"If you truly loved him, you would agree to this," Samantha declared, her voice rising. "If you really love Leo, you should dive in and retrieve that medicine bottle for him."

Leo indulged Samantha. Following her suggestion, he booked out this underwater performance venue solely for this test.

"I've placed the medicine that can save my life at the bottom of the pool. If you truly love me, you should retrieve it for me." Leo shoved a swimsuit designed to dissolve in water into Angelina's hands. "You have to get the bottle before the suit disintegrates."

Stunned by his words, she froze. Then, a bitter laugh escaped her lips, her heart bleeding. "Leo, have you forgotten I have thalassophobia?" At this moment, her heart turned as cold as an ice cellar. Suddenly, loving him felt utterly pointless.

"I'll dive with you," Samantha announced loudly. "If I win, the whole world will see your pathetic struggle underwater!"

The crowd gathered outside the venue buzzed with excitement. This was, after all, an adult entertainment venue! Leering eyes, thick with vulgarity, raked over Angelina's body. Everyone wanted a glimpse of the world-renowned designer's stunning figure.

Angelina shuddered under their predatory gaze.

"Leo! Surely you don't agree to this? The water's too deep! My fear could make me cramp!"

Leo remained unmoved, his voice icy. "Can't you even overcome a little fear like that?"

"What?" Angelina gasped, disbelief washing over her.

"Samantha is willing to make this bet for me. What about you?

"Isn't she afraid?"

Angelina stood frozen. Samantha was a diving champion. This absurd wager was rigged from the start. A chilling heaviness, like iron chains, coiled around Angelina's heart, squeezing the breath from her lungs.

Three years ago, he'd developed emotional detachment disorder. He never truly believed Angelina loved him.

It wasn't until that island vacation, when he fell overboard while fishing, that she risked her life, plunging into shark-infested waters to save him.

Only then did Leo open his heart, placing her above all else.

"You were willing to jump into a sea surrounded by sharks for me. I know you're the one." Leo promised then that for her, he would actively seek treatment, pledging eternal loyalty and commitment, swearing they would never part.

But since Samantha's return, everything had reset to zero. The tests began anew.

If Samantha suddenly craved a taste of home, Leo would cancel their meticulously planned months-long anniversary dinner without a hint of apology.

If Samantha felt down and needed company, Leo could vanish for days without a word. When he returned, he'd dismiss it with, "Samantha needed me. You know she's still adjusting to being back."

Angelina told herself over and over: He's still sick. It's the trauma. He needs time...

For the sake of that promise forged with her life, she chose tolerance and compromise, again and again.

But now, suddenly, none of it seemed to matter. After saving Leo, she developed thalassophobia. Diving beyond a certain depth triggered paralyzing terror. How could he not know that?

Yet now, Leo's voice was like shards of ice. "Samantha's already in the water. How much longer do you plan to dawdle?"

"What if President Hayes were dying and needed that medicine? Could you not even save him then?

"Seems your love isn't as strong as you claim." Samantha, treading water, ready to dive, couldn't resist a parting shot: "You won't dare compete with me?"

Angelina bit her lip.

"Fine."

She took a deep breath, casting one last look at Leo's indifferent face on the deck and the revolting, greedy stares from the audience seats.

Then, she closed her eyes and plunged into the deep pool.

Cold instantly enveloped her, water pressure stabbing her eardrums. The icy water clung to her skin as terror surged like a tidal wave.

Every kick downward felt impossibly heavy.

Worse, she could feel the swimsuit dissolving. The shoulder straps vanished first, then the fabric at her waist... Cold water rushed directly against her exposed skin.

Humiliation sliced through her like a knife; she could almost hear the audience through the thick glass.

Instinctively, she tried to cover herself, disrupting her balance underwater. She choked violently! "Cough!..." Icy water flooded her nose and throat.

Suffocation and deep-water terror peaked at that moment! Her consciousness began to blur, the stiffness spreading from her limbs throughout her body...

