After I

Chapter 1

The company organized a team–building rafting trip, and my boyfriend and I were assigned to the same boat as his sweetheart, Lisbeth.

At first, everything went smoothly.

However, when we approached a steep drop with a high vertical fall, the boat suddenly capsized.

The cause of the capsize was Lisbeth, who, upon spotting an unfamiliar purple flower growing on a rocky cliff. ignored my warnings and reached out to pick it. As we navigated the treacherous descent, the boat lost its balance instantly.

After we plunged into the water, we found ourselves trapped beneath the boat. Drawing on my experience, I instinctively tried to push it away. If we didn’t drown, we would suffocate beneath it.

But Lisbeth, paralyzed with fear, chung desperately to the boat’s railing, refusing to let go..

Desperate. I reached out to calm her, but she seemed to see me as her lifeline, clutching my neck with both hands.

A wave of intense suffocation surged over me. Breathing became increasingly difficult, and I felt a slurp blow to the back of my neck. The suffocation momentarily eclipsed the pain.

Survival instinct drove me to free myself from Lisbeth’s grip, but she held on like an octopus, her limbs wrapped around me and making escape impossible.

Fortunately, my boyfriend. Nicolas, arrived just in time. Without hesitation, he plunged into the torrent, struggling to pull us both to a nearby rock.

I lay there gasping for air, while Lisbeth remained motionless on the rock.

Anyone observing would have assumed her condition was more critical.

So. Nicolas naturally attended to her first.

“Eleanor, Liz’s condition isn’t good. I’ll take her first. Don’t worry, other rescuers will arrive soon!”

Hearing this, I panicked.

“Nicolas, I’m so dizzy. Don’t, don’t leave me…”

I clutched the collar of his shirt, pleading softly.

But in the next moment, Nicolas tossed me aside without hesitation.

“Eleanor, stop making a scene! Liz can’t swim. Can’t you see she’s pale? Be reasonable!”

With that, he carried Lisbeth away without looking back.

I stared blankly at his retreating figure, letting out a self–deprecating laugh. A rush of water slammed against me from the side.

Exhausted and powerless, my limp body was pushed further into the water by the current. Finally, I crashed against a rock and lost consciousness forever.

I wasn’t sure where my body would end up, but my spirit followed Nicolas to the hospital.

Lisbeth had sustained some abrasions and a broken right arm, necessitating a week of hospitalization.

In the ward, Lisbeth, already awake, erted in Nicolas’s arms as she gazed at her casted arm.

“It was so terrifying. I told Eleanor not to move around, but she didn’t listen. That’s when the boat suddenly lost balance and capsized…

Nicolas gently patted her back, sopthing her with soft reassurances.

“It’s okay, don’t he scared. I’ll love Eleanor cone and apologize to you. What she did today was certainly excessive.”

I leaned against the wall, unable to suppress a smile.

Chapter 1

This was the difference between Lisbeth and me. No matter what she said. Nicolas accepted it without question.

I had always believed that afters of being together, he knew me well.

He should have known that someone with my calm demeanor would never engage in such reckless behavior.

But in the end. I had overestimated my place in his heart.

Regrettably, the apology he sought was one I could not provide.

Even if I were still alive, I would never apologize to Lisbeth, as she did not deserve it.

Suddenly, Lisbeth looked up with red–rimmed eyes and asked Nicolas. “Nicky, my hand won’t be permanently damaged. will?”

Nicolas shook his head reassuringly. “Of course not. The doctor said the fracture isn’t severe.”

Lisbeth’s anxiety lingered. “Will there be a scar?”

The thought made her cry more.

“I don’t have a partner yet. If there are scars, how will I ever get married? Nicky, you have to be responsible for me!” “Alright, alright. Since it’s Eleanor’s fault, I will certainly take responsibility.”

Nicolas hell her close, speaking softly to calm her anxious emotions.

I watched in silence, feeling like a voyeur intruding on someone else’s happiness.

Even though I was Nicolas’s legitimate girlfriend, he had never comforted me in the way he comforted Lisbeth.

Asurge of frustration made me want to confront Nicolas and ask him what I truly meant to him.