Filed to story: Sweetheart Do You Still Love Me
When they finally surfaced, Eric handed Callum the lifebuoy he threw down the lake and climbed back onto the boat before dragging Callum up.
“All I found was your shoes and clothes on the rowboat as soon as I got here. What? Have you guys planned to die for love?”
“Thanks for saving me,”
said Callum plainly as he put his wet hair back.
“Save you? I was just worried that you wanted to end yourself. Imagine how devastated Elspeth would be if she hears you’re dead.”
Despite joking, Eric swept his gaze across his surroundings.
“Where’s Elspeth? Where have you hidden her?”
“I was down there looking for her. Something has happened to her.”
Eric’s smile stiffened at once.
“Don’t f*ck with me, Winthrop. What happened?”
“She jumped into the lake, flopped around a couple of times, and that was it. I thought it didn’t feel right, but I couldn’t find her after I went down there.”
Eric stared icily at Callum while heaving visibly, evidently livid.
“Winthrop, you useless son of a b*tch!”
Just then, a revelation struck Callum as he said,
“I knew it! You kept sticking to me because you wanted to hang out with Elspeth! You can fool everyone, but you can’t fool me. You like Elspeth, don’t you?”
At that, Eric punched Callum in the face, leaving a bloody red mark on it.
“What’s your point in this right now, Winthrop? Tell me where Elspeth is!”
The punch left Callum woozy, but he wasn’t planning on holding Eric responsible for it. Instead, he stumbled onto his feet, rubbed his sore, cramped leg, and took a deep breath.
“I’ll take another look.”
However, Eric shoved him to the floor and said,
“Stay here. I’ll go.”
The next second, he dove into the water again, and it wasn’t after ten minutes that he slowly swam back with Elspeth.
Meanwhile, a glimmer flashed across Callum’s eyes as he mused, Elspeth passed out and sank to the bottom of the lake after choking on water.
On the other hand, Eric hurriedly gave Elspeth CPR, and when it came to giving her the two breaths, he suddenly stopped and glanced icily at Callum.
“You’re her boyfriend. You save her.”
Callum was slightly taken aback, for he hadn’t expected Eric to make such a concession. Still, he nodded and gave her CPR.
Very quickly, Elspeth coughed up the water and was out of danger, but she remained unconscious.
“Elspeth does well in water; something like this couldn’t have happened.”
Callum frowned.
He wasn’t wrong. Elspeth had warmed her body up thoroughly before jumping into the lake. There was no way she would have met with a cramp as he did.
With that, he looked toward her legs and found a visible red mark on her ankle. He measured it with his palm and instantly broke out in intense malice.
“I’ve figured it out.”
Eric saw the mark on her ankle too, and the smile on his usually giddy face disappeared in an instant.
Callum mumbled as he caressed Elspeth’s face, but the frosty, malicious tone was enough to strike fear into one.
“I will have him beg for death once I find out who did this.”
It wasn’t until Callum returned to the shore on a boat with Elspeth in his arms that the crew came to their senses and hurriedly called 911.
On the other hand, tears pooled in Yelena’s eyes as she was riddled with anxiety.
“I’m so sorry. This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t suggested not interrupting you two.”
The young woman was convinced that it was her self-assertion that led to Elspeth’s state.
At that, she lowered her head in repentance as though she had committed evil.
“Since you know you always do more harm than good, keep your mouth shut the next time.”
Yelena shuddered, and tears began rolling down her cheeks.
Seeing how upset and repentant Yelena was, Max pulled her into his arms.
“Callum, she just stopped the crew from going to you guys because she hoped you two could have some alone time. There’s no reason for you to yell at her, is there?”
It was then Callum realized his malice was through the roof, and he tucked away some of his anger while withdrawing his gaze.
“Forget about everything else. What’s up with this?”
Blake steered everyone’s attention back to the incident, overwrought with anxiety as he looked at the unconscious Elspeth lying on the ground.
“Someone grabbed Elspeth’s ankle after she jumped into the lake, attempting to drown her.”
Malice overcame Callum once again as he related the incident. His heart wrenched painfully at the thought of his beloved panicking and flailing underwater.
“That guy sure is evil.”
Blake clenched his fists in anger.
“Do we know who it is yet, Callum?”
“Nope, not yet.”
Callum shook his head.
Just then, a thought struck Aiden, and he hurriedly said,
“That reminds me-Capolis protects its architecture well, so there are many surveillance cameras around. Why don’t we check the footage?”
It was a pretty good plan.
Callum nodded in agreement, then turned to his brother.
“Blake, you, Max, and Yelena follow the ambulance to the hospital and look after Elspeth while Eric and I check the surveillance footage. We must get to the bottom of this case.”
Blake nodded in agreement, knowing he wouldn’t be of much help either if he stayed.
With that, Callum followed the director to the monitor room only to be told that the cameras were broken three days ago, so there wasn’t any footage at all.
“This culprit thought it through,”
Callum swore as he clenched his fists.
Eric, on the other hand, furrowed his brows.
“Why don’t we wait for Elspeth to wake up before we make the next move? Perhaps she saw something.”
“You’re right.”
