They Left Me to Die at Sea

On the way back from our pre-wedding trip, the yacht hit a reef and started taking on water. There were five of us on board, and only four life jackets. My fiancé, Ethan Clarke, slipped the last life jacket over my adopted sister Sienna Shaw's shoulders and fastened the buckles for her. "I might as well tell you the truth now. "Sienna's pregnant with my baby. Nothing can happen to her." Before I could say a word, Owen Ford, my childhood friend, stepped in front of me. "You've had years of happiness that should've been hers. This time, give her a chance to live." My brother, Adrian, wouldn't meet my eyes. "Mom and Dad know about it too. You've always been a better swimmer than Sienna. You'll figure something out." Sienna cradled her belly and looked at me through her tears. "I'm sorry. But out of five people, someone has to stay behind." So this pre-wedding trip was really just a celebration of their baby and a farewell they'd planned for me. The yacht slowly began to sink. They jumped into the sea, and not one of them looked back. Half an hour later, a rescue boat came cutting through the waves. I stayed in the cabin, yet I was the first to be rescued. If five was too many, I'd be better off alone. 1 When I came out of the ER, Sienna was curled up in Ethan's arms. Owen was crouched in front of her, holding a cup of water for her. Adrian held her test results and kept asking if she felt all right. I stopped, bracing myself against the wall. Blood was seeping through the bandage on my arm again. Ethan saw me and started to get up, but Sienna clutched the hem of his shirt. "Evelyn, you're alive. Thank God." Her eyes red, she laid a protective hand over her stomach. "I'm sorry. Ethan and I really love each other. The baby was an accident." I didn't look at her. Instead, I stared at Ethan and asked hoarsely, "When did it start?" "Six months ago." I gripped my hospital gown until my knuckles turned white. "The day you proposed to me?" He didn't answer. That night, he had knelt in front of me, his hands shaking so badly he could barely hold the ring. I tearfully said yes, then laughed and asked why he was so nervous. Now he wouldn't even look at me. "You said all you wanted was to make a home with me." My voice cracked on the last word. I turned my head away, but the tears fell anyway. Ethan frowned. "Evelyn, you can't control who you fall for." Sienna spoke up softly. "Back then he wanted to break up with you, but I was afraid you'd get hurt..." "So the two of you lied to me for six months?" I wiped away my tears, my voice trembling. "Sienna, you helped me pick out wedding dresses every day. You listened to me go on about how wonderful Ethan was. Were you laughing at me the whole time?" My brother stepped in front of her. "Enough! Sienna already apologized. What more do you want?" "I can't even ask what happened?" "Maybe you should take a look at yourself too. You're always so aggressive. Who could put up with that?" I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. When I was little and kids picked on me, my brother used to stand in front of me just like that. Back then, though, he was protecting me. Owen handed Sienna the water and said accusingly, "If you'd called off the engagement sooner, she and the baby wouldn't have had to go through all this." I looked at him, and everything went blurry. "The things you said on the boat... You weren't just trying to scare me, were you?" No one answered. I tried again. "I kept calling for you." Owen swallowed. "It was chaos." "You looked back at me." He fell silent. I looked down. After several tries, I finally slipped off the ring and placed it on the bench. Ethan slapped his hand down over it. "What are you doing?" "Giving it back." Saying those words hurt so much I could barely breathe. He picked up the ring, his voice softening a little. "Don't do this out of spite. Sienna's pregnant, and I have to take responsibility for her and the baby. But you can still stay with me." I stared at him, stunned. Sienna bit her lip. "I'm not trying to come between you two. All I want is for the baby to be safe." "I'll make sure you're taken care of," Ethan reassured her. Then he held the ring out to me again. "The engagement party is still on. We'll talk when we get home." I didn't take it. Suddenly Sienna clutched her stomach and drew in a sharp breath. All three men rushed to her side. My brother turned back and snapped at me, "Go get a doctor! What are you standing there for?" I staggered and caught myself on the wall. My palm came away covered in blood. "I'm in pain too." It came out so quietly that no one heard. Ethan asked impatiently, "What did you say?" I looked at him, and the tears welled up again, but I slowly shook my head. "Nothing. I'll go find a doctor." I turned around, and a nurse came running toward me. "Weren't you supposed to wait for us to change your bandage? You're bleeding all over the place!" She steadied me, and only then did I realize I could barely stand. Behind me, someone finally called my name. I didn't look back. Instead, I grabbed the nurse's sleeve and choked out, "Could you please help me first?" The nurse came over and steadied me as I swayed. Only then did I notice the trail of blood I had left down the hall. It looked like more than the water in Sienna's cup. 2 At the airport, Ethan handed me an economy-class boarding pass for our flight home. "There were only four seats left in first class. Sienna's still shaken up. We need to be with her." I stared at the four tickets in his other hand. I couldn't bring myself to take mine. He used to book me the seat right next to his. I asked, "Weren't you always worried I'd get airsick?" He paused. "It's just a few hours. You'll live." Sienna held out a box of pills. "Evelyn, quit being difficult and take your medicine." It was the medicine I had packed. When the yacht hit the reef, Sienna had the emergency backpack in her arms. It had the medicine in it, along with the IDs I had packed for everyone. I reached out and took the box of pills back. Ethan sighed in relief. "That's more like it." But I put the box in my own bag, took out my phone, and started rebooking my ticket. "I'm changing my flight." "Evelyn Shaw, everyone's waiting for you!" I looked up, my eyes stinging. "You left me behind when the yacht sank. So why are you in such a hurry now?" Sienna's eyes went red. Ethan grabbed my wrist. "Sienna was just trying to help! She brought you your medicine. