Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph

The guy kept switching up his swimming strokes, making little waves on the otherwise calm sea.

I could hardly believe my eyes and just stared, momentarily forgetting my sadness.

While I was in a daze, the man in the sea had already started swimming towards the shore.

I slowly stood up, feeling my legs go weak. Jason quickly reached out to support me, and I barely managed to stand firm.

Seeing the man walking straight toward us, I rubbed my face, tight from dried tears, and started to sweat.

"What's wrong?"

Jason must have sensed my tension.

From about 30 feet away, I became more certain that I hadn't seen wrong.

I thought to myself, 'Will he recognize me?'

In a panic, I turned and buried my face in Jason's chest.

Jason's body stiffened, and he probably thought I was still upset, so he gently patted my back to comfort me.

"Let's go back!"

I looked up and grabbed his arm.

He nodded at me, and we immediately got into the car.

Before the car could start, there was a knock on the window, and my heart jumped into my throat.

On Jason's side of the window, a large man's hand was pressed against the glass. Through the window, I could see the muscular arm and the solid, bare chest of the hand's owner. Jason must have noticed my tension, so he didn't open the window right away.

The man outside knocked more urgently, determined not to give up. If we didn't open the window, it would seem suspicious.

I took a deep breath and signaled Jason to open the window.

Slowly, the window rolled down, and the man outside bent down to look inside the car.

Water droplets slid down his tattooed chest, and his hair was still dripping. He glanced at Jason first, then fixed his gaze on my face.

My eyes fell on the scar on his shoulder and then calmly moved away.

I wasn't sure if he recognized me, given that on the cruise that night, I was heavily made up and wearing a mask.

"I was hoping to catch a ride. Is that okay?" he asked, looking at me.

Jason looked at me, indicating that it was up to me.

I secretly clenched the hem of my clothes and forced a smile, saying, "Where are you headed?"

"Skyline International Corporation."

Upon hearing this, Jason frowned.

Suppressing my wildly beating heart, I calmly said, "Sorry, Sir. It's not on our way, and we have some urgent matters to attend to."

The man nodded in understanding and released his hand from the window.

"Okay, thanks!"

Jason started the car. Watching the guy, bare-chested in the middle of winter, fade away in the rearview mirror, I felt my heart was still pounding like crazy. "What's wrong? You seem really nervous. Do you know him?" Jason asked me.

I shook my head, saying nothing.

But I did know him.

His name was Drew. He was the one who shot me on the cruise. How could I forget?

Drew was also shot that day and escaped by jumping into the sea. Everyone thought he was dead, but he survived.

I also remembered that day in the café across from Skyline International Corporation, he held Ethan's photo and said he would recognize him even if he turned to ashes.

I thought to myself, 'What kind of grudge did Drew and Ethan have?'

Suddenly, everything became clear to me.

Jason drove me home, looking at me with concern.

"In my impression, Ethan isn't that kind of person. I don't know why he did this. But I know you're feeling terrible. Seeing you like this, I'm really worried. Don't overthink it. Just get some rest, okay?"

I looked at Jason and smiled slightly. "I think I know why Ethan did it."

But after Jason left, I went back home.

Sophie was at work, Abby was at daycare, the two kids were sleeping, and the house was very quiet.

I poured a glass of water and drank it in one go, but my heart couldn't calm down.

I had actually drunk quite a bit today, and I was really drunk. But now I was completely sober.

Not just because of the sea breeze, but also because of the appearance of Drew, which felt like a wake-up call, unraveling many of my doubts.

After sitting restlessly for an hour, I suddenly got up, grabbed my bag, and headed out. At the door, as I bent down to change my shoes, I stopped. Memories of that grand banquet on the cruise and Ethan's words when he held me during the crisis flashed through my mind.

Ethan said, "Honey, didn't I tell you to stay put?"

I put the shoes back and returned to the living room, sitting back on the sofa.

But my heart couldn't calm down. After several internal struggles, just as I didn't know what to do, I suddenly heard the children crying.

The kids had woken up. Since they slept together, when one woke up, the other would follow.

I walked into the room and held them, sitting on the bed.

They could already play by themselves, making each other laugh with small objects, strange sounds, and vivid expressions. They were so carefree, their innocent faces lighting up with pure joy. Nothing could dampen their spirits, not even the sky falling.

