didn't dare move.

"Vicious woman," Milo said coldly. "Swim over here and apologize to Dakota."

His voice was colder than the seawater. I didn't know exactly what was happening on shore, but his words made it clear that he wasn't going to save me. I might really drown here.

The water was freezing, and my legs cramped.

Because of the cramp, I choked on a mouthful of water, and things quickly got worse. I struggled helplessly, swallowing more and more water.

“Help… help…”

"Milo, save me…"

"Keep acting. I want to see how long you can keep it up." Milo's voice came from far away, and I could barely hear it.

With my struggles, my stomach began to hurt, and I panicked even more.

Maybe seeing me like that, and remembering we had once been husband and wife, Milo frowned. "A life is at stake, whether she's acting or not. Get her out first. I'll make her apologize to you later."

"Milo, have you forgotten what I told you the other day? She refused the Thompson Family project, which was worth over ten billion, and she rejected it outright."

Dakota pulled out her phone. "This time I didn't just record audio, I filmed it too. Before, I didn't dare show you, afraid it would affect your relationship. But now you have to see this."

Milo looked at the video, his expression turning dark and frightening.

"Milo, I'm afraid she's not after me at all; she's after you. She can swim; she's just waiting for you to come so she can drown you."

Dakota looked toward me. "Her heart hasn't been with you for a long time. Think about it, why would the young master of the Thompson family give our company that ten-billion-dollar project? Wasn't it to make up for stealing Alia from you?"

"Alia doesn't even want to give you that compensation; she wants to treat the company as her dowry, a pledge of loyalty to the Thompson Family."

Dakota's voice grew colder. "My instincts say killing you today is her real goal."

Milo looked at me in silence, his gaze cold. My cries for help grew weaker.

"If she doesn't die, she'll probably think of other ways," Dakota said softly, softly on purpose so Milo could still hear. And he did hear.

His gaze grew colder, and he stepped toward me.

Behind him, Dakota softly reminded, "Milo, be careful."

Calm… I had to stay calm…

I shouted it in my heart, but with my leg cramping, my stomach hurting more and more, and the despair of knowing no one would save me, I couldn't stay calm at all.

Suddenly, my phone rang.

The urgent ringtone pulled me back a little. The phone inside the waterproof pouch gave me a small spark of hope. Who was calling?

Seeing the contact name, I quickly answered.

"Alia, we… we're also near the beach where you're playing. Don't worry, we stayed at the hotel and didn't come over. We just want to see you, even for a moment. Is that okay?"

“Save me… save me…” I used the last of my strength to cry out.

"Alia, what's wrong?"

"Don't be afraid, your dad and I will come right away."

A worried voice came from the phone, followed by a loud shout. "Melvin, our daughter's in trouble!"

They had abandoned me back then; would they save me now?

They should… right?

I had to stay calm. As long as I held on, I still had a chance to live.

I endured the cramp and stomach pain, trying again to save myself. I managed it, I breathed in a mouthful of fresh air. I could definitely live.

When my face broke the surface again, a familiar but cold voice came from beside me. “Bitch, go die.”

A hand that had once brought me warmth pressed down on my face.

Milo had come, not to save me, but to kill me.