Arabe had said she was afraid they''d use the opportunity to settle a personal score—that they might even sabotage the rescue.


    Given the bad blood between the Lockridges and the Fawkes family, Gregory could understand her suspicion and refusal.


    What he couldn''t understand was Glenn. He hadn''t even let Gregory finish his sentence before shutting him down. Not only had he refused, but he had coldly warned him to leave immediately. At one point, when a search party was short on people, Glenn had chosen to go down himself rather than let any of the Fawkes


    men near.


    Gregory decided not to add fuel to the fire.


    He didn''t dare tell Soren how they were being ostracized. Instead, he tried to soften the blow. "Mr. Fawkes, there are already a lot of people searching here. I don''t think we can be of much help. Maybe it''s best to leave it to them."


    "Besides, your engagement party with Miss Yates is in two days. You should probably..."


    Before Gregory could finish, Soren hung up.


    Evangeline''s life was on the line, and this was all his fault. How could he possibly


    stand by and do nothing?


    What was an engagement partypared to a matter of life and death?


    ...


    When Evangeline woke up, water was flooding into her nose and mouth from all directions.


    She forced her eyes open and felt an uncontroble buoyancy lift her body. Only then did she realize she was in the water.


    She hadn''t died?


    As the realization hit, Evangeline thrashed her arms and legs, desperately fighting to get her head above the surface.


    She saw then that she was in argeke, floating near the edge.


    "Finn?"


    Evangeline''s heart lurched as she remembered. Before she fell, she had watched Finn let go of the rope.


    She frantically scanned the water around her. To her relief, she quickly spotted Finn''s sinking form behind her.


    Her heart plummeted.


    Evangeline swam to him in a panic, struggling to hold his body up.


    Whether it was because of the coldke water or something else, the moment she touched him, she felt an rming iciness in his fingertips.


    "Finn, hang on! I''ll get you out of here!" Evangeline''s voice trembled.


    Ignoring the ache in her own limbs, she wrapped an arm around him and began the clumsy, exhausting swim to the shore.


    Thankfully they hadnded not far from the bank. With every ounce of her strength, she dragged him onto thend. He still unconscious Was Without hesitation, she began administering CPR.


    She lost track of time, her hands shaking from exertion and cold.


    But Finn remained motionless.


    A terrible thought shed through her mind.


    Her fingers went stiff. Her body, already soaked and freezing, grew even colder.


    With a trembling hand, she reached out and ced her index finger under his nose.


    There was no breath.


    It felt as if something inside her


    mind had copsed. Struck by a


    grief so profound it felt like lightning,


    e lightning,


    Evangeline sank to the ground,


    stunned.


    "No, it''s impossible!"


    "Finn, don''t scare me."


    "Wake up."


    "I''m begging you, please wake up."


    Evangeline''s mind went nk.


    She was beyond fear. Cradling Finn''s body, she began to weep, huge tears rolling down her cheeks The quilt of thinking she had caused his death was overshadowed by an agonizing pain, as if her very soul was being ripped from her body.


    Why wasn''t she the one who died?


    Why was she still alive?


    In that moment, Evangeline finally understood what true despair felt like.


    She closed her swollen eyes, and for the first time in her life, a powerful urge to end


    it all, to just die right there, flooded her mind.


    She picked up a sharp rock from the ground and turned her other wrist over.


    Gritting her teeth, she steeled herself.


    Evangeline gathered all her strength, preparing to slice downward, when a warm hand suddenly mped around her wrist.