Chapter 1
Elena’s POV
Sarah, my husband’s ex-girlfriend, and I have been kidnapped. Instead of honoring their promise after receiving the ransom, the kidnappers left behind a ticking bomb. With only three minutes remaining, Kael, my husband, now faces a brutal choice: save me, or save her.
“This is the price you pay for destroying my family, Kael. Make your choice. Whichever you pick, you’ll spend the rest of your life in endless regret.” Kael, my husband and heir to the Harrington family, is renowned for his ruthless business tactics. In just three short years, he expanded the family’s empire across Europe. But behind this massive commercial success, beyond the champagne and applause, lie blood and sin.
A month ago, his company was ruthlessly taken over by Kael. Burdened by massive debts, his wife took her own life with a gun, and his elderly parents, unable to bear the blow, passed away one after the other. To exact revenge, he orchestrated this kidnapping.
Right now, Sarah and I are chained to opposite sides of the lighthouse’s narrow chamber, separated by an insurmountable distance.
Sarah is the light of Kael’s life, the untouchable love of his existence. Three years ago, during an assassination attempt on Kael, she stepped in front of him without hesitation. That bullet shattered her pelvis, robbing her not only of her ability to stand but also of her right to become a mother.
Consequently, Kael’s grandfather, the patriarch of the Harrington family, vehemently opposed his grandson marrying a woman who was “crippled and unable to bear children.”
But Kael still loved Sarah. This love was tinged with deep guilt; Sarah should have been the glamorous Mrs. Harrington, the mother of Kael’s children, yet she had lost everything to save him. So Kael kept Sarah by his side, caring for her tenderly and cherishing her as a precious treasure.
As for me, I was, at best, merely an adopted daughter of the Harrington family—a nominal wife thrust upon Kael by the old master on his deathbed, thanks to his fondness for me.
At this moment, Sarah was leaning against the railing, sobbing. Her meticulously applied makeup was running down her pale, delicate heart-shaped cheeks, like a white rose wilting in a downpour. Dressed in a white lace gown, she clutched the railing, trembling.
Below us lay a treacherous, bottomless torrent strewn with reefs—there was no escape. Either be blown to pieces by the bomb, or jump down to be torn apart by the reefs and swept into the deep sea.
“It’s okay, Kael,” she choked out, her voice trembling yet radiating a fragile perfection—the very quality most likely to stir a man’s protective instincts. “Save Elena. She’s your lawful wife… I won’t hold it against you.”
My hands were bound behind my back, rough plastic zip ties digging deep into my wrists, causing excruciating pain.
I looked at Kael. He stood in the center of the lighthouse, with the path to me on his left and the path to Sarah on his right.
“Kael, choose me.” Fear made my voice hoarse and broken. I didn’t have Sarah’s tragic serenity in the face of death; I just wanted to live. “Seriously, Kael, we grew up together. I’ve known you for twenty-five years—longer than she has.”
He froze, his gaze snapping toward me. But the tenderness I’d expected didn’t appear; those deep eyes held only anger and impatience.
“Elena, don’t be so selfish,” he said, clenching his jaw as if suppressing some emotion. “Sarah… she’s fragile; she needs someone to protect her.”
“I’m pregnant.”
The moment those words left my mouth, the air seemed to freeze. Not far away, Sarah’s face turned deathly pale; even the fingers gripping the railing turned blue.
Kael stared at me intently. That moment was so fleeting—so brief I thought it was a hallucination—that a tiny spark of “hope” flared up in my chest.
But the next second, his expression twisted into a pure, icy sneer.
“You’re lying.” His voice was low, as if pulled from an ice cellar. “We’re only married in name—we’ve never even shared a bed. How could you possibly be pregnant?”
“It’s true…” I insisted, tears finally breaking through the dam and blurring my vision. “Three months ago, you stumbled into my room drunk… I only confirmed it yesterday. I was planning to tell you over dinner tonight. We’re having a baby, Kael.”
Kael laughed, a smile brimming with pity and scorn. He shook his head, as if looking at a pathetic clown.
“Stop acting, Elena. You don’t need to use these disgusting lies to win my sympathy. Even if you weren’t lying, I wouldn’t stand by and watch you die—after all, we grew up together.”
Before he’d even finished speaking, he turned right without hesitation and walked toward Sarah.
“Elena, your jealousy is truly terrifying. To protect yourself, you’re willing to use a nonexistent baby as a bargaining chip? It makes me sick.”
“I’m not lying to you!”
“Shut up!” he roared, turning his back on me completely, his full attention fixed on Sarah. “I’m saving Sarah first, then I’ll come back for you. We’ll talk about everything when we get back. “But if you dare to lie… if you dare to joke about something like this, don’t ever come back to the Harrington family.”
He grabbed Sarah’s arm, gently helping her to her feet and pulling her into his embrace.
Sarah huddled in his broad arms and turned to look at me. Tears welled in her eyes, and her lips moved silently, forming the words “I’m sorry.”
But I clearly saw a flash of relief in her eyes. She knew she had won. She always did—using the most fragile innocence to secure the most complete victory.
“Kael! Wait!” I screamed hysterically, struggling desperately as the zip ties cut into my flesh and blood seeped out. “Don’t leave me behind! The countdown isn’t just three minutes—it’s about to explode! It—”
In that instant, the world turned a blinding white.
A massive shockwave, accompanied by a searing blast of heat, lifted me off the ground, followed immediately by a dizzying spin. A sensation of weightlessness washed over me, and I plummeted heavily into the bone-chilling depths of the ocean.
