Chapter 5
756words
"What?" My aunt was the first to scream as she grabbed him by the collar. "What nonsense is this, Grayson? You're supposed to be my daughter's boyfriend!"
Grayson's eyes turned red as his chest heaved violently. He smacked my aunt's hands away and pointed at me while roaring, "I was just pretending to be Monica's boyfriend. The person I've been in a relationship with for the past four years is Ella!
"If she hadn't kept her identity a secret and told me she was just an ordinary woman, we would've gotten married long ago!"
Monica's face turned pale, and she tugged hard at Grayson's sleeve to beg, "Stop it, Grayson. Stop all of this, I'm begging you! We're supposed to be a couple. You promised me—"
"That's enough!" Grayson pushed her away forcefully. "If I had known this, I wouldn't have agreed to help you out. Just look at how this turned out. You've destroyed my relationship with Ella. Let's never see each other ever again!"
The crowd's voice boomed across the deck. Everyone who had accused me was stunned by this revelation.
"Ella was the one who was being cheated on?"
"Grayson is such a jerk to be dating Ella and leaving her hanging for four years while trying his luck with Monica and pretending to be her boyfriend."
"I was wondering why Ella was glaring at Grayson that way the entire day. It turns out it's because Monica snatched her boyfriend. Monica's the mistress…"
Monica's expression became increasingly upset as she listened to everyone talking about her. She bit her lips and pointed at me viciously while screaming, "It doesn't matter if my relationship with Grayson is fake. She was the one who pushed me over the deck. All I wanted was to have someone by my side for my birthday, but she wanted me dead!"
Everyone turned to look at me once more with scrutinizing and questioning gazes. However, this time, no one trusted her as much due to her lie being freshly exposed.
Even so, my aunt and uncle refused to let this go. They continued accusing me.
"My daughter is young and gullible. All she did was make a minor mistake. She never intended to take your boyfriend from you. She was just pretending to be in a relationship with him. There's no need for you to retaliate so viciously by trying to kill her.
"Do you know that she's our only child? You grew up with her and know very well how weak her body is. What if she drowns in the sea, or gets seriously ill? Can you afford to face the consequences? How do you plan to compensate us? Even your parents won't be able to help you!"
I clenched my fists and was about to retort when several people close to Monica came up with an idea.
"Since Monica suffered in her hands, we should throw her into the sea as well to have a taste of what Monica went through. Nothing serious will happen to her since we have lifeguards on duty. That will be a good enough apology."
The other people close to Monica immediately agreed with this idea. "That's right. This is fair."
My aunt nodded in agreement. "Let's do it. Do you want to jump over yourself, Ella, or do you want us to throw you overboard?"
Grayson quickly came to my side and, for once, finally voiced out to stop this from happening. "I don't think this is a good idea. It's too dangerous. Besides, we haven't even looked at the surveillance footage."
"Shut up!" My aunt interrupted him. "This is our family business. An outsider like you has no right to poke your nose into this! It won't hurt her to soak in seawater for a while. We're not going to really drown her."
While she was speaking, those who agreed to the idea approached me gradually and forced me to the edge of the railing. My back stuck close to the railing while my fingers grabbed hard on the cold, metallic bar.
That was when a forceful voice stopped everyone. "Who dares touch her?!"
Everyone turned to look and saw Edwin walking quickly to the crowd to reach my side. He shielded me behind him with a cold look on his face.
Several security guards from the boat followed behind him, and one of them held up a tablet in the air while saying loudly, "Everyone, we have the security footage!"
