Chapter 7

A month passed in silence. Then, an invitation arrived. An embossed card requesting my presence at the annual Porter Foundation charity gala, held on Bradley's private yacht.

He called me personally. His voice was strained. "Please, Kaci. Come. We need to talk."

I agreed. Not because I wanted to talk, but because I wanted to end things. Properly. This would be my final farewell to the world that had almost destroyed me.

The yacht was a floating palace of light and champagne. I felt out of place in my simple black dress, a ghost at the feast. Whispers followed me like a shadow.

"Is that her? The disfigured bodyguard?"

"I heard he keeps her around out of pity."

The words were tiny cuts, but I was already covered in scars. They barely registered.

Then, the main event. A commotion erupted near the grand staircase. Kylie was standing there, pointing a shaking finger at me.

"She threatened me!" she cried, her voice ringing with false accusation. "She told me I should jump overboard! She tried to push me!"

She was a natural actress. Her tears looked real, her distress convincing. All eyes turned to me.

"I didn't touch you," I said, my voice calm.

"Liar!" she shrieked. "You're just jealous! You want him all to yourself!"

The crowd gasped. I was now a violent lunatic in their eyes. A monster and a criminal.

I looked at Bradley. He stood there, silent, his face unreadable. His silence was his verdict. He believed her. Again.

My heart, which I thought was already dead, felt a final, dull ache.

Suddenly, a scream.

In her moment of triumph, Kylie had stepped too close to the railing. A wave rocked the yacht, and she lost her footing. She tumbled over the side, into the dark, churning water below.

"KYLIE!" Bradley's roar was primal, a sound of pure terror.

He lunged for the railing, ready to jump in after her. "Someone save her! NOW!" he bellowed, his face pale with fear.

Security held him back. The sea was rough, the storm was picking up. It was too dangerous. "Sir, you can't!"

People were shouting, running in a panic. No one was moving to help. The waves were too high, the current too strong.

I watched him. I watched the man I had given my life to, completely unraveled by his love for another woman.

Then, I walked toward him.

He was still struggling against his guards, his eyes wild.

I stood before him and gave a small, formal bow. The kind a bodyguard gives their employer.

"Sir," I said, my voice clear and steady above the chaos. "For the past three years, I have taken one bullet for you, sustained seventeen knife wounds, and broken twenty-three bones. Tonight, I will save her life. After this, the debt between us is cleared. We are even."

He stared at me, his mind slowly processing my words. Realization dawned in his eyes. "Kaci, no! Don't! That's an order!"

His guards, thinking I was a threat, tightened their grip on him.

"This is the last time I will disobey your order, sir," I said. A small, genuine smile touched my lips for the first time in years. "And it feels wonderful."

I turned and ran towards the railing.

I didn't hesitate. I leaped into the black, icy water.

The cold was a shock, but my training took over. I fought against the current, my eyes scanning the dark waves. I saw her, a flash of white, struggling to stay afloat.

I reached her, grabbed her, and started pulling her towards the life raft that had been thrown from the yacht.

I pushed her up, using the last of my strength. She scrambled onto the raft, safe.

I was treading water, exhausted, my body screaming in protest. I looked up at her, expecting... I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe not thanks, but at least not this.

She looked down at me, her eyes filled with pure, unadulterated hatred.

"You should have just died," she hissed.

She lifted her foot and kicked me. Hard. In the face.

The blow stunned me. My grip on the raft slipped.

"Go to hell, you ugly bitch," she spat.

She kicked me again, pushing me away from the raft, back into the churning sea.

I started to sink. The water filled my lungs. The lights of the yacht grew distant.

This was it.

This was the end.

But as the darkness closed in, I felt a strange sense of peace.

I was free.

On the deck of the yacht, Bradley finally broke free from his guards. He ran to the railing, his eyes scanning the dark water.

He saw the life raft with Kylie on it. But he didn't see me.

"KACI!" he screamed, his voice a raw, agonizing sound that was swallowed by the storm. "KACIIIIII!"

The sea gave him no answer.