Chapter 195
“Carter, the person you should be questioning is Theo, not me.” Sharon’s voice was laced with thinly veiled contempt and clear impatience. “If you called just to interrogate me about this, then don’t bother calling again. I won’t pick up anymore.”
Carter’s voice came through, cold enough to cut. “Stay where you are. If you try to take Theo and leave, I’ll have no choice but to have someone detain you.”
Sharon had been planning to look around the amusement park after hearing Theo might be there.
But hearing that haughty, commanding tone in his voice changed her mind entirely.
“Carter,” she said, her voice calm but sharp, “you once told me that if you need something from someone, you’d better learn how to ask nicely.”
Carter sounded almost incredulous. “Ask? You think I’m asking you for something?”
She didn’t wait for a response. “You’re not asking-you’re ordering. And who do you think you are, exactly? Why should I take orders from you? I hope you get one thing straight. I am not your servant. You don’t get to bark orders at me.”
With that, she hung up.
When she returned to the bench by the lake, Xavier was gone.
Matty had gone to use the restroom, which was tucked away behind the trees past the central lake.
Sharon was just about to walk in that direction when a loud splash broke the still air.
Then came shouting.
“Someone fell in!”
“Oh my God, two kids! They look about five or six!”
“Where are their parents?”
“Does anyone know how to swim? Somebody help!”
The voices blurred together, but Sharon’s heart dropped. She ran fast toward the lake.
Pushing through the crowd, she spotted a small figure flailing in the water.
Matty.
Panic surged through her.
Matty couldn’t swim.
Without a second thought, she shoved past the last of the bystanders and jumped in.
She pulled Matty from the water. He was limp and coughing.
“Matty, are you okay?” Sharon was already pressing water from Matty’s chest, her hands shaking.
“Cough-cough!” Matty coughed violently, spitting up a mouthful of water, eyes barely open.
Then he saw her familiar face. That quiet beauty. Her eyes were filled with nothing but worry, laid bare and unfiltered.
Matty’s eyes welled up. He threw his arms around her, sobbing. “Sharon… I thought… I thought I’d never see you again…”
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Chapter 105
Sharon held him tightly, whispering words of comfort, smoothing his drenched hair until his breathing steadied.
Only then did she gently ask, “Matty how did you fall in the water?”
Before he could answer, the second child who had fallen in was pulled out.
He was in better shape-conscious, barely coughing, hadn’t swallowed as much water.
But when Sharon got a good look at his face, she froze. “Theo…? What are you doing here?”
Theo was soaked head to toe, water dripping from his hair and face. It was impossible to tell if what ran down his cheeks were raindrops… or tears.
In that moment, Theo looked so small. So pitiful. Like a child lost at sea.
And for a fleeting second, Sharon’s heart softened.
His eyes, red rimmed and glistening, lifted toward her.
“You… you saved him first. You just left me in the lake to die.”
Her brow twitched, lips parting to explain-
But then she saw the look in his eyes.
That burning, wounded glare. Like betrayal.
And she stopped.
Her voice came low and quiet. “Theo… if I remember right… you know how to swim. Don’t you?”
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