Self

Chapter 100

A treguard was crucial in the deep dive zone. There was no question about

# Rainie had me noticed in time, Yara would have

Well, it would not have been good.

The lifeguard was not about to let such a heavy accusation sit on his shoulders. With a sly grin, he tried to weasel his way out.

“Look, I just had a bit of a stomach ache, okay? Last I checked, there’s no rule against hitting the bathroom on the job.

“And hey, accidents happen in the ocean all the time. Your friend’s fine now, right?” He shrugged, oozing indifference that made Rainie want to id her

teeth.

Yara felt a chill creeping over her, and a sea breeze made her shiver.

She sneezed.

Rainie could see right through their game of hot potato. She wanted to get to the bottom of it, but then Yara sneezed and coughed again. Rainie had bigger fish to fry and hurried to get her onto the rescue chopper.

At the hospital, the nurse took one look at Yara’s soaked clothes and handed

her a dry set to change into.

Rainie was concerned about her hand and ensured the doctor thoroughly checked it. Luckily, it was just a minor sprain, nothing broken. After a few days‘ rest and some bruise–healing ointment, they were back on a water chopper to their island hotel.

Still fuming, Rainie confronted the hotel’s dive service manager. The manager was polite enough but kept dodging the issue, never admitting the hotel was at fault.

In the middle of their heated exchange, Yale walked in, just back from hist outing. He caught bits of their conversation, enough to pick up Yara’s name. and piece together that she had had a close call while diving.

He was not there, but the snippets he heard were enough to send a shiver down his spine.

He thought about Yara, how she was such a scaredy–cat, always needing to call him when she was home alone, only able to drift off to sleep to the sound of his voice. He could not even begin to guess how freaked out she must be after her brush with danger.

He was about to step in with some comforting words when he noticed Shane, who had somehow slipped in unnoticed, hovering over Yara like a hawk.

Yale felt a flash of irritation but quickly smoothed his features and moved. closer. “Yara, I got wind of the scare you had. The ocean’s no joke; if you missed any injuries, that could spell trouble.

“Lucky for you, Johnson Corp just set up a private hospital in Malé. Why don’t I whisk you away for a thorough checkup?”

Shane’s eyes narrowed, and he had a slight smirk on his fac report’s right there on the table. Missed it, did you?

The checkup

“The place downtown’s pretty good; no point in running the same tests twice. Yara was in shock. She needs rest now more than anything. Get it?”

Shane paused, a pointed look in his eyes. “It seems like you’re missing the finer details. Always clueless about what a woman really needs.”

Yale glanced at the report on the table and let out a scoff. “A tiny clinic’s word, and you’re sold?

“The Johnson family’s checkup center’s got everything, top of the line. We can zip through the checkup in under 30, and seeing is believing, right?”

Shane said, “I’m not in the mood for a debate. If you truly care about her, you’d let her rest now.”

“Am I not trying to do what’s best for her? What about you–acting all high and mighty? Yara’s not on your payroll, so she doesn’t have to dance to your tune.”

Yara watched the two d

fight, their words escalating from tense to

explosive, and it gave her a pounding headache.

Fed up with their bickering, Yara just headed back to her room.

In the pitch–black room, Yara gazed around, feeling lost. A mysterious glow wrapped around her, making her body sway with the light.

She felt quessy and tried to raise her hand, only to find her arms and legs were like lead, totally beyond her control.

That terrifying sensation of being dragged down, like she was on the verge of tumbling into an endless pit, jolted her upright in a panic.