THE WIFE HE THREW AWAY

EVELYN POV

The water was cold.

That was my first thought when I hit the surface of the ocean. Not panic, not fear. Just the shock of cold seeping through my gown, pulling me down like invisible hands.

Above me, the yacht glowed with golden lights. Music still played. People still laughed. Nobody knew I was drowning.

My arms moved on instinct, clawing at the water, but my heavy dress wrapped around my legs like chains. Salt burned my throat as I screamed, but only bubbles came out.

I broke the surface for one second, gasping.

"Help!" My voice cracked across the night air. "Victor!"

He was standing at the railing. I saw him clearly, his white shirt bright against the dark sky. His eyes found mine.

Relief flooded my chest. He was coming. My husband was coming to save me.

Victor pulled off his jacket and dove into the water.

But he did not swim toward me.

Amanda was in the water too, closer to the yacht, barely struggling. Her head was above water. She was fine.

Victor swam past me and grabbed her instead.

"I have you," he said to her, his voice carrying across the waves. "Hold on to me."

"Victor!" I screamed again, my head going under.

Darkness swallowed me.

My lungs burned. My arms grew heavy. This was it. Ten years of marriage, two children, endless sacrifice, and my husband was letting me drown for his assistant.

Strong hands grabbed my waist and pulled me up.

It was not Victor.

A stranger, one of the crew members, dragged me toward the rescue boat. I coughed water and bile, my chest heaving as cold air filled my lungs again.

When they pulled me onto the deck, I lay there shaking, staring at the stars above. Someone wrapped a blanket around me, but I could not stop trembling.

"Mommy!" Grace ran toward me, her small face wet with tears. "Mommy, are you okay?"

I pulled her close, breathing in her warmth. "I am fine, baby. Mommy is fine."

But I was not fine.

Across the deck, Victor sat with Amanda. A medic checked her, even though she was barely wet. Victor held her hand, his thumb stroking her knuckles.

He had not come to check on me. Had not asked if I was breathing.

"Mrs. Emmanuel is stable," the crew member who saved me told Victor. "She swallowed some water but she will recover."

Victor glanced at me for half a second, then turned back to Amanda. "Thank God you are safe," he said to her. "I do not know what I would do if something happened to you."

Grace pressed her face into my neck. "Daddy did not help you, Mommy. Why did Daddy not help you?"

I had no answer.

Sylvia, my mother in law, walked over with a glass of wine still in her hand. She looked down at me like I was seaweed washed ashore.

"Really, Evelyn? Falling off a yacht? How clumsy