In the end, I didn't go anywhere and spent the whole day at home with them.

I made porridge for them, gave them baths in the evening, and put them to bed. I couldn't remember the last time I had done these things. Since getting busy with my career, I had neglected a lot, and I felt a bit guilty. Watching their sweet sleeping faces, I felt my heart seem to melt.

The kids were asleep, but I couldn't sleep. In the quiet of the night, certain thoughts in my mind became even clearer.

Worry, panic, helplessness, struggle.

I thought to myself, 'Should I do something, or should I do nothing? What is the right thing to do?'

This year I was 28 years old, and in these 28 years, I had never felt so conflicted and torn.

When I faced the truth about Victor being my father's killer, I struggled too, but not as much as now.

I took out my phone, hesitated for a long time, and finally called Nora.

Nora laughed and complained on the phone, "Frank got dragged off by his buddies to play poker, and it looks like they're planning to go all night. A bunch of clueless guys." "Who's playing cards?" I asked.

Nora said with a playful smile, "You want to ask about Ethan, right? I see you still can't let him go."

I held the phone in silence.

She said, "He's there. The woman he brought left, so now it's just the guys playing cards."

After hanging up, I still couldn't sleep all night, staring at the ceiling until dawn.

Early in the morning, Faris came over, bringing some clothes and toys for the kids.

As the kids grew older, they became more and more adorable. They weren't very shy, and maybe because Faris brought toys, they quickly warmed up to him.

Hunter was playing with a toy car, and Harper was holding a doll. Faris had Harper on his lap, playing with her. Suddenly, Harper froze for a few seconds.

As a mom, I knew what was about to happen and was about to go over to pick her up, but it was too late. The spot where Harper was sitting on Faris's pants changed color and started to spread. Faris said helplessly, "Little one, you just gave me a wash."

The nanny quickly came over to take Harper for a bath and change her clothes.

Faris stood up from the sofa, the wet spot on his pants sticking to his leg, looking a bit awkward.

"Sorry about that. You should go wash up," I said apologetically.

I asked the nanny to take Faris to the bathroom in the bedroom. After a while, I remembered that I didn't have any men's pants here. What would he wear after washing up?

So I went into the room and found a large towel. Just as I was placing the towel on the bed and about to leave, the bathroom door suddenly opened.

Faris came out wearing only his underwear, probably not expecting me to be in the room. He froze for a moment.

I kept my head down, not looking at him, and pointed to the towel, saying, "I don't have any men's pants here. You can use this towel for now. Bring out your pants, and I'll have the housekeeper wash and dry them."

I was about to leave when he suddenly walked over, grabbed me, and pinned me against the wardrobe.

I tensed up, instinctively placing my hands on his chest. His skin was slightly damp, carrying the warmth of a recent shower.

He slowly lowered his head, water dripping from his hair onto my face.

He stopped at a very close distance, seemingly scrutinizing me.

"Can you stop messing around?" I said calmly, staring at the water droplets sliding down his chest.

In a hoarse voice, he said, "Emily, will you come with me?"

I looked up at him calmly.

He looked at me too, with a few traces of hope in his intense gaze.

In that moment of eye contact, he seemed to be suddenly moved, gripping my shoulders tightly, his gaze falling to my lips, his Adam's apple bobbing twice.

"Where are we going?" I asked calmly, ignoring his sudden erratic breathing.

"Seabreeze Harbor," he said.

"Okay."

He was stunned, as if he hadn't expected me to agree.

"What did you say?"

I looked at his dumbfounded expression and smiled faintly.

"I said okay."

Faris suddenly became as excited as a child, hugging me tightly.

But I could feel that this hug was purely an expression of his excitement.

Faris immediately booked a flight for that afternoon. Once his pants were washed and dried, I had also packed my things.

I knew this was just a temporary departure, so I didn't pack much.

Faris said he didn't need to bring any luggage.

So after lunch, we took our things and the two kids to the airport.

When Faris came back with the tickets, it was almost time to board, and we headed towards the security checkpoint.

After a few steps, I suddenly froze, my heart racing.

Not far ahead, the man wearing black sunglasses was Drew.