Water filled Venice's nose and mouth, her vision blurring as she broke the surface just long enough to see Kevin lifting Stefanie out of the pool.
He laid her on the ground, shouting her name, pressing on her chest, his face pale with panic. Then, as if driven by instinct, he tilted her chin up—and pressed his lips against hers to breathe for her.
Something inside Venice cracked. Her heart plummeted like a stone sinking to the bottom.
The strength drained from her limbs. She let herself fall, sinking deeper, her body going numb, her mind empty.
Suddenly a faint shimmer gleamed before her eyes. The light came from the necklace in Stefanie's hand.
No. She couldn't die. Not yet.
She still had to reclaim her mother's ashes and marry Adam.
With the last of her strength, Venice clawed her way to the surface, gasping, dragging herself inch by inch toward the edge of the pool where the necklace glimmered faintly.
She was almost there when a shadow loomed above her.
Kevin stood over her, his face cold, his gaze sharp as a blade dipped in poison.
"Venice, when will you ever learn?" he hissed. "I told you to get along with Stefanie. Why do you insist on disappointing me?"
Venice's eyes were red, her fingers trembling as she signed desperately:
[I didn't!]
[I just wanted the necklace back—it holds my mother's—]
"Enough!" he snapped. "Clearly, the last lesson wasn't harsh enough. You still don't know your place."
He turned, snatched the pendant from Stefanie's limp hand, and flung it into the deepest part of the pool.
"You want it so badly? Go fetch it yourself."
Then he picked Stefanie up in his arms and strode away without another glance.
Venice let out a strangled gasp and dove into the water once more.
Her fingers brushed the pendant, finally closing around it—but when she opened it, she froze.
The ashes inside had dissolved, washed away by the chlorine and water.
Venice clutched the empty locket to her chest, tears mixing with the pool water.
At that moment, everything inside her went silent.
She would never forgive Kevin! Never, in this lifetime or the next.
As the last of her strength ebbed away, she stopped fighting. The cold seeped into her bones, pulling her down.
And this time, she didn't resurface.
That night, Venice came down with a raging fever that quickly worsened into pneumonia.