"Eva, are you alright? Have you caught a cold from being in water for too long?"

Eva feigned pushing Jack away. "I'm fine. I'm not that weak. Jack, don't do this. Naomi is watching us."

"Let her watch. You're her best friend. I should care about you. She, on the other hand, has been so petty on who should get rescued first."

Jack stressed on the last sentence, clearly saying it out loud for me to hear. What he did not know was that I completely lost my ability to swim after I rescued him.

He insisted on showing off and swimming out into the deep that day, but ended up being taken away by a strong current. His friends did not dare to rescue him. Only I, recklessly without thinking, plunged in to save him.

I pushed him with all my might, inching him close to the shore. At last, I finally managed to hauled him up to shore, but at that instant, a hidden current flung my calf toward a jagged rock.

My tendon tore on the spot.

The pang of agony emptied me of my strength and I started to drown. Had the lifeguards on the beach not found me and saved me in time, I would have been long dead.

The doctors said that the muscles and nerves on my leg had suffered irreparable damage. I could never swim with high-intensity again.

"Jack, I'm not lying to you! My leg hit a jagged rock the last time I saved you! I could no longer swim!" I shrieked with all my remaining strength.

Jack noticed how pale I had gone. He felt that something was off with me. Just when he wanted to pull me up, Eva pretended to be shocked and covered her mouth.

"My God, Naomi, you were hurt? How could I not know about this? That day when I picked you up from the hospital, the doctors said that you only had a sprain and all you needed to do was rest.

"You even said that thanks to Jack, you had gone through a near-death experience and you could brag about it for the rest of your life."

At that, Jack retracted his feet once more. "Naomi, continue with your lies then. Your leg was hurt? You really would come up with lies just so that we would rescue you first."

"Jack, don't blame Naomi. After all, she's your girlfriend. It's only normal she feels this way seeing you save me but not her. It's all my fault. If I didn't buy so many gifts for your promotion, Naomi wouldn't have to wait."

Eva clutched onto Jack tighter while trying to so-call justify my reaction.

Jack patted her on the back in consolation while turning to me, rebuking, "You hear that? Naomi, I was wrong about you! Eva is so much more understanding and mature! Can't you be more like her? Stop causing a scene. It's annoying!"

Perhaps realizing that he had lost his cool, he added, "Naomi, I'm only doing this for our future. As long as I please Eva, and once I get promoted, I'll let you buy anything you want. Why are you so stubbornly focusing on a safety clip?

"Just wait for a while. I've studied the water. It won't rise so quickly. Once we head back, I'll properly make it up to you."

I could barely hold on any longer, clinging to a fractured length of eaves floating beside me and scrambling toward the rope ladder. The cold rungs of the ladder were right before my eyes.

I reached out, almost about to touch it when Eva's foot slipped, stepping hard right on the back of my hand.

An excruciating pain shot right through me. I yelped. The force knocked me backward and I plunged into the water completely.

"Oh, no! Naomi, I didn't know you were below. Are you alright? Come on, now. Stop fooling around. Otherwise, Jack would get worried."

I thrashed desperately in the muddy waters while Eva and Jack looked on as if they were watching a spectacle.

The will to survive drove me to a frantic struggle. I paddled as hard as I could with my hands and feet. I clawed my way back to the eaves just right before the current could sweep me away.

When I popped my head out of the surface, gasping for air, I heard bawls of laughter coming from above.

"See. I told you Naomi could swim. She's just joking around."

Jack looked relaxed. "Alright, Naomi. I know you like joking about, but this isn't the time to do so. Eva and I will head up first."

Then, they continued climbing up.

As the rope ladder went further away from me, I yelled with all my might, "Wait up! There's still someone here!"

Eva turned to look at me, her eyes gleaming viciously.

She rocked the rope ladder as she moved up. Her foot struck a loose tile on the neighboring roof.

The tile, covered with mud, came hurling toward my face. I immediately jerked my head aside, but it still managed to graze my ear.

Blood streamed down my face.

In a flinch, I had let go, and the flood dragged me under again.

A throbbing pain spread from my ears as I choked on dirty, muddy waters. My lungs were burning.

Instinct to survive overruled anything else. My arms flailed wildly, finally grabbing onto the corner of the eaves poking above water.

