Chapter 193
Evangeline was completely submerged; the moment she opened her mouth, icy water rushed relentlessly into her nose and throat.
She couldn’t call for help.
She tried to wave her hand, but through the blur she saw Soren, his arms wrapped around Poppy, swimming hard for the shore.
The scene felt painfully familiar.
Just like that car crash a month ago.
Evangeline already knew how this would end. Forcing her gaze away from the pair, she bent down, clawing at the weeds twisted tight around her legs.
Only now did she realize how thick the tangle was in this direction.
A flash of suspicion darted through her mind–had Poppy done this on purpose?
The thought vanished almost instantly.
The more she struggled, the tighter the weeds cinched. She tried to pull them off, but her strength was fading fast.
A crushing sense of suffocation hit her all at once.
She couldn’t breathe–her lungs screamed for air, her chest aching with
panic.
No.
She couldn’t die here.
Not now, not when she’d finally found her way, when she’d just begun to feel alive, when she’d only just broken free from the marriage that had trapped her for years.
She wouldn’t let it end like this.
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Desperately trying to stay calm, Evangeline realized she couldn’t break the weeds, so she changed tactics, reaching for their roots to rip them out entirely.
Maybe her mother was watching over her after all–the roots weren’t anchored, just wedged beneath a stone. With a surge of effort, she yanked them free.
Relief flooded through her. She turned, ready to swim for the surface, but the aftershock of two minutes without air left her seeing stars the moment she tried to rise.
Her limbs went limp, drained of every ounce of strength.
She fought to swim upward, but her body wouldn’t respond.
Water poured into her mouth, nose, even her ears, filling her with cold and the taste of blood.
She wanted to cough, but couldn’t.
The metallic tang in her mouth and lungs grew stronger.
Despair welled up as she stared at the shimmering surface, so close and yet impossibly far. Through the wavering water, she could just make out Soren, already kneeling by the fragile, trembling Poppy on the shore.
Soren looked like he wanted to come back for her, but Poppy clung tightly to his sleeve.
After that, Evangeline couldn’t see them anymore.
Her vision blurred, the world fading at the edges.
Just as she thought this was where her story would end, she heard the muffled splash of someone else diving in.
A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist.
A spark of hope flickered to life. Instinctively, she tried to grab hold, but caught herself, her hand hovering in the water.
But whoever it was seemed to know what she needed. He took her hand
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and pressed it firmly against his chest.
She’d only held Soren’s hand a few times, but she knew instantly–this
wasn’t him.
Maybe it was just a passerby–a good Samaritan.
That was her last conscious thought.
Then, suddenly, something soft pressed against her lips.
A tongue gently parted her teeth, and a thin stream of air was coaxed into
her mouth.
On the bank, Poppy watched as Soren stopped short, her heart leaping with barely–suppressed delight.
Once again, Soren had chosen her over Evangeline.
Clinging tightly to his sleeve, she forced her voice into a calm, reasonable tone. “Soren, Evangeline saw you leave her behind to save me. Even if you go back for her now, she won’t just come running back into your
arms.”
“I’m a woman too–I understand. Right now, the best thing is to give her some space.”
A strange irritation twisted in Soren’s chest.
He turned to her, his voice sharp. “Why did you jump in?”
Poppy pressed her lips together and met his gaze, her tone steady. “Because I wanted to know the truth.”
“What truth?” His eyes were icy.
She lifted her hand, the back facing him, so he could see the diamond ring he’d given her not/long ago.
“I overheard you and Evangeline are divorced. And I don’t believe you have no feelings left for me, not after everything.”
“I want to know–in your heart, between me and Evangeline, who will be
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your Mrs. Fawkes?”
T
