Eliana POV:

My consciousness was a deep, dark ocean. There was only the throbbing pain in my head and a distant, humming noise.

I could feel my body being dragged, the cold tile scraping against my skin.

I heard Erica's muffled sobs and Asher's frantic whisper. "What do we do? Erica, we... we killed her!"

Erica's voice was strangely calm, laced with a seductive urgency. "No, Asher. She fell. It was an accident! But no one will believe us. If we call the police, we're both finished!"

I fought to open my eyes, to scream I'm not dead, but my eyelids were leaden. No sound would leave my throat.

"Think about your family," Erica coaxed him. "Think about our future! We have to get rid of... of her."

I felt myself being wrapped in a coarse blanket, then lifted. The familiar scent of Asher's cologne, now nauseating, filled my senses as he hoisted me over his shoulder.

Time blurred.

A cold sea breeze hit my face. The roar of a yacht's engine filled my ears, cutting through the fog in my mind.

I managed to pry my eyes open a sliver. I saw the dim lights of the deck and the faint stars in the night sky.

I was thrown onto the deck, my hands and feet bound with rough rope. I couldn't move.

Erica squatted in front of me. Her face held no trace of panic now, only a twisted, victorious smile.

"Awake, are we? My dear best friend," she said in a voice only I could hear, sweet as syrup and cold as the sea breeze.

I forced the words from my throat. "Why...?"

She laughed—a light, tinkling sound. "Why? Because I hate everything about you. Your fake kindness, the way everyone always flocked to you. Why should you be born with everything while I had to claw my way up?"

She stood, looking down at me with burning jealousy. "The great Miss Sloan? Starting today, everything you had—your fiancé, your status—it will all be mine."

I thought of last night. "The man... you arranged that too?"

Her smile widened. "Of course. I couldn't let you marry Asher untouched, could I? I found the best. A night to remember. Too bad you won't have a future to remember it in."

"Asher? Where is he?" I couldn't believe he would be so heartless.

"Still hoping he'll come back to you?" She traced her fingertip across my face with contempt. "Forget it. I left him on the shore. He'll only think you fell to your death."

My breathing quickened. Her words were a poisoned dagger, shattering my last sliver of hope.

Erica seemed to savor my despair. She strolled to the edge of the boat and waved at two men in black who were waiting.

The two men stepped onto the deck and grabbed me by the arms. I tried to struggle, but my body refused to obey. Every muscle was limp.

Below, the churning black water of the Atlantic waited, an open mouth ready to devour me.

Erica's voice floated on the wind, a final judgment. "Goodbye, my 'best friend.'"

The next second, my body felt weightless.