His Body Craved Mine, His Heart Chose Me

"Elara! Let her go!"

A familiar voice, laced with a murderous rage I had never heard in his voice before, cut through the air from the dock.

I turned. It was Dante, striding onto the yacht with three of his men.

"Dante! Help me!" Ava’s mask of innocence was back on. She struggled in my grip, her voice a desperate sob. "She's crazy! She's trying to kill me!"

Dante's face grew darker. He slowly drew a silver pistol from his jacket and aimed it squarely at my head.

"You crazy bitch. Let. Her. Go."

The hatred in his eyes was a physical blow. My grip slackened.

But in that instant, Ava grabbed my hand and shoved it against herself, propelling her backward. She screamed as she stumbled past the railing and fell into the water. "Ahhh—"

From Dante's perspective, it looked like I had pushed her.

"No!" Dante roared. He dropped the gun and, without a second of hesitation, dived into the ocean after her.

My mind was blank. I watched him swim desperately toward Ava.

Soon, he was back at the yacht's edge, holding a soaked and shivering Ava. His men lowered a ladder and hauled them aboard.

"Ava! Ava, are you okay?" Dante knelt on the deck, clutching her trembling body. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I… I almost died…" Ava clung to him, shaking from fear and cold. "She really tried to kill me…"

Dante stroked her hair, his eyes filled with anguish. Then he slowly stood and turned to me.

CRACK.

His hand whipped across my face, the force of the slap nearly knocking me to the ground.

"You vicious bitch!" he roared, his eyes burning with hellfire. "How dare you! How dare you hurt her!"

I held my stinging cheek, forcing back the tears.

"What if I told you she jumped?"

"She framed me. She killed our baby, she admitted it herself!"

Dante's face was a mask of disappointment. "Ava would never do something like that! And I told you, the baby was an accident. Are you trying to pin that on her, too?"

I wanted to laugh. It was so absurd.

He believed in Ava's goodness without question but had already condemned me as a monster.

I pointed to a corner of the yacht. "There's a security camera. Watch the footage before you sentence me."

Dante hesitated, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.

But then Ava’s weak voice cut in.

"Dante… my chest hurts… I think I'm dying…"

He immediately spun back to her, scooping her up in a panic. "Don't be scared. I'm taking you to the hospital now."

He held her so carefully, as if she were the most precious porcelain doll in the world.

He paused as he passed me.

"I will look at the footage," he said, his voice as cold as ice. "And if you did this, I will make you pay."

After Dante left, I stared down into the deep, dark water.

My mother's brooch. I couldn't lose it.

Without a second thought, I jumped. I dove again and again, desperately searching the seabed until my limbs were heavy with exhaustion.

My body, still weak from the miscarriage, couldn't take the strain.

I collapsed.

It wasn't until my own security detail noticed something was wrong that I was found and taken to the hospital.

When I woke up, it was the next day.

My phone was filled with missed calls from Dante and our head butler, Roberto.

Ignoring Dante's threats, I called the butler. "Roberto, what's going on?"

Soon, I found out exactly what Dante's revenge was.

"It's terrible, ma'am!" Roberto's voice was frantic. "Mr. Moretti came to the villa with his men!"

"He's… he's going to burn all of your mother's paintings!"