Chapter 7
Calista barely managed to drag herself back to her room. She shot Harper a quick message about what was going on, then stared at her phone, waiting and waiting, but Harper never texted back.
Night had just fallen, and the sea was shrouded in a thin mist.
Calista crept up to the top deck, step by step, where Beatrice was standing there, her back turned to her.
"Tristan's been watching over you all this time. Isn't that enough? What more are you after?" Calista said coldly.
Calista's voice was icy.
She hadn't wanted to come at all, but a bunch of waiters had practically hauled her over here. Calista knew exactly what Beatrice was scheming. She just wanted to use Calista to give herself more leverage.
Beatrice turned around with a smile, then forcefully pulled Calista out onto the terrace.
As soon as they stopped, Beatrice suddenly dropped to her knees.
"Please, don't force me anymore! Lucas is still so little. He can't be without his dad! And now I'm pregnant again. I swear, I never wanted to steal him from you!" Beatrice cried out.
Tristan and Benjamin rushed over to the terrace.
When Tristan saw what was happening, he shouted furiously at Calista.
"Calista, how long are you going to keep causing trouble? If you keep this up, there's no chance for us. It's over for good!"
Beatrice was shaking her head over and over, crying her heart out.
"No, Tristan, don't threaten her like that! She just loves you too much. She's just gone a little too far. She'll figure it out someday! Please, don't come any closer and make things worse for her!" Beatrice pleaded.
Calista hung her head, looking down at the two of them below, tears streaming down her face.
"Tristan, do you even remember what today is? So this is your idea of a birthday present for me, huh?" Calista whispered.
Benjamin frowned and dashed toward the terrace, with Tristan right on his heels.
They were both out of breath as they rounded the corner, only to hear a blood-curdling scream coming from the terrace.
The terrace railing snapped, and Calista and Beatrice went tumbling over the edge together.
Beatrice clung to the railing, desperately reaching out toward Calista, her hands scrambling for anything to hold onto.
"No!" Tristan yelled.
He lunged, but couldn't even catch the edge of Calista's dress.
Benjamin rushed up right after, yanking Beatrice back, but the bodyguards behind him held him fast, refusing to let him move.
All they could do was watch, helpless, as Calista squeezed her eyes shut in despair and fell backwards into the dark sea below.
The sea was shrouded in heavy mist, and guests on the far side of the deck cried out in surprise.
"Look! A shark just leapt out of the water!" someone called out.
As soon as Calista hit the water, someone was already there, fitting an oxygen mask on her. She stuck close to them, and together they swam toward a nearby boat.
Calista glanced back one last time at the distant cruise ship, then gunned the engine and vanished into the darkness on a speedboat.
'Tristan, Benjamin... this is goodbye. In this lifetime, our paths will never cross again,' Calista told herself.
All night long, the sea was filled with the shouts of search parties, their voices echoing across the misty waves.
Benjamin stood on the deck of a boat, his gaze fixed on every ripple and shift in the water, tense and unblinking.
"If one boat isn't enough, get me two more! I want her found, dead or alive, within three days!" Benjamin barked, his voice cutting through the night.
Benjamin stood with the wind whipping across his face, his skin swollen and scratched from the ordeal.
His secretary handed him an ice pack, and as Benjamin took it, he spotted a speedboat tearing off into the night.
The secretary glanced over and quickly explained, "That's the boat Mr. Calloway sent to get Ms. Rayne to the hospital.
"She collapsed on the cruise and still hasn't come to. Mr. Calloway was so worried, he paid a hefty sum to buy a boat nearby. Word is, Mr. Mason fell ill on the cruise too, but..."
The secretary hesitated, and Benjamin gave him a hard glare.
"Spit it out!" Benjamin snapped.
The secretary continued, "Mason found out Ms. Rayne is pregnant, and that Ms. Wolfe pushed her from the terrace. Then, when we demanded the ship stop to rescue her, you and Mr. Calloway got into a fight.
"Just now, Mason made it clear that the Calloway family won't work with anyone connected to the Thorpes anymore..."
"Mr. Thorpe, if you don't head back soon, things at the company are gonna get messy..." the secretary urged.
"Get more people out there, widen the search. Whatever it takes! I'm not leaving until I find Calista myself!" Benjamin shot back, determined.
Realizing Benjamin wouldn't budge, the secretary scrambled to call for more boats and crew.
Benjamin gripped the rail so hard his knuckles turned white, eyes glued to the waves, hoping for any sign, any good news at all.
'Calista's gotta be safe. I've sent up countless prayers for her, at every shrine I could find… She just has to be okay,' Benjamin thought.
Off in the distance, a bunch of people were working together to pull up a fishing net.
Benjamin held his breath, telling his crew to get them closer, fast.
When the net finally came up to the surface, all they found was just a heap of bones and half-eaten fish.
"Sir, there were a lot of sharks out last night. The person you're looking for... she might have..." one of the crew hesitated.
"Shut up!" Benjamin snapped, veins standing out on his forehead as he glared at his men.
"No way! If you can't find her in the water, then gut every shark in these waters! I refuse to believe that, even if you have to slaughter every last one, we still won't find her!" Benjamin shouted.
The crew was worn out, but nobody dared to question Benjamin's desperate orders.
By now, the sharks were long gone. There was no way they'd still be in the same spot.
Nearby, another fishing boat pulled up its net, and as the crew revealed what they'd found, everyone fell silent, their eyes fixed on Benjamin, who stood there in shock, barely able to process what was happening.
It was the swollen, waterlogged body of a woman.