Chapter 68 Cruise I
Morning sunlight spilled through the tall glass windows of the private dining hall, warming the marble floors that shone like still water. The table was set for five, but only three chairs were occupied.
Maverick.
General Richard.
Eleanor.
Both daughters-in-law were conspicuously absent.
General Richard lifted his coffee cup, watching his son over the rim with the kind of quiet scrutiny that made grown soldiers straighten their backs.
“Where is your wife, Maverick?”
Maverick didn’t lift his gaze, didn’t pause his movements.
Calm. Cold. Emotionless.
Nothing like the brutal, merciless man Heaven had endured the entire night.
“Probably in the suite,” he replied, slicing into his food with mechanical precision, each motion too controlled to be normal.
Richard’s eyes narrowed. “Why…”
“Darling,” Eleanor cut in with a bright, airy laugh, resting her manicured hand on her husband’s arm.
“Let them be. I’m sure they had a long night. Maybe she’s simply… too tired to walk.”
Her grin spread across her face like a satisfied cat’s smug, proud, self-congratulating.
Convinced her enhancer had worked.
Convinced Maverick had finally touched Eva.
She had no idea.
Maverick’s jaw flexed once, the only sign that her words scraped across a nerve.
General Richard chuckled under his breath, amused by his wife’s assumptions.
Eleanor’s eyes suddenly sharpened.
“Where is Heaven?” she asked sharply, her face pinching with annoyance. She snapped her fingers, a quick flick and an attendant stepped forward with a bow.
“Where is my first daughter-in-law?”
“We knocked on her door, ma’am,” the attendant said carefully, “but there was no response.”
Eleanor snapped. “She should show her face. She has responsibilities as a daughter-in….”
She waved dismissively.
“Use the spare key, open the door, and make sure she comes here immediately.”
The air stilled.
Maverick’s fork stopped mid-air.
Slowly, he lifted his eyes filled with coldness still dripping from the night before.
“She is tired,” he said, voice low and deadly calm.
He wasn’t looking at anyone in particular. He was just speaking.
“Leave her alone.”
Eleanor froze.
General Richard paused mid-sip.
“What exactly is making her tired?” Eleanor asked slowly, eyes narrowing at her son. “What has she done?”
General Richard’s gaze lingered on his son longer than necessary. Maverick never defended anyone. Not like this. He cleared his throat to ease the tension.
“This is a vacation, Eleanor,” Richard said finally. “Cut her some slack.”
He turned to the attendant. “Take a tray to her room.”
The attendant bowed and left.
Eleanor scoffed dramatically,stabbing her fork into her food.
“You both act like I’m some villain. I’m only doing my duty, making sure she doesn’t go out of control…”
Neither man responded. They simply continued eating, letting her voice fade into the background.
And it was very clear Eleanor treated Heaven nothing like she treated Eva.
Their silence pressed on her like a stone, but she continued muttering to herself until breakfast ended.
When the plates were cleared, General Richard rose, taking Eleanor’s hand as they left the hall. She lit up instantly, basking in his attention, forgetting her nagging.
“I expect everyone present at the cruise tomorrow,”
For a brief moment, his gaze met Maverick’s studying, evaluating before the general disappeared through the doors.
\~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone arrived, because when General Richard wanted something, no one dared disappoint.
Heaven stood at the far edge of the ship, staring at the rolling waves clapping and rolling off each other.
She had carefully pieced herself together, makeup, neat hair, clothes that hid the bruises.
She wouldn’t let her in-laws catch on so she acted okay outside.
But inside… she was unraveling.
Her whole body ached.
Her mind felt fractured.
She remembered collapsing.
She remembered Maverick carrying her to the bed.
She remembered his hands applying first-aid on her scraped knees rough, cold, but careful.
The only softness she had felt from him in hours.
And now…
She was doubting herself.
What if she was the one in the video?
What if she had simply forgotten?
Was her mind was breaking under the weight of everything he had done?
She held the railing tighter, forcing her breaths to steady.
Behind her, jealousy burned like poison.
Eva stood watching her from a distance, hatred twisting her features.
The warmth she once carried was gone.
She used to pity her.
She used to believe Heaven was her friend, but she had been fucking her husband.
She wasn’t blind, neither was she dumb.
She’d seen the way Maverick’s cold eyes softened for Heaven.
The black card.
The bracelets. The meaning of the bracelet maddened her.
Her phone, she couldn’t possibly afford that.
The brown hair strand
She thought she was imagining it at first.
She told herself she was being insecure.
She prayed she was wrong.
She convinced herself Heaven would never betray her.
But then…
That night at Boyle's altar room..
What did Heaven have that she didn’t?
It wasn’t fair, neither was it right.
It wasn’t supposed to be Heaven.
Not the widowed sister-in-law.
Not the woman Eva had called her friend.
Heaven had smiled in her face.
Pretended to be her friend.
All while fucking him.
Maverick had watched a sex video of Heaven with another man yet he still hovered around her.
Still treated her like something he owned.
Eva’s fingers curled into fists at her sides.
Her chest heaved with the betrayal, the disgust, the envy that scorched through her veins.
She couldn’t expose Maverick, she couldn’t expose them both.
She loved him too much.
She would never destroy him.
But Heaven?
If Heaven disappeared…
Maybe Maverick would finally see her.
Eva began walking toward Heaven.
Slow at first.
Then faster.
Her heart was pounding.
Her mind flashed back to her wedding night she had spent alone
All the times she’d smiled at Heaven while Heaven hid the truth.
Heaven heard the approaching footsteps and turned.
The look in Eva’s eyes made her stomach drop.
“Eva…?”
Eva didn’t answer.
She just lifted her hand, placed it against Heaven’s shoulder and pushed.
Hard.
Heaven’s breath caught in her throat as her body flipped over the railing.
The last thing she saw was the sky spinning.
Then the sea swallowed her whole.