Chapter 2

Chloe's face drained of color.

"Brooke, what are you talking about?"

I didn't waste another breath. I walked straight out.

Back at the Vance mansion, I dragged my packed suitcase downstairs, ready to head to the airport.

In the living room, Ethan walked in from the foyer. He spotted my luggage and blocked my path, his expression dark with annoyance.

"It was a minor prank. Are you really throwing a tantrum and running away from home?"

I was done with him.

"I'm not running away."

"If you want to know why, call your parents or mine. They'll tell you. Now move. I have a flight to catch."

Ethan didn't budge.

Chloe dashed over, her eyes brimming with theatrical tears as she clutched the handle of my suitcase.

"You can't leave! Are you pulling this stunt just so Mom and Dad kick me out?"

"You're their biological daughter! The moment they hear you were upset, they'll cast me out on the street! Brooke, I was just playing around. We've always been like this—why are you suddenly making such a scene today?"

I yanked on the handle, but she refused to let go.

"I tolerated you in the past. I don't want to anymore."

"Let go. Move!"

Chloe started sobbing.

"No! You can't leave! You can't go run to Mom and Dad to play the victim!"

Ethan stepped in to back her up, clamping his hand tightly around my wrist to hold me in place.

My grip slipped.

Chloe wrenched the suitcase out of my hands.

Splash!

She hurled my luggage straight into the indoor pool beside the living room.

"There! Now you can't go!"

Only then did Ethan let go of my wrist.

Panic surged through me, and I threw myself toward the edge of the pool.

The heavy suitcase bobbed twice on the surface before slowly sinking toward the bottom.

Ever since Chloe pushed me into deep water a year ago, I had developed severe aquaphobia. Watching the rippling water made my hands shake violently, cold sweat breaking out across my neck.

Worse, I still didn't know how to swim.

All I could do was drop my handbag and lean down fruitlessly, trying to reach for it.

Chloe walked over, deliberately splashing the surface with her foot to push the sinking suitcase farther out.

"Give it up, Brooke."

"You're stuck here anyway. Whatever was inside, I'll pay you back later."

I glared up at Chloe, then turned to Ethan, hoping against hope for help.

Ethan folded his arms. "Promise us you won't leave, and I'll jump in to grab it."

I turned my face away and swallowed the plea.

Chloe wasn't crying anymore. She leaned against Ethan, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she planned another game.

"Do you think she'll jump in for it?"

Ethan glanced at my stiff back and chuckled softly.

"She's terrified of water. She won't."

Chloe smirked.

She crept toward me on tiptoe, keeping her voice low.

"I bet she will. She cares about that suitcase too much. She'll definitely..."

Splash!

Before she even finished her sentence, two hands shoved me hard from behind.

The world flipped upside down. Water surged brutally into my mouth and nose, choking out my screams. I couldn't open my eyes. The bottom of the pool was slick, offering no footing. I thrashed wildly, but oxygen burned in my lungs and terror pulled me under. My body felt heavier by the second.

In that suffocating darkness, I genuinely thought I was going to drown.

Until someone plunged into the water, locked an arm around my torso from behind, and dragged me up, hauling me step by step toward the pool steps.

It was Ethan.

I collapsed onto the cold tiles, curled into a ball, coughing and gasping for air until my chest felt torn open.

Ethan let go, looking down at me with a smirk.

"Still leaving?"