Chapter 91

Chapter 92

"Don't kill me!"

A ragged scream tore through the cargo hold. Lindsey lifted her head from the deck, clawing at the rusted metal plating, scrambling desperately away from the gun barrel.

"It's Diana!" She crawled forward, pointing at Diana, all dignity abandoned.

"Nicholas loves 'her'! Kill her! Shoot her dead!"

The cargo hold fell deathly silent.

Amid the roar of waves crashing against the hull, the woman's hysterical shrieking still pierced eardrums.

The man raised an eyebrow. His finger loosened slightly on the trigger.

Diana leaned against the shipping container, watching Lindsey's pathetic display. Her cracked lips twitched into a faint smile.

Not because of that ridiculous claim about being "the one he loves most." She simply found Lindsey laughable.

To save her own skin, Lindsey would even resort to lies.

"Lindsey." Diana's voice dripped with contempt. "Guess you're not so devoted after all."

"What do you know?!" Lindsey huddled in the corner against the metal wall, her eyes bloodshot, screaming wildly.

"Diana, you think Nicholas wanted to marry me because he liked me?"

Lindsey's face contorted, jealousy and terror twisting together as she spilled every dark secret.

"He never even touched me! When they showed him the wedding dress, he glanced at it once and had them take it away! The whole engagement party—I was performing alone! His investment in The Russell Family was just to please my dad! That life-saving heart going to Holden—that was for you too! He wanted you to hate him, to remember him for the rest of your life!"

Lindsey laughed through her tears, her voice breaking into gasps.

"He's insane. He'd rather drive you to the edge than let you out of his sight!"

This revelation, hijacked through the hacker's signal, forced its way onto countless phone screens.

After a brief pause, comments exploded.

[This is insane, completely insane, what kind of sick twisted love is this?]

[First love is just an excuse? A man uses a life-saving heart as a tool to keep his ex-wife?]

[Stop calling this love, this is criminal, this is psychological abuse, Diana RUN!]

Diana listened to those words, her expression calm to the point of numbness.

Love?

She let out a cold laugh. Nicholas's behavior was nothing but possessiveness after his territory had been violated.

He treated everyone like pawns. The moment she strayed from his script, he'd show up with the guillotine.

That was all.

Nicholas froze for a split second before regaining his composure. He even took a step forward.

"Seen enough?" He gestured at the entire lower hold, his voice hard. "If one person dies on this ship today, I guarantee this cargo vessel will sink to the bottom of the ocean. You, and your boss—everyone stays at sea."

The man looked at the killing intent rolling in Nicholas's eyes and burst out laughing.

"Threatening me?"

"Too bad. The moment I stepped onto international waters, I came prepared to die here." He spun the gun in his hand, the barrel swinging between the two women. "Watching you suffer is all I need. But since you're so devoted, coming here alone, I'll let you choose."

A cruel smile split the man's face.

"Take one. The other one stays here—permanently."

He glanced at Lindsey, his laugh vicious. "As for what I said about killing your beloved—I was just messing with the girl. What, you actually believed it?"

Lindsey completely fell apart.

"Nicholas... save me! You promised my father you'd bring me back! I'm The Russell Family's daughter—you can't leave me here!"

Diana pressed her abdomen, feeling life force draining away drop by drop through her fingers and stomach.

She knew better than anyone that Lindsey would survive, even after Nicholas witnessed her despicable behavior.

Because even if every other woman on earth died, Nicholas still wouldn't choose her.

Then she would personally end this fate of being the one left behind.

Diana's palm gripped the metal framework behind her. Swaying unsteadily, she pulled herself upright. Blood from her hand dragged down the metal wall, leaving a dark red trail.

Seeing her move, Nicholas barked out, "Diana! Stay where you are!"

The man noticed too.

But a woman with zero combat capability posed no threat. He was curious to see what she'd try.

Diana used the ship's tilt to inch her way toward the open cargo hatch on one side of the hold.

Only a loose, sagging safety chain hung there, scraping harshly in the wind. Beyond it lay nothing but black ocean and towering waves.

"Diana?!" Nicholas's expression completely changed.

Ignoring the gun at his back, he shoved aside the mercenary blocking his path and charged toward her.

"Stop," Diana spoke.

Nicholas's feet locked in place.

Her windbreaker hung in tatters, her body covered in blood, her back now pressed against that chain. Howling sea wind rushed in, plastering her disheveled hair across her pale face.

Diana looked down at her flat abdomen, then lifted her eyes to Nicholas.

Her gaze was terrifyingly hollow, the last spark burned down to ash.

"You don't have to choose."

Nicholas's breathing stopped. "What—what are you saying?"

Diana's lips curved slightly, her voice eerily steady. "And I'm not waiting for you to choose."

She leaned back, her spine pushing halfway through the opening. Below, waves surged up in ten-foot-high white foam, ready to swallow everything.

One more step backward, and she'd plunge into the abyss.

"If you have any humanity left, after I'm dead, go cure my mother. If you can't cure her... pull the plug. Let her go."

The instant those words fell, Diana spread her arms wide, abandoning all support.

Her thin frame slipped through the chain's gap with no resistance, falling toward the lightless depths of the sea.

Everyone in the hold froze.

"No—!"

Every shred of rationality in Nicholas's mind shattered completely. He bolted toward that opening.

"Bang bang!"

The mercenary reflexively squeezed the trigger. Bullets grazed the metal wall behind Nicholas, exploding in a shower of blinding sparks.

Nicholas ignored the hail of gunfire behind him.

He reached the hatch at a frenzied speed. Without a moment's hesitation, he gripped the rust-covered chain for leverage, his body launching into the air as he vaulted through the cargo opening.

Then, facing the raging wind and following Diana's trajectory, he leaped into the abyss without hesitation.