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?" Pain shot through my wound, making me gasp. Blood seeped through the gauze, and his grip loosened. "You're still hurt?" I looked at him and suddenly laughed. "I got seven stitches yesterday, and you're only asking now?" He started to say something, but Sienna pressed a hand to her forehead and said she felt dizzy. The moment he turned to her, I pulled my hand free. When I got home late that night, my key wouldn't fit the lock. I knocked for a long time before my brother opened the door. "Sienna's using your room. Mom had the locks changed because she knew you'd come back and cause trouble." My luggage sat in a pile by the door. My wedding dress lay exposed in its open box, a dirty shoe print stamped across the skirt. I crouched down and wiped at it a couple of times, but the more I wiped, the dirtier it got. In the living room, my mother was smiling as she looked over Sienna's prenatal checkup results. "The baby's healthy. That's all that matters. Finally, some good news for this family." Clutching the skirt, I looked up. "What about my wedding?" The laughter stopped. My father set down the report. "It's not like Ethan's calling off the wedding. Sienna has no parents. Someone has to look after her." "Take care of her in my room?" My mother frowned. "Are you seriously picking a fight with a pregnant woman?" Sienna rose from the sofa, leaning on it for support. "I'll leave. Please don't fight over me." My brother stopped her at once. "You're not the one who needs to go." My hand stilled on my suitcase. He seemed to realize he'd gone too far and looked away. "Go stay at a hotel for a few days. Come back once you've calmed down." I bent to close my suitcase and realized my jewelry box was gone. The pearl necklace my grandmother left me was around Sienna's neck. "Take it off." My voice was tight. She covered the necklace with her hand. "Mom said I could borrow it for the engagement party..." "Grandma left that to me." My mother held out an arm to stop me. "It's just a necklace. Do you really have to make such a scene?" In the struggle, the thin strand snapped, and pearls scattered all over the floor. I froze for a second, then scrambled to pick them up. "Don't step on them!" Ethan stopped and looked down at me. "It's just an old necklace. I'll buy you a new one." I picked up the pearl beside his shoe, my hand trembling so badly I could barely grasp it. "At the end, Grandma could hardly get a word out, and she still remembered to tell me to wear it at my wedding." Tears splashed onto the floor. "Ethan, how could you ever replace that?" He crouched down as if he wanted to help. I gathered the pearls into my palm and pulled away before he could touch them. As I was leaving, Sienna asked if she could wear my dress. Owen had already brought her the box. "Evelyn, let her have it just this once." I looked at that box and slowly wiped my face dry. "Take it." When the elevator doors closed, I extended my hotel stay. This time, I didn't ask them when I could come home. 3 The next day, Ethan came to see me at the hotel. He was carrying breakfast, and someone behind him was holding my freshly cleaned wedding dress. "I brought you your favorite hot cocoa. Eat your breakfast and put yesterday behind us." The familiar smell hit me, and my grip tightened on the doorknob. Whenever I used to get sick, he would wait downstairs with a cup of hot cocoa for me. "You still remember what I like." He smiled and moved to step inside, but I stopped him at the door. "Then do you remember what I said about cheating? That I'd never forgive it?" The smile froze on his face. "Evelyn, I already explained." "Let's call off the engagement." I said it slowly. A heavy knot still sat in my chest. Ethan set the breakfast down. "I can go with her to her prenatal appointments during the day and come home to you at night. Once we're married, you'll be Mrs. Clarke. No one can take that from you." For a second, I thought I'd heard him wrong. He even stepped closer and reached up to touch my face. "Didn't you always want to marry me? Nothing's changed." I stepped back out of his reach. "So you spend your days with her, sleep with me at night, and bring your love child over for dinner whenever you feel like it?" Ethan frowned. "You don't have to put it like that." "Want to hear something harsher?" I grabbed the breakfast he had brought and threw it out the door, along with the wedding dress. "Ethan, you make me sick." The container burst open, spilling cocoa across the carpet. He looked at me, and his face darkened. "I've already compromised. What more do you want?" "Get out." Ethan's expression went cold. "We'll talk when you've calmed down." When the door closed, I leaned back against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor. Then I called my friend Lena Moore, a lawyer. "Help me cancel the contracts with the wedding planner for the engagement party and the wedding. I'm also forwarding you all