"Look! Quick! Look! Her suit's melting!" "Tsk tsk, so pale..." "Zoom in! Yes, focus on her!" "Look at her struggle! Hah, better than the show!"

The photographers stationed outside immediately pressed their shutter buttons.

Within moments, Samantha retrieved the medicine bottle from the depths. As she turned, she deliberately hooked Angelina's bra strap.

Angelina felt the last vestige of privacy ripped away underwater.

Suddenly, the pool's spotlights all focused on her.

The shame tore her apart before the crowd.

Angelina jerked her head up, looking through the glass at the audience.

Leo watched her, but his eyes held no concern, only detached amusement. He held a glass of red wine, his other arm draped around Samantha, clad in a revealing bikini.

The audience erupted in a deafening roar.

Their bloated faces pressed against the glass with lecherous expressions. Intense humiliation felt like blades cutting into her skin.

Underwater terror relentlessly pushed her into the abyss. She felt her strength ebbing away. She released her hands, ceasing her struggle to swim, letting her body sink slowly.

"She's stopped moving!" someone yelled.

The raucous laughter abruptly ceased for a few seconds.

Leo's hand holding the wineglass paused slightly, his gaze fixed on the motionless figure below the surface.

Angelina floated in the water, her pale face pressed against the pool wall. The swimsuit fabric was almost entirely dissolved, only tattered scraps clinging to her body, barely covering anything.

"Tch, she's faking it," Samantha sneered.

"I told you, how could she really be afraid? She jumped into shark-infested waters to save someone before. Diving now is nothing. She's just fishing for sympathy."

The audience buzzed with whispers again. "Maybe she wants Mr. Hayes to jump in and save her. How cunning."

"Exactly, flaunting herself like that for attention. What a designer, she really knows how to play the game."

Leo frowned, seeming irritated by the comments.

He set down his glass, about to say something, when Samantha suddenly covered her mouth, gasping, "Oh! Leo, look at her face! Is she... is something wrong?"

Angelina's face was indeed frighteningly pale, her lips bluish-purple, her body swaying gently with the current, showing no sign of struggle.

A spectator near the pool edge shouted, "Something's wrong! She seems to have really passed out! Quick! Someone help her!"

Even Samantha's face changed color now.

She only wanted Angelina humiliated, not genuinely hurt.

Samantha immediately dove back in. Staff on the deck followed suit.

Angelina was hauled out, practically naked, sprawled on the deck like a drowned dog.

"Cough..." Her consciousness had just returned. As she lifted her head, she met eyes as cold as a deep, dark pool.

"What are you pretending for?" Leo gripped her chin, his thumb pressing down with crushing force.

Angelina, utterly drained, had no strength. Leo took the medicine bottle Samantha had retrieved from the depths and hurled it back into the pool.

"Didn't you say you loved me?

"Go on! Get it back for me!"

Physically and emotionally shattered, Angelina felt her lungs burning, every breath a tearing agony. Her vision darkened.

She opened her mouth to speak, but only a weak whimper came out: "I..."

Before she could catch her breath, rough hands grabbed her arms.

Staff, following Leo's silent command, threw her back into the water.

The piercing cold instantly flooded her nose, tearing her apart.

"Gurgle gurgle..."

The sensation of imminent drowning choked her.

Angelina mustered every ounce of strength, fighting to surface, gasping, "Stop... please..."

Her voice was faint as a mosquito's buzz.

Samantha watched, a flash of triumph in her eyes, quickly masked by a look of pitying superiority. She sighed softly, "Sigh... it seems Miss Crawford's love isn't as deep or selfless as she always claimed.

"If it were me, I'd have had that bottle ages ago."

"Isn't that what loving someone means?"

Leo's brow tightened, the coldness in his eyes deepening.

He looked down from the deck at Angelina struggling desperately in the water.

"Is this all your love amounts to? Can't even manage this little thing?"

Angelina felt her body losing control, her strength draining away. She strained to speak to him, "Leo... you... if this continues, do you know the consequences?"

Leo let out a derisive laugh, his gaze glacial.

