Chapter 3

3.

Summoning my final ounce of energy, I scrambled onto the slick metal deck and slammed the main floodlight switch.

The patrol cutter spotted the beam and immediately began steering toward my ship.

Just as the rescue boat drew within visual range―

Click.

The floodlights snapped off into complete darkness.

Not just the lights, but the ship's entire electrical grid had been killed remotely.

Maren's voice drifted from the radio on the floor, colder than the ocean itself.

"Pathetic fool."

"I told you, your only option is to swim."

Refusing to give up, I tore my vocal cords screaming into the howling wind.

"I'm over here! There's someone on board! Help!"

But the ocean was pitch-black, and I could hear the confused shouts of the patrol crew over the waves.

"Did those lights just vanish? We must have seen a reflection. The hurricane is hitting, turn back now!"

The cutter swung around and sped away.

Once again, the ocean swallowed me into total darkness.

Gale-force winds slashed across my face as the cargo vessel groaned beneath the relentless waves.

The hull creaked violently, showing clear signs of splitting apart.

This was only the outer band of the storm.

Once the eye wall arrived, survival would be impossible.

I picked up the waterlogged radio, my voice ragged with agony.

"Maren! We've been married for five whole years…"

"Even if you feel nothing for me, please show some mercy. I will genuinely die out here!"

Trevor's shrill, mocking laugh exploded through the speaker.

"Married? You really think that ten-dollar novelty certificate from the gag shop was real?"

"Let me tell you the truth: the night before you two supposedly signed papers, Maren and I were playing truth or dare."

"My dare was for her to buy a fake prop certificate online to keep you dangling as her personal ATM!"

The revelation struck me like a lightning bolt.

No wonder Maren had failed to show up at the courthouse that day.

She had sent an attorney friend to hand me the stamped paperwork instead.

That attorney had looked at me with strange pity, repeatedly hinting that I should verify it online.

I had naively thought she was encouraging me to share our happiness.

In reality, she was trying to warn me that the marriage was a total fraud.

Five years.

She had played me for a fool for five whole years.

Water seeped into the radio casing, making Maren's voice crackle, but every word sliced deep into my soul.

"Looking at your face for five years made me sick."

"You're boring, vulgar, and obsessed with money. You don't have an ounce of Trevor's charm or romance."

"Garrett, I've been done with you for a very long time."

A bitter, broken laugh escaped my throat.

"Fine. You're sick of me."

"Then today, we all go to hell together!"

Staring out at the churning abyss, I clutched the knife and charged like a madman toward the cargo tie-downs.

She assumed my sense of duty would prevent me from letting the ransom sink.

She thought she could wait until I drowned, then swoop in with her boat, retrieve the gold, and hand all the credit to Trevor.

I was never going to let them win.

I jammed the blade into the heavy ropes holding ten steel crates loaded with gold bullion.

As the blade severed the first thick strand, the crew in the monitoring room finally erupted in panic.

"Garrett, stop!"

"You're going to drown anyway, why drag us into Cross's crosshairs?!"

"Harrison Cross will hunt down our families! Put the knife down!"

Only Maren, still cozying up to Trevor, sneered dismissively.

"He worships the ground I walk on. He'd never dare do anything to hurt me."

"Exactly. Why are you guys sweating? Cross holds his family's livelihood in his hands…"

Before their smug giggles finished, the camera feed showed the thick straps snapping completely.

The massive crates began sliding toward the edge, tipping into the black sea.

Maren's voice turned into a blood-curdling shriek.

"Garrett! Calm down! I'm dispatching the rescue boat right now!"

"Drop the damn knife!"

I looked straight into the camera lens and let out a chilling laugh.

"Too late!"

With my last bit of strength, I cut the final tether.

As the ten crates plunged into the ocean depths, I closed my eyes and leaped into the abyss.

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