Chapter 1 - The Blue SurfaceâMaybe the cold water will teach you to stop interfering.â
Vanessaâs hands hit my shoulders, and the world disappeared beneath blue water before I could scream.
I was sixty-four years old, wearing a silk blouse and low heels at my own sonâs housewarming party, and I had never learned to swim. For one terrible second I saw sunlight breaking across the surface above me. Then panic took over. My arms clawed at nothing. Water filled my nose and mouth. Around the pool, distorted through the water, I could hear laughter.
Vanessa knew. Two weeks earlier, she had mocked me for refusing a yacht invitation because I could not swim.
My son Daniel stood beside the outdoor bar, frozen with a champagne glass in his hand. He did not jump in.
Someone else did.
Strong arms suddenly caught me beneath the shoulders and dragged me toward the steps. I collapsed on the marble deck, coughing so hard my ribs burned. The gardener, a quiet gray-haired man Vanessa had hired three weeks earlier, knelt beside me and carefully checked my breathing.
âCall an ambulance,â he ordered.
Vanessa rolled her eyes. âSheâs fine. Get her dry before she embarrasses us.â
Several guests stopped laughing then. Daniel finally moved toward me, but Vanessa caught his sleeve. âDonât reward the drama.â
I looked at my son. âYou saw her push me.â
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His face tightened. âMom, maybe you slipped. Everyoneâs been drinking.â
I had not touched alcohol. That lie hurt more than the water.
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