Sacrificed Parents for a Medal

During a maritime rescue, my in-laws were trapped aboard a sinking vessel.

I personally led my husband, Adrian Cole, captain of the rescue team, straight to their location.

They were seconds away from launching the operation when Vanessa Tate looped an arm around his neck and said with a smile, “I heard there are two very important people on that ship. If I’m the one who brings them out, I could earn a second-class medal.”

She leaned closer, half teasing, half coaxing. “Help me out this one time. Do that, and I’ll call you Daddy for the rest of my life.”

Adrian raised a brow and let out a laugh. “You’d better mean it. Because I’m taking you up on that.”

Then, without a moment’s hesitation, he ordered the rescue boat to turn around.

I froze, then shouted after him, “Adrian, Mom and Dad are still trapped in there. Are you seriously leaving them to die?”

He shoved me aside, his expression turning cold with impatience.

“Claire, think about what matters most. Your parents can swim and hold on a little longer until another team gets there. But if Vanessa misses this chance, she may never get another shot at that medal.”

My blood ran cold.

Yes, my parents could swim.

But the people trapped inside that vessel were not my parents.

They were his.

And they were the two “important people” Vanessa had been talking about all along.

I grabbed Adrian’s arm, trying to stop him, my voice shaking.

“Adrian, are you seriously going to let them die just for Vanessa?”

He didn’t even pause.

“Your parents have lived long enough. If they die, then that’s just fate.

“And Vanessa? She almost never asks me for anything. This time, I’m making sure she gets what she wants.”

A chill ran straight through me.

He thought the people trapped inside were my parents. That was the only reason he could say something like that so easily.

Vanessa shot him a smirk. “Wow. Can’t even keep your own wife in line? Are you a real man?”

Adrian glanced at her, a slow smile spreading across his face.

“You really want to question that? Or should I prove it to you right now?”

She laughed and punched his shoulder, playing along.

Inside the flooding cabin, his parents were screaming themselves hoarse, begging for help.

And their son stood here, flirting.

The absurdity of it made my chest tighten.

I didn’t even have the strength to react anymore. I just kept begging.

“Adrian, it’s your parents in there. If you walk away now, you’re going to regret this for the rest of your life.”

He didn’t believe me. Not for a second.

Instead, he shoved me straight off the rescue boat.

“Claire, don’t try to trick me into saving them first.

“My parents are overseas on vacation. There’s no way they’re on that ship.

“If you care so much, go save your own parents. Vanessa and I are going after those two important people.”

I hit the water hard.

When I surfaced, I could only watch as he left without a backward glance, taking the entire rescue team with him.

My eyes burned.

Those “important people” he kept talking about were his parents.

They had just completed a classified mission, quietly returning home after receiving a first-class commendation… only to end up trapped in this disaster.

The moment I got the alert at the monitoring center, I didn’t wait for backup. I brought Adrian here myself.

And when the target was right in front of him, he turned away.

Fine.

I would wait.

Wait for the day he learned the truth.

The day he realized exactly what he had done.

I took a breath and dove.

The water was freezing. I swam toward the wreck and forced myself through a narrow gap in the hull.

Inside, the water had already risen to their necks.

Without proper equipment, there was no way to break through and get them out.

Backup wouldn’t arrive for at least fifteen minutes.

They had watched their own son leave them behind.

Whatever hope they’d had in him was gone.

Their voices came out broken and distorted under the water. I couldn’t make out the words.

The water kept rising.

Soon, it would swallow them whole.

My chest felt like it was collapsing.

“Dad… Mom…”

In their final moments, they pulled out their first-class medals.

With trembling hands, they pushed them through the gap toward me.

I grabbed them instinctively.

Cold metal pressed into my palm, and in the next second, they were gone.

Swallowed by the water.

My teeth clenched so hard it hurt.

“Adrian…

“You’re going to regret this.”