Chapter 1 - The Plunge into Cold Blood
The saltwater burned Elena’s throat like liquid acid, dragging her downward into the abyssal indigo of the Atlantic. Heavy silk and twenty yards of French lace, chosen specifically by the woman who had just hurled her to her death, turned into a sodden shroud. The diamond-encrusted veil coiled around her neck like an aquatic serpent. Elena thrashed, her lungs screaming for oxygen, her manicured fingers clawing through the churned foam left in the wake of the ninety-foot mega-yacht, *The Sovereign Grace*.
Above her, the yacht’s twin engines hummed like a subterranean beast, vibrating through the dark water. Only thirty seconds ago, she had been Elena Vance—the radiant twenty-four-year-old bride of Julian Montgomery, heir to the multi-billion-dollar Montgomery Shipping empire. She had stood on the aft deck, admiring the sunset, sipping vintage champagne, when Victoria Montgomery had approached her. Victoria, draped in champagne-colored couture, had leaned in as if to whisper a matriarch’s blessing.
*“You think you’ve won my son’s empire, you parasite?”* Victoria had hissed, her breath smelling of peppermint and expensive gin.
Elena hadn’t even had time to turn her head before Victoria’s manicured hands slammed into her shoulder blades with terrifying, calculated force. There had been no stumble, no trip over an uneven teak plank. It was a cold-blooded execution. The rail had caught Elena at the hip, catapulting her into the endless, freezing void.
*Splash!*
A second impact broke the ocean’s surface just yards away. Through the stinging brine, Elena saw a powerful silhouette slicing through the water toward her. Julian. He hadn't hesitated. He had torn off his tuxedo jacket and plunged into the abyss after his bride.
His strong arms hooked beneath her armpits, hauling her upward. When Elena’s head finally broke the surface, she gasped, vomiting sea spray, her ribs aching from the violent intake of air.
“Elena! Look at me, look at me!” Julian coughed, treading water against the unforgiving current. His dark hair was plastered to his forehead, his hazel eyes wide with pure terror. “I’ve got you! I’ve got you, my love!”
“Julian… she… she pushed me!” Elena choked out, shivering violently as hypothermia crept into her limbs. The dress weighed fifty pounds now, pulling them both down like an anchor.
“Don’t talk, save your breath!” Julian yelled, fighting the ocean’s drag. “The swim platform! We have to reach the ladder!”
The yacht had slowed, drifting in the calm offshore swell, its hydraulic swim platform lowered close to the waterline. A stainless steel boarding ladder hung down, gleaning against the sapphire waves. Julian kicked with every ounce of his athletic strength, pulling Elena through the current until her trembling fingers touched the first metal rung.
“Climb, baby, climb!” Julian urged, supporting her waist from behind.
Elena reached up, grabbing the second rung. The biting wind struck her soaked skin, turning her lips blue. But as her eyes traveled up the steel handrails toward the teak platform, the breath locked in her throat.
Standing at the top of the ladder was Victoria Montgomery.
Her posture was straight, regal, unmoving. The sunset painted her sharp, botoxed features in hues of blood orange and shadow. There was no terror in her eyes. No panic. In her right hand, she gripped the heavy bronze boat hook used for hauling mooring lines—its sharp metal gaff pointed directly at Elena’s upturned face.
Victoria tilted her head, a cold, predatory smile curling her crimson lips. She lifted the heavy bronze hook, aiming straight for Elena’s clinging fingers.
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“Let go, Elena,” Victoria whispered down through the wind, her voice smooth as velvet and cold as the grave. “Or I swear to God, Julian drowns with you.”
***