the photos and payment screenshots Sienna sent me." By the time Lena heard the whole story, her voice was tight with anger. "Don't go back to that house for now. I'll help you handle the rest." I sniffled. "Okay. Can you also get in touch with Rachel Lowe for me? I want to take the job she recommended a while back." That afternoon, I went to the wedding planning studio to sign the cancellation papers. The woman in charge looked uncomfortable. "Mr. Clarke wants a grander ceremony at a larger venue. He's planning to combine the engagement party with the pregnancy announcement. Your sister was here this morning trying on your dress." The tablet showed Sienna wearing my engagement dress, with Ethan leaning in to adjust the strap on her shoulder. In the next photo, Owen was kneeling at Sienna's feet, tying her shoe. My finger froze on the screen. Those were the shoes Ethan had helped me pick out. He'd told me to save them for the engagement party. "Could you send me these photos?" After signing the cancellation papers, I got a call from my mother. "How dare you cancel everything? We've spent so much time planning this, and now you're throwing a tantrum and calling it off? Is marriage some kind of game to you?" I stood on the roadside, the wind stinging my eyes. "Mom, have you even once stopped to ask if I'm hurting?" She paused. "Sienna is your adopted sister, and she lost her parents young. So you have to put up with a little more. That's all." I gripped my phone until my fingertips hurt. "I'm not putting up with it anymore." That night, Lena came to the hotel with the documents. Jewelry, an apartment, payment receipts. Sienna had sent me proof of all of it, just to show off. Lena pointed at one of the prenatal reports. "The emergency contact is Owen. And during the time Sienna claims she got pregnant, Ethan was overseas." I pulled up Sienna's Instagram. That same week, Owen had been at the resort where she was staying. Lena looked at me. "The baby's father might be someone else." 4 On the day of the party, I showed up at the hotel in a black dress. Photos of me and Ethan hung in the lobby, but Sienna's ultrasound pictures were laid out on the welcome table. Sienna wore my dress, her arm linked through Ethan's. A guest laughed and asked, "So this is the bride-to-be?" Ethan didn't deny it right away. Only when he saw me did he pull his arm free. "Why are you wearing that? Didn't I have someone send you the gown?" "I told you. There's no engagement." He lowered his voice. "There are so many guests here. Don't make a scene." Someone in the party group chat suddenly shared a long post. Sienna claimed that she and Ethan had been in love since college, and that I'd used our engagement to force my way between them. Now that she was pregnant, she was begging me to leave them alone. The whispers around me grew louder. "So she's the other woman." "No wonder nobody bothered with her on the boat." I opened the post and looked at Ethan. "You knew about this?" He avoided my eyes. "Sienna just needed to let off some steam. She'll delete it once the baby's born." "Is any of this even true?" "It's just a few words. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?" Sienna walked over, red-eyed, and bowed to me. "Evelyn, you can hit me or yell at me, whatever you want. Just please don't hurt the baby." My brother picked up the microphone. "I'd like to apologize to Sienna on Evelyn's behalf. Evelyn's always been stubborn and spoiled. I hope you'll forgive her." I looked at him. "Who are you to apologize for me?" He frowned and reached for my arm. My father's face darkened too. "If you don't apologize to Sienna today, don't bother coming home ever again!" My mother pressed the ring box into my hand. "Get through the ceremony first. Stop acting up." I glanced down at the box, then turned and set it on the welcome table. "Whatever you want to do is your business." Ethan's face finally changed. "Evelyn Shaw!" I took the microphone from my brother. "Sienna, you say I got between you two. Then let's get the timeline straight." The big screen lit up. Hotel check-in records for Owen and Sienna. Proof that he'd gone with her to her prenatal appointments. And photos of the two of them kissing in an underground parking garage, one after another. Owen rushed toward the control booth. "Turn it off!" I stepped in front of him and asked calmly, "What's the rush?" He stopped dead. Ethan slowly turned to Sienna. "You said the baby was mine." Sienna had gone white. "It is! Owen just went to my appointments with me!" The room erupted. But Ethan turned back to me, his gaze falling on the ring in my hand. To my disbelief, a flicker of hope crossed his face. I opened my fingers and let it fall. The ring struck the champagne tower, sending glasses crashing down one after another. Champagne spilled across the pristine white tablecloth. "I'll leave you to figure out who the father is." I met everyone's eyes, my voice clear and steady. "From today on, I don't want any of it. Not your love, not your family, not your friendship." My brother grabbed at me in a panic. "You've turned what should've been a happy occasion into a complete disaster. Are you satisfied now?" I pulled away from him, and the last of the tears in my eyes dried up. "Didn't you already decide how my story would end when you left me on that sinking boat?" The doors opened, and sunlight fell at my feet. A final confirmation from Rachel popped up on my phone. "The contracts are canceled, and your new job is all sorted. Your flight's at eight tonight." Behind me, dishes shattered and voices rose into chaos. I wheeled out the luggage I had packed long before. By morning, I would be leaving the city I had lived in for more than 20 years.