"Consequences?

"Angelina, are you threatening me? What consequences? Loving me, sacrificing everything for me – isn't that the natural, unquestionable duty of the woman who belongs to me?

"What right do you have to threaten me with 'consequences'? Trying to force my hand? Drop this pathetic act!"

His words felt more suffocating than the water.

Summoning the last vestiges of her strength, her arms trembling violently, she clawed at the cold tile edge of the pool.

She stared into those emotionless eyes.

"And you? Have you ever considered me?"

"What have you ever sacrificed for me?"

A sudden, bitter laugh bubbled up. She didn't understand anymore. What had these ten years been for?

If Leo truly loved her, how could he let Samantha humiliate her like this?

If Leo truly loved her, how could he expose her, practically naked, for others to gawk at?

How could he know her terror of deep water and still have her thrown in?

Perhaps... Leo had stopped loving her long ago!

Angelina heard a shattering sound inside her. Her heart, her body, everything felt broken.

The absurdity was, she had been deceiving herself, refusing to face reality.

Samantha leaned down, looking at her from above.

"Miss Crawford, giving up already?”

"I'll give you one last chance. Get the medicine bottle.

"Otherwise, I'll release footage of your disgraceful performance today to the world."

Angelina glared fiercely at Samantha, her lips twisting in a cold sneer. "Do whatever you want." She commanded the staff to pull her out. Grabbing a towel, she wrapped it tightly around herself. "Angelina! Get back here!" Leo's furious roar echoed behind her.

"If you dare leave, it's over between us! Don't regret it later!"

Once, such a threat would have stopped her heart. She would have instantly turned back, begging for his forgiveness.

Now, nothing mattered.

She pulled out her phone and sent a message to Eli: "Eli, I accept your pursuit."

Almost instantly, the screen lit up: "Really? That's wonderful! I'll book a flight abroad right now!" Seeing the palpable joy flood the screen, a flicker of warmth, tinged with sour ache, pierced Angelina's numb, frozen heart.

Shame quickly followed.

Eli had always watched over her silently. Even when Leo had ceased treating her as a lover, openly allowing Samantha to humiliate her.

Eli saw her trapped in Leo's pathological suspicion and indifference, saw her tormented night after night.

He had asked her once, with heartbreaking sincerity, "Angelina, our families are old friends. Our parents agreed on the engagement long ago. But I respect your choice. Yet Leo... he doesn't love you. Why... won't you look at me? Give me a chance?"

Angelina drew a deep, shuddering breath, the cold air filling her lungs like a lifeline.

She gripped her phone tightly, as if clutching a salvation she'd nearly lost.

Thank god.

Thank god someone was still willing to cherish her, even as she drowned in the vortex.

As she turned to leave, chaos erupted in the audience stands.

With a crash, the metal barrier buckled. Several men with lecherous eyes broke through and charged towards her.

"Don't leave yet, beautiful! We didn't get enough of your underwater show!"

"Play with us, huh?"

Angelina froze, completely unprepared. Before she could even refuse, hands grabbed at the towel wrapped around her, tearing at it.

"Let... let go of me!" Weak from near-drowning, she couldn't fight back. She was slammed onto the cold tiles, her bare skin scraping painfully, making her vision blur.

Just as despair swallowed her, she heard familiar footsteps.

Leo and Samantha were preparing to leave.

But the instant Leo glanced over, his face changed. He lunged towards her with an almost instinctive desperation.

Seeing this, Angelina's shattered heart stirred with a flicker of warmth.

Tears welled uncontrollably. She tried to call out to Leo for help, but the words choked in her throat.

Leo stopped abruptly, his expression reverting to its usual icy detachment.

He looked at her as if she were a piece of inconvenient trash, indifferently shifting his gaze away. She knew.

Leo was waiting for her to beg.

Waiting for her to crawl to him, to appease him with abject humility, just like before.

Angelina felt herself go mute. The cold of the tiles seeped into her bones, colder than the drowning water. Her heart seemed to die completely at that moment.