Chapter 19

Sarah shoved me roughly into the pool. I tried to fight back, but her strength was too much for me. Instead, I held onto her arm tightly as I tumbled back, causing her to fall in with me.

We plunged into the water, my gown weighing me down as I struggled to keep my head above the surface.

I never learned to swim.

I tried screaming for help. Each time I opened my mouth, it would fill with water and drown out my pleas.

Sarah, too, was crying and yelling in hopes that someone would come to us. She was thrashing around in the water, just splashing me the more she struggled.

Panic started to settle in as my skirts grew heavier and I was having a harder time catching my breath. I couldn’t keep myself afloat any longer, my limbs felt full of lead.

My lungs begged for air as a burning sensation started in the pit of my stomach.

The burning grew fiery and violent, making my entire body feel cold and hot at the same time. A ball of energy was developing in my diaphragm, like something was trying to rip itself from my insides.

I opened my mouth to scream in pain, but inhaled a lung full of water. I couldn’t stand it anymore.

My limbs were heavy, my body was tired. Black spots danced in my vision as I finally let myself sink deeper into the water. I was too exhausted to fight anymore.

As my consciousness drifted off, a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around me and pulled me to the surface. I gasped and choked, trying to expel the water from my lungs as I was lifted out of the water. I was fading in and out, watching glimpses of people surrounding me as I lay on the ground.

When I finally came to my senses fully, I saw Ethan looking down at me with a panicked expression on his face. Droplets of water fell from the strands of his hair, his white dress shirt stuck to his rigid abdomen from moisture.

He saved me.

He draped his suit jacket over me like he had a few days ago. I blinked at him and he asked if I felt okay to sit up. I nodded and he helped me.

Sarah was crying a few feet away.

“Why would you push me into the pool?” She wailed, mascara running down her face.

“I didn’t!” I insisted, my voice hoarse and strained. I looked up at Ethan with wide eyes. The crowd around us murmured in hushed whispers as Sarah continued to sob. “Sarah pushed me.” I told him.

“Sarah wouldn’t stoop that low,” Someone from the group shouted back at me. “She doesn’t have a bad bone in her body, she’s too gentle for this nonsense.”

I grimaced at the accusation. Everyone else started to agree with them, calling me a liar and a jealous nobody.

I looked at Sarah, mouth agape with shock. I couldn’t believe the maliciousness of this girl. She was a master at manipulating her crowd. She knew what she was doing. Who would believe me over her?

I was - like they said - a nobody. I have no wolf and no real accomplishments to my name. Sarah, on the other hand, was the cherished and well-known daughter of an incredibly successful alpha. There was no contest, she was beloved by everyone.

I shook my head, hoping Ethan didn’t believe her either.

His eyes were hard and unreadable as he looked down at me. For a moment, I was sure he was seeing me for the worthless girl I truly was. He swallowed thickly, his jaw tensing.

“I believe you,” He told me in a serious tone. I thought that I might cry in relief at his statement.

He looped one arm around my back, the other under my knees, and lifted me from the tile floor by the pool. With me in his arms, he abandoned Sarah and her fans.

On the stretch to our room, he refused to put me down. I had flashbacks to the night that I fell in the shower. The way he covered me and carried me to my bed. He had such a knack for finding me in my moments of need and protecting me from myself.

We rode the elevator up to our room, and once we were safely inside, he set me down to see if I could stand on my own.

He started rifling through the suitcases we packed, looking for some clothes that I could change into that were dry.

“You really believe me?” I questioned, dropping his suit jacket from my shoulders and placing it on the corner of the bed.

Ethan looked up from the suitcase. He watched me as if I had just said the most outlandish thing in the world; as though I asked if the sky was really blue.

“Of course,” He stated. “I will always believe you.”

I wondered if that was really true. If it was, what had I done to convince him that I was so trustworthy? I would never deliberately hurt Ethan, of course, but was he so sure of me?

“Here.” He handed me one of his t-shirts and a pair of boxer shorts. I frowned at the clothes, not taking them from him.

“Those are yours.” I insisted, “I don’t want to take something from you.”

Ethan raised his eyebrows and he let his eyes rake over my body to make a point. I was shaking and cold, but that wasn’t what he was looking at.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the full length mirror in the bathroom, and gasped. The dress was wet and practically see-through. The light blue fabric showed every dark patch of skin and clung to my every inch. Ethan could see my body as clearly as if I were standing naked in front of him.

I was horrified for a minute, thinking back to the crowd that gathered around the pool and saw me in a similar state.

I snatched the shirt from Ethan’s hand and covered my chest with it.

“I’ll be right back,” I mumbled and went into the bathroom to change. I could hear Ethan chuckling as I turned and a warm blush brightened my skin

I stripped the dress off like it was a second skin, and put Ethan’s shirt and shorts on. The dry fabric warmed my fatigued muscles. His t-shirt fell to my mid-thighs and his shorts needed to be rolled up a few times to fit properly on my hips. I never considered myself a small girl, but I realized just how muscley Ethan actually was.

When I emerged, Ethan was reading a few articles on his phone in bed.

I had a towel draped around my shoulders to dry my hair, and sat by him on the mattress. I halfheartedly ran the brush through my tangled locks, but my shoulders were sore from attempting - and failing - to swim.

I didn’t have the energy to do it properly.

“Want my help?” Ethan looked up from his phone and asked. I sighed, handing him the brush.

He pulled me into his lap, just as he had before, and gently combed through my hair.

“Why do you believe me?” I asked quietly as he worked through the knots.

Ethan hummed as he thought about his answer. I waited with bated breath. Maybe he only believed me because he was contractually obligated to - me being his wife and all.

“Sarah is a manipulative person,” He finally said after a few moments. “She likes to get people to believe that she’s always innocent and sweet, and then uses that trust to make them do what she wants them to.”

“That makes sense.” I scoff slightly, making Ethan chuckle.

“Trust me, what she did tonight was child’s play compared to what she’s done in the past. Like what happened when we were dating.”