Chapter 97 - Her Life

Another ten minutes passed, and Anya tread at the water surface on her own unwilling to exhaust Alvin. However, she could feel her strength reducing to stay floating and her limbs were sore from not taking a break. She regretted not focusing much on the swimming training. 

How could she expect to jump into such a large water body when there was not even a river in the capital of Narnia?

To change the hands and legs movements, she dived inside the ocean and took a look around. Luckily there were no ocean creatures around them to panic her to death. 

She came out after a minute or two and sighed. She wasn't going to be a snack to the whale.

She glanced at Alvin, he looked more stable than her and calmer too. He motioned her to go close to him and she did, like an obedient wife. He pulled her hands on his shoulders that brought them even closer. 

Anya had goosebumps all over. It wasn't out of fear or cold but the warmth near him and their faces were rather too near. She could feel his breath brushing over her skin.

Her pupils dilated when her mind imagined them kissing. She averted her eyes and moved her face away. She heard him instruct in a calm voice near her ear, "Relax," However her mind still wandered around the kiss.

Her first kiss was taken by him but she hardly knew what was happening at that time. She was so shocked when he had grabbed her by the neck and pressed her against the couch, it took her time to fathom. 

His kiss was no sweet one that could give butterflies, it was not like the one she had seen in movies or how she had fantasized like every other girl. He was wild and relentless. If she has to choose a word, then she would call it devouring. She had felt like he was sucking her life out of her body.

She won't blame him though. When she idiotically tried to save him, she knew well he was drugged by Flora Dalton who had set up everything to tangle Alvin with her name. 

How are Flora's feelings called love?

Flora was obsessed with Alvin who was disgusted by her. Anya did what she felt right at the moment. But it developed to the stage, she never expected it. Hence Anya was pissed off when she heard Flora was Alvin's fiancee. 

Alvin was drugged twice by the same person and both times, he ended up with Anya instead of Flora. Anya was still curious how Alvin, who stays so attentive, got drugged. She could only guess as the 'friend' of Alvin was helping Flora Dalton.

Alvin suddenly pushed his head back and looked at her face. He studied her face for a few seconds. Initially, her face was all red due to the cold, now her lips were pale and her eyes were drooping. Her breathing wasn't stable and her body posture was turning heavy.

Anya couldn't help but ask, seeing his intent gaze trailing on her face that made her throat run dry, "What's wrong?" She immediately closed her lips when she heard her teeth chatter. 

The lunch on the ship was beach-themed near the pool that had artificial beach waves. Hence she wore a white lace beach romper paired with tan-colored flip-flops. Although the romper was full sleeves, it was a thin layer. The deep neck was laced up, trying hard to hold the cloth in place. So it wasn't suitable for the cold temperature.

Alvin caught the chatter of her teeth and understood why she was trying to stay silent. "A little more time."

Anya nodded in response as she tried to float alone. Anyway, he kept her close to him although it was of no use when the water temperature was dropping rapidly.

Another ten more minutes passed. When Alvin felt her hands taking his support by leaving her weight on his shoulder, he realized she couldn't stay longer. He gritted his teeth, his team couldn't be this useless to take so long to find them, yet he didn't dare to think of the worst case.

"Little Donut." He snapped at her. "Stay awake." He shook her shoulder.

Anya gasped, jerking her eyes open. The cold, reduced heartbeats and weakening body was making her drowsy. If she faints, it would be even harder for Alvin. "I-I am s-sorry." Her teeth chattered. Thus she started forcing herself to keep her eyes open while trying to tread with his help. 

Alvin, who was calm for so long, started to worry. It shouldn't have taken so long for his men to reach them, he started to doubt if the yacht even followed the ship or if they received his signal. His eyes desperately looked towards the direction where Yacht should come.

At some point, Anya almost slipped to the water if Alvin hadn't hugged her. She mumbled with half-closed eyes, "I am awake, I am awake…." Her voice was barely audible. Her head was heavy, she couldn't feel her legs and her body was shaking to the cold.

He saw her silent tears rolling out on her cheek, yet she neither complained how hard it was for her nor got angry for putting her in such a situation. Even if she complained or got angry, what could he do? 

She could have condemned him, guilt-tripped, and blamed him. Yet, she was trying hard to keep up without a negative word to him. He wasn't sure how to feel about that situation.

Would anybody else dare to stay with him like her? This Young Mommy doesn't stop amusing him. Nonetheless, he felt pathetic, in the name of keeping her safe, he put her in grave danger. If he knew this was going to happen, he would have definitely chosen to physically fight together against those men.

He heard her mumbling his name while resting her chin on his shoulder, "Alvin…" She didn't even have the strength to hold him.

"Don't waste your energy," He hid his worry behind his commanding tone.

Anya didn't listen to him. She tried to keep her drooping eyes open but felt her whole body heavy. She started feeling like she might drag him down with her. So she chose what felt right at the moment, "Let me go." 

She didn't have the strength to push him away. If he keeps holding her, he will be exhausted before his people can find him. One being safe, her son could have a father. It's a pity that her son was fated to have a single parent. It was better than growing up parentless. So sacrificing her life for her son didn't feel difficult.

Alvin growled at her for speaking nonsense, "Shut it." This was even more pathetic than being blamed. He held her tight in case she does anything stupid to get away from him.

Anya couldn't break away from his arms with her strength. So she tried to reduce her weight on him but couldn't move her limbs. She tried to take a deep breath, deciding to tell him who was the father of Zane and Alvin should be alive to take care of her son. If not for her, he should let her go and be safe for her son… His son.

"Alvin…" She huffed his name out.

Alvin itched to stop her seeing her struggle to speak even a word. However, he didn't stop her from speaking. That way she could stay awake. 

"My bab… yo… on…" Gibberish left her lips. She could barely pronounce the complete word.

Alvin glanced at her without understanding a word. He didn't ask her to repeat or interrupt her as it would be more exhausting for her.

Anya who continued to speak didn't know he couldn't make out even a word. She was trying to persuade him until she couldn't say anything.

Before Alvin could lose hope, he saw the seaplane hovering over the water searching for them. The darkness hadn't been completely covered yet so they easily spotted two heads flashing light over them.

"Little Donut…" His voice regained the mirth and tried to tell her about the yacht. Then he realized she was barely holding on to her consciousness.

She subconsciously responded to his voice with a hum. 

In less than a minute, The seaplane landed on the water. The three men were shocked to see the lady fainted and they weren't wearing diving suits. Without waiting time, the two men jumped to the water with a floating board. 

They quickly helped Alvin to lay Anya on the board who stayed motionless. Then they urged Alvin, "Boss, get on the plane." It was nearly an hour when they got the signal from Alvin. They didn't dare to think of the other consequences if they reached later.

However, Alvin held the floating board and tried to wake up Anya, "Little Donut, wake up… Little Donut…" Keeping his elbow on the board for support, he started rubbing her icy palm.

"Boss…"

Alvin growled at them, "Where f*ck were dying so long? If anything happens to her, forget about your life too." And he was dead serious about his words.

The two men shut their mouths immediately. They glanced at each other and lowered their heads. Looking at Alvin's worried face, they forgot for a moment that Alvin was a coldhearted being. However, they didn't dare to get away from Alvin, afraid his body might go numb and drown.

Alvin was trying to warm up Anya but she wasn't waking up. Her heartbeats were very low