Chapter 252 Who Exactly Is Aurelia?

Chapter 253 I Don’t Believe She’s Dead

The firefighters noticed something strange while clearing the fire scene. In the corner lay a burned body that looked about Anna's size.

Next to the body was a ring that hadn't burned completely. The diamond on top was blackened, but the engraving inside the band was still faintly visible.

Ethan had just finished a meeting when he got the call. He was about to drive back when he answered the phone. After hearing what the person said, the phone slipped from his hand.

He told Jake to pull over, got out, and took the wheel himself. He floored the gas all the way to the fire scene.

The area was already blocked off by firefighters and police.

When Ethan arrived, he saw firefighters carrying a stretcher out of the rubble with a white sheet over it. He stood outside the police tape, his legs heavy like they were filled with lead. He couldn't take a single step.

Jake showed up and felt a jolt of worry when he saw Ethan's face. Ethan looked pale, his eyes red, like the strength had been drained out of him.

"Mr. Gray..." Jake called softly.

Ethan didn't respond. He stared at the stretcher for a long time, then slowly walked toward it.

A firefighter lifted a corner of the sheet for him to see. The burned skin and flesh were unrecognizable, but the body shape was similar to Anna's. Beside it was an evidence bag holding the ring.

Ethan looked once and couldn't make a sound. He couldn't even cry. The blood vessels in his eyes were red and tangled like a web. "Did you do an autopsy? Are you sure it's her?"

"No."

"Until the results come back, I won't believe she's dead."

The police and firefighters exchanged glances.

The police searched through the night. The medical examiner's report came back—the burned body wasn't Anna. It was another woman with a similar build, taken from a funeral home.

Ethan had someone pull all the security footage around the hospital and went through it frame by frame. Finally, he found a clue at a quiet street corner.

The video showed a middle-aged man and a thin woman carrying an unconscious Anna out of a van and into an old black sedan. The sedan then drove out of the city toward the coast.

The police traced the car to a black-market sale, found the seller, and identified the two people. They were Aurelia's parents.

When Ethan saw the report, his jaw clenched so hard it made a sound. He finally understood what Cassandra had meant by her "big gift."

Without hesitation, he ordered people to track the black sedan's route. They checked cameras along the way and locked onto the direction—Aurelia's parents had taken Anna to the beach.

When Anna woke up, her mouth tasted salty. She opened her eyes to a gray sky, unsure if it was morning or evening. Her body was tied with rope inside the cabin of a small, rundown boat. The waves rocked the hull, and every time one hit, the wood creaked like it might fall apart.

Her head hurt. Her mouth was dry. The baby in her belly gave her a light kick.

They were still alive. The baby was still alive.

Anna forced herself to stay calm and looked around. It was an abandoned fishing boat. The cabin was covered in mold and rust. A few empty water bottles and a moldy bun sat in the corner. The boat had no engine, no oars, nothing to steer it. It just drifted.

Anna remembered waking once after those two people took her from the hospital. The thin woman had been forcing something down her throat. Then she blacked out again and woke up here.

Her hands were tied behind her back, and her feet were bound too. The rope was thick hemp that had gotten wet and was shrinking tighter.

Anna slowly twisted her wrists. Her hands were small and her bones were flexible. She had never thought this would help her one day.

She kept turning her wrist, rubbing the rope down bit by bit. The hemp scraped her skin raw, and blood dripped onto the wooden floor. Anna clenched her teeth and kept going.

Over an hour later, her right hand slipped free. She quickly untied her other hand and her feet, then used the cabin wall to stand up. Her legs were numb. She fell back down once, then stood again and made her way to the hatch.

All she could see was ocean. The gray sky and dark blue water blended at the horizon. No land, no boats, nothing.

She stood there for a while and told herself not to panic.

Anna checked her pockets. Her phone was gone. There was nothing left.

She searched the cabin and found a flattened energy bar wrapper with some crumbs stuck inside, plus two empty water bottles with about half an inch of water at the bottom.

Anna gripped the bottles like they were lifelines.

The sun rose and set. She drifted alone on the sea with no fresh water or food, only the leftover water and a few crumbs.

She poured the crumbs into her palm and ate them one tiny piece at a time, chewing slowly before swallowing. She sipped the water sparingly, just enough to wet her lips and throat.

By the next afternoon, the crumbs were gone and the water was finished. She leaned in the corner of the cabin, her lips cracked, her skin hot. The baby moved less and less, and when it did, the kicks were weak.

Anna put her hands on her belly and whispered with dry lips, "Hang in there a little longer, sweetheart. Mommy will get you home."

On the third morning, she started hallucinating. She heard Ethan's voice right beside her ear, calling her name over and over. Anna, Anna.

She opened her eyes. There was nothing but the sound of waves, endless waves. She closed her eyes again. Her eyes were dry—no tears left.

Just when she felt she couldn't hold on anymore, she heard a motor in the distance. Anna snapped her eyes open. A small black dot was growing on the horizon—a fishing boat.

She used every bit of strength to climb out of the cabin and stand on deck, waving her arms. She tried to shout, but her throat was too dry to make a sound.

The people on the fishing boat saw her. When it pulled alongside, a tanned middle-aged man hauled her aboard. She collapsed on the deck, barely conscious, but her hands stayed over her belly.

"Get water, quick!" someone shouted.

Someone pried her mouth open and poured fresh water in. Anna gulped it down, coughing, then passed out completely.