Marcus: Clara! No! Stop!
Marcus screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to push past his mother to run down the deck stairs, but two heavy hands grabbed his shoulders from behind[cite: 1]. Evelyn’s chief head of security, Richard, held Marcus back with a grip like iron[cite: 1].
Marcus: Let me go, Richard! That’s my wife and my son! Let me go!
Evelyn: Calm down, Marcus[cite: 1]. Stop making a scene in front of the crew[cite: 1].
Marcus: You let her fall! You just stood there and watched her slip off the railing!
Evelyn: She fell because she was careless[cite: 1]. You saw it yourself[cite: 1]. It was an unfortunate accident[cite: 1].
The heavy impact of Clara hitting the ocean water sounded like a gunshot over the roaring engine noise[cite: 1]. A massive plume of white foam shot into the air beside the yacht’s white hull[cite: 1].
Underneath the surface, cold salt water stung Clara’s eyes as she was forced deep into the blue abyss[cite: 1]. The shock nearly stole the air straight from her lungs, but her arms remained locked around baby Toby like a vice[cite: 1]. She kicked her feet frantically, her chest burning for oxygen as she fought her way back up toward the light filtering down through the surface[cite: 1].
Clara: Break... the water... keep him up...
With a desperate kick, Clara broke through the foam, coughing up salt water and sucking in a ragged breath of cold air[cite: 1]. She lifted the blue blanket above the waves[cite: 1]. Toby was coughing and screaming, his tiny face red, but he was breathing[cite: 1].
Clara: I have you... I have you, Toby... Mommy's got you...
High above on the upper deck, Marcus stood frozen at the stern railing, watching the white foam spread across the dark water[cite: 1]. The yacht’s twin propellers churned the sea as the massive vessel continued speeding away at twenty knots, leaving a wide trail of white wake behind it[cite: 1].
Marcus: Stop the engines! Turn the boat around! Captain, throw the life rings!
Evelyn: It’s done, Marcus[cite: 1]. The water out here is ice cold, and the current is moving fast[cite: 1]. No one can survive out there[cite: 1].
Marcus: She has our baby, Mom! How could you be so heartless?!
Evelyn: That girl was a gold-digger who tricked you into a secret marriage[cite: 1]. She was going to use that child to demand half of our family’s trust fund during the divorce[cite: 1]. I protected this family’s fifty-million-dollar estate[cite: 1].
Marcus: I don't care about the estate! I loved her!
Evelyn: You will get over it[cite: 1]. You will tell the police she slipped while taking photos near the edge[cite: 1]. If you say anything else, I will cut you out of the family will before the sun sets today[cite: 1]. Do you understand me?
Marcus stared at his mother in absolute terror[cite: 1]. He looked back out over the vast, empty ocean, where the tiny spot of blue blanket was already disappearing into the distant waves[cite: 1]. Tears rolled down his cheeks, but he stayed silent as the yacht sailed further away into the bright daylight[cite: 1].