Chapter 69 Cruise II
Eva blinked,taking in where she was.
For a split second she had felt Heaven’s body leave her hands.
She had seen the sea swallow her.
She had tasted the rush of vindication.
But…
A hand clamped suddenly around her wrist.
“Eva.”
The voice sliced through her imagination like a blade.
Eva snapped back to reality, chest heaving, only to find herself still standing several feet away from Heaven.
Heaven was still at the railing, completely unaware, staring out at the sea.
Nothing had happened, it was Just a violent fantasy that had felt too real.
Her heart hammered painfully against her ribs. She could still feel phantom saltwater splashing her face.
Eleanor stood beside her, eyes narrowed in a quiet, unsettling way.
“What were you thinking?” Eleanor asked gently, too gently. “You were lost. I called you so many times.”
Eva swallowed hard. Her mouth tasted like metal.
“I… I wasn’t thinking… nothing, Mother…” she forced out, hoping her smile didn’t tremble.
Eleanor tilted her head, studying her like someone examining a crack in crystal.
“Your face looks terrible,” she murmured. “You’re pale. Sweaty. You look like someone who’s about to faint… or someone who is hiding something.”
Eva’s stomach turned.
Her breath snagged.
“I’m fine,” she whispered quickly, looking away.
She couldn’t tell the truth.
If anyone discovered Maverick’s obsession with Heaven.. It wouldn’t only destroy her marriage… it would destroy him.
His career,reputation,entire life.
And worst of all she was scared he would chose to want Heaven openly?
“Could it be…” Eleanor paused, watching Eva closely.
Eva stiffened. The blood in her veins froze.
“You can’t possibly be pregnant this soon, right? You both did it yesterday… so it can’t be…”
Eva nearly sagged with relief.
She forced a shy laugh. “Mother…!”
“What? You know how much I want little ones. So hurry and give me some.” Eleanor made a playful sound but her eyes stayed on Eva’s face like she was trying to read her soul.
Eva’s chest tightened painfully.
If only she knew. He had refused to touch her.
“You were calling me, Mother?” Eva asked, desperate to change the topic.
“Well, your mother called. She said she called you all through yesterday and you never answered. So I decided to hand over the phone…” Eleanor said casually.
“Ah…well, my battery died…oh Mother look! The dolphins are out…let’s go see them!” Eva cut in quickly, grabbing Eleanor’s hand and dragging her away from the spot.
pulling her away from the edge where her darkest thoughts had almost pushed her.
Eva couldn’t get the thoughts out of her head. Every time she blinked, she saw it again…
Maverick looking at Heaven..
Eleanor had gone to the upper wing of the cruise to bask in her husband’s attention, leaving Eva alone with a spinning head and a heart tearing itself apart.
Her phone vibrated.
She grabbed it instantly.
“I can’t keep calm anymore, Killian…” Eva’s voice shattered the second she spoke. Tears streamed down her face, thick and hot. “I hate her… I want her gone… maybe…maybe then he’ll want me…”
“Eva, you can’t be reckless,” Killian said softly, the calm in his voice infuriating. “Our plan is working. You just have to….”
“It’s not, Killian!” she choked out, pressing a hand to her chest as the pain threatened to rip it open. “It’s NOT working! He knows and he still wants her. He still went to her. He didn’t want me!”
“Young Miss… we can send another video…”
“Never mind,” she whispered.
Her voice turned hollow.
Empty.
Dangerous.
“I’ll handle it myself… my own way.”
Her breath steadied.
Her hands stopped shaking.
Her eyes emptied of everything except resolve.
She walked across the deck not like someone taking steps, but like someone making decisions.
Heaven flinched slightly when Eva reached her. She turned, tired eyes softening into a smile.
“Eva… hey.”
Eva reached for her hand.
Held it too tightly.
“How long?” she asked quietly.
Heaven froze.
Cold shot through her spine.
“H-how long what…?”
“How long,” Eva repeated, tightening her grip like a vise, “are you going to keep smiling in my face… while you sleep with my husband?”
The words punched the air out of Heaven’s lungs.
Her eyes widened in shocked, she gasped. "Eva..it's not.."
“Heaven, what exactly is it NOT?” Eva snapped. Her voice shook with rage, grief, humiliation tangled into one unbearable knot. “I thought we were friends. You…you let me cry on your shoulder. You let me tell you how much it hurt that he wouldn’t love me.”
Heaven didn’t even have breath to form words. Life drained from her face.
“Eva…”
“You’re the reason he won’t look at me,” Eva spat. “The reason he rejects me.”
Her voice cracked.
“You were with him on our wedding night, weren’t you?”
The world tilted for Heaven.
Her knees weakened.
But Eva stepped closer until their foreheads nearly touched. Her voice trembled like shattered ice.
“How could you do this to me, Heaven…? This is my honeymoon. My honeymoon. And you’re ruining it.” Her lip quivered. “I heard you both last night. I heard everything. Heaven, why…?”
Heaven’s entire body trembled.
“I… I’m sorry, Eva… I couldn’t say anything…” Her voice cracked into a whisper.
“Then die.”
Heaven blinked, stunned.
“W…what?”
“If you’re sorry,” Eva whispered, eyes empty, “then die. Because Maverick will never want me while you’re alive.”
Heaven’s blood froze.
Eva’s fingers curled tighter into her shoulder.
“No..Eva..you’re drunk,” Heaven whispered, voice trembling.
“Why? You want to keep being his prostitute?” Eva hissed. “Spreading your thighs wide whenever he calls? That’s all you’ll ever be. A good, convenient fuck.”
Each word stabbed through Heaven like knife.
Tears streamed silently.
Her chest tightened painfully.
She shook, unable to defend herself.
“That’s what you are,” Eva continued, venom dripping. “That’s why he pays you. The black card. The bracelets. Did you ever get it through your empty head that you could REPLACE me? Bitch.”
Heaven’s hand clenched by her side. She didn’t have words to refute Eva. Her eyes burned.
The wind tossed Eva’s hair like a madwoman.
“If you are gone… he’ll want me,” Eva whispered. “You brainwashed him. Why would he be obsessed with YOU?”
Heaven gasped, broken.
“Maverick is my life…” Eva whispered, tears glittering with rage. “And I will crush anything in my way.”
Her grip clamped harder on Heaven’s arm.
“If you ever try to tell him anything…”
Eva pulled out her phone.
A video played.
Heaven and Maverick at Boyle’s altar room.
Heaven’s soul fell out of her body.
“Was it you…?” she whispered, horrified.
Eva smirked bitterly.
“You know what will happen if this goes out. Mother will die from hypertension. Maverick’s life…destroyed. His career..finished. The Richard will face a scandal.” She leaned closer. “I heard you were bought for 500 million dollars… imagine how it’ll look when your family is asked to cough it back up....”
Heaven whimpered, shaking violently, shaking her head over and over.
"In the olden days Masters take their slaves atleast their money worth wouldn't go to waste..." Eva looked past Heaven.Something gleamed in Eva’s eyes mischief, madness, victory.
Her voice dipped into something cold and inhuman.
“Die.”
Before Heaven could react, Eva seized her arm and yanked her toward the railing.
Heaven gasped, panic exploding in her chest as she stumbled.
“Eva..stop…!” she cried, clawing at Eva’s wrist. “Please..don’t..don’t do this..!! I don’t want to…!!”
There was a single, sharp scream cut off by the rush of the wind
splash