I fell to the ground, my heart aching as if it were bleeding. I was an orphan. When he first learned that, he had promised to protect me and give me a real home. Now, he was using it to attack me, throwing those cruel words about being born of a mother but not raised by a father.

I tried to get up, but Milo came over and pushed me back down. "Kneel for me."

"Milo, I have a child in my belly. I can't kneel. I know I was wrong; it's all my fault. Please stop hitting me."

I felt pain in my stomach, and if it kept up, I might lose the baby. I said quickly, "I'll ride the jet ski, I'll ride the jet ski, just stop hitting me."

"Milo, everyone came out to have fun and be happy. Seeing you hit your Alia like this makes me feel bad too." Dakota came over to help me up. "Milo's just angry right now. Let's go ride the jet ski for a bit. Once his anger passes, it'll be fine. Let's just stay away from him for now."

"Dakota is really generous."

"It's rare to find someone this kind nowadays."

The colleagues all spoke up one after another. With that, Dakota pulled me toward the jet ski area.

I was truly scared now, because no one was willing to help me. I was used to swallowing my anger.

Dakota was not a good person, but what she said was right. I needed to stay away from Milo for now.

There were two jet skis. Dakota got on one, and I got on the other. The engines roared as we sped over the waves toward the open sea.

I thought that if I were careful, riding the jet ski would still be better than being beaten by Milo. But I didn't expect the driver to keep doing dangerous tricks.

On the shore, colleagues kept shouting in surprise. When the jet ski lifted into the air again, I fell into the water.

Dakota's side also had trouble; she fell in, too.

After we both fell, Milo jumped into the water. When I saw him swimming toward me, I felt conflicted. Maybe, in the face of life and death, he still cared about me.

But when he swam right past me and headed toward Dakota, my heart went completely cold.

"Dakota's on her period. You hold on a bit longer," he said, then swam farther toward her.

Those words were like a knife to my heart. Watching him get farther away, a desperate will to survive rose inside me. You want me dead? I refuse to die.

Calm down… I had to stay calm.