My fingernails were cracked, flesh mashed and raw, but I could not care less.

I poked my head out of the water and gasped for breath once more. Blood streamed down my face, mixing into the muddy water.

Jack, on the rope ladder, saw my face. He stopped in his tracks and said, "Eva, I think something's wrong with Naomi."

"Jack, I-I'm feeling a little dizzy. My hands and legs are numb."

Eva's feeble voice immediately interrupted his thoughts. She slumped onto Jack, causing the rope ladder to sway.

Jack looked concerned. He instantly hugged her tightly, comforting her, "Eva, don't worry. Hold on tight to me. We'll be up soon."

Jack turned to look at me, a little worried.

Eva buried herself in Jack's arms and looked at me, smiling.

"Naomi, you've put on a good act, even using blood. You had me believe you for a split moment. Don't you think your joke has gone too far? You've scared Jack. You should be punished when we get back."

Jack's gaze at me instantly changed.

"We can just ignore her. She's doing just fine, and her acting is superb. She's still strong. If not, how could she so quickly hold on to the corner of the roof?

"Eva, I'll take you up. Naomi's doing alright. She won't die." He turned around and hugged Eva even tighter.

I was about to lose it as the waters were at my chin. They were soon rising above my nose.

I grabbed onto the eaves and begged them once more. "I'm begging you to take me with you. At least, take me to a shallower place. Get the helicopter to go slower. I'll just hold onto the ladder. Wouldn't that work?"

I tried to grab the rope when Eva screamed and buried herself in Jack's arms.

"Ah! Naomi, don't shake it! I'm really afraid!" Eva whimpered.

She added, "Naomi, don't be mistaken. I'm not hugging Jack on purpose. I'm just really afraid! The ladder is swaying so much!"

Jack held her tightly before turning to yell at me, "Naomi, are you nuts?! Are you trying to get Eva killed too? She's your best friend! Besides, if anything were to happen to her, Mr. Chapman will kill me!"

"So, I deserved to die because of your future and your boss's relative?"

I felt a chill, but I did not know if it was because of the water or because of what he said.

I had been with Jack for three years, being with him from a nobody until he became a project manager.

He said he came from a middle class family, but he did not want to be looked down upon. So, I hid who I was and lived a simple life with him.

What he did not know was that Richard Chapman, the man he was talking about, had to show deference to my father.

What he also did not know was that he could not afford to lose me, the one he chose to sacrifice for Eva, as he could never reach my level in his entire life.

"Jack, the Mr. Chapman you're talking about is working for my family. I'm the heiress to the Janson Group."

Jack and Eva looked at each other in bewilderment.

After a few moments of dead silence, Jack suddenly burst into laughter.

"Naomi, have you got mad? You would come up with such absurd lies just to survive? If you're the heiress to the Janson Group, I'm the brother of Zeus!"

Eva chimed in, "Jack, look at her. She's sprouting gibberish. Naomi, you're the heiress to the Janson Group? If you're the heiress, then I'm the Queen! You've really gone mad, coming up with such a stupid excuse!"

I glared at Jack and enunciated, "My father is Alexander Janson. He tried to give me the experience of an ordinary person, which was why I've been living with my nanny. I was planning to tell you this after our marriage.

"Pull me up right now. I can give you what you want. Getting Eva into my father's company is just a simple word from me."

That was my final chance for them, but Jack looked at me as if I was a hopeless nutjob.

"Naomi, I was blind to be with you! Even if you're the heiress to the Janson Group, I must save Eva first! That's because she's much kinder and humbler than you. She's not like you, constantly living in your fantasies! You disgust me!"

Then, he urged Eva onward. "Don't bother with that lunatic. Let's go!"

Eva leaned against him and flashed me a victorious smile. She looked at me and mouthed the words silently.

"Just die already."

As the rope ladder rose higher, the waters were already by my nose. My limbs had been frozen for a long time. I had to tiptoe to barely breath.

I was slowly losing my will to live. Perhaps, I was going to die there. I let go of my hand, letting the flood waters take me.

In the moment of grogginess, I heard another rumble. A thunderous rumble rang out in the skies so loudly that it caused ripples in the waters.

The next second, a blinding ray of light shone down on me.

My beam of hope had finally arrived.