Chapter 1
To save a female colleague who had fallen into the water, my husband, who didn’t even know how to swim, leapt in after her. He ended up paralyzed from the waist down.
For ten years, I cleaned up his feces and urine, stayed by his side day and night, until I was utterly worn down, so much so that I collapsed and had to be hospitalized.
He wheeled himself into my room, eyes gleaming with hatred and twisted excitement.
“Even if you took care of me for ten years, my heart only belongs to Savannah.”
“If
you die, I can finally be with her!”
The machines beside me screamed with piercing alarms. My chest burned like it was set ablaze, every organ screaming in agony.
And then, when I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day she fell into the water.
‘Diana, let go of me right now! If something happens to Savannah, I won’t forgive you!”
As I watched Savannah thrashing in the water, crying out for help, the fog in my mind slowly cleared.
Beside me, my son stared up with eyes full of contempt and disappointment.
‘Mom, you always said boys should be brave. So why won’t you let Dad save Aunt Savannah?”
‘Aunt Savannah might die. Can’t you stop being a jealous hag for once?”
Around us, the crowd began to murmur, their judgmental whispers sharp as knives.
‘This woman’s too selfish. Not only is she refusing to save someone, she won’t even let her husband step in.”
‘Even kids are more sensible than she. I feel bad for her son, growing up with a mother like that.” ‘If they keep wasting time, that woman’s not going to make it.”
n my past life, I had stood my ground and stopped Jeremiah Hansen from jumping in. He flew nto a rage and beat me in front of everyone.
Even my own son never forgave me.
He thought I was cruel, heartless; he never called me ‘Mom’ again.
Remembering everything, I gripped Jeremiah’s arm tighter and pulled out my phone.
‘Honey, you can’t go. You don’t know how to swim. Think about me and our child. What would we do if something happened to you?”
‘Bad omen! Get lost!”
Jeremiah kicked me aside.
“You selfish woman! All you ever think about is yourself!”
“If something happens to Savannah Kelley today, I don’t want to live either!”
He turned and dove straight into the water.
“Ah!”
“You’re the adult, but I’m the one who’s acting more sensibly. If anything happens to Aunt Savannah, I’ll….”
Before he could finish, I slapped him.
“You’ll what? You ungrateful brat! Did you forget who gave birth to you?”
“Since when do kids get to meddle in adult affairs? Get lost!”
He stood there in shock.
But in his eyes, there was no fear, no respect, only defiance and suppressed rage.
If he had been older, he probably would’ve hit me back without a second thought.
I let out a bitter laugh.
I truly had no idea what kind of spell Savannah had cast to enchant this father and son so completely, so deeply, that they could no longer recognize their own wife and mother.
Across the water, the moment Jeremiah jumped in, he realized something was terribly wrong.
He didn’t know how to swim. In fact, he had always been terrified of water.
If it had been me drowning today, I was certain, he wouldn’t have had the guts to take that leap.
‘Jeremiah, I knew you wouldn’t abandon me…”
Savannah barely had time to feel relief before she saw him flailing helplessly, gulping mouthfuls of murky water.
‘You… you can’t swim? Then why the hell did you jump?!”
Before he could answer, the cold, foul lake water surged into his lungs through his gaping
mouth.
In panic, he pressed down hard on Savannah’s shoulders, desperately trying to stay afloat. Savannah’s head was shoved beneath the surface. She clawed at him, her manicured nails slashing across his face, leaving deep, angry cuts.
The two of them struggled, dragging each other under and gasping for air as they took turns breaking the surface.
