Chapter 1

To test my worth, my old man made me work as a server on our family's private submarine.

When we hit 200 meters, I sensed something wrong with the engine and the cabin pressure.

I rushed into the main hall to warn everyone. Instead, I ran into my gold-digging ex-boyfriend.

He was holding his new girlfriend, pinching his nose as if I smelled.

"Nora, you're just a waitress who clears plates. What do you know about engines?"

"You're just making up stories to ruin my proposal, aren't you?"

"Are you still obsessed with me?"

The guards dragged me away while my ex snapped my access card in half.

Everyone laughed at me like I was a joke.

"Obsessed with you? Go to hell."

The submarine began a terrifying descent.

400 meters.

600 meters.

800 meters...

CRACK. The pressure shattered the glass, and the ocean came rushing in.

I looked at the trashy man with cold eyes.

"Go be obsessed with the sharks instead."

1

"Nora, the VIP section is running low on champagne! Get moving!"

My greasy supervisor squeezed my wrist, his eyes wandering over my body.

I yanked my hand back and grabbed the tray without a word.

Inside, I was laughing. Tomorrow, my evaluation period would be over.

The first thing I would do is toss this pig into the open sea to feed the fish.

I am Nora Sterling, the sole heiress to the Sterling Global Group.

For a whole year, I had been an intern server on the Abyssal Voyager, a luxury submarine owned by my family.

This was my father's ridiculous ultimate test.

He said if a woman wants to inherit the empire, she has to suffer ten times more than a man.

I walked toward the VIP area with the champagne.

I told myself to endure it. This was the last day.

Then, I saw the last person I wanted to see.

"Nora? Is that really you? Why are you serving drinks?"

The voice was full of fake surprise.

It was Chet Vance, my first love and a total social climber.

He was busy pulling out a chair for a rich girl named Whitney White.

Whitney looked at my cheap uniform and curled her lip.

"Chet, how could you ever date someone like this? She's pathetic and smells like raw fish."

Chet's face flushed, then he put on a smug expression.

"Whitney, honey, don't be mean. We all make mistakes when we're young and dumb."

"Nora, I didn't think you'd sink this low. If you had stayed with me, you wouldn't be a servant today."

I didn't want to waste my breath on these two.

I turned to leave, but then I felt it.

A high-frequency vibration rattled the floor.

My ears stung from a tiny shift in air pressure.

My heart dropped. I knew exactly what was happening.

Someone was messing with the ballast tanks.

We were diving past our safety limits without anyone noticing.

This wasn't an accident. It was murder.

I sprinted into the main observation hall.

"Listen to me! Someone is sabotaging the sub!" I screamed.

"We are diving too deep! We're going to be crushed!"

"Follow me to the cockpit right now, or we all die!"

The hall went silent. Then, everyone looked at me like I was a lunatic.

"SMASH!"

A glass hit the floor near my feet.

Whitney pointed at me and shrieked.

"You crazy bitch! Who's dying? Security! Throw her to the sharks!"

Chet stepped forward, trying to look like a hero for his new girlfriend.

He grabbed my arm and barked at me.

"Nora, stop this! Are you doing this because I dumped you?"

"I'm so disappointed in you."

He shoved me hard. I hit a metal cart and felt my wrist swell instantly.

"No, it's real! The engines and the pressure are wrong!"

I scrambled up, staring at the crowd.

"Please believe me! We're running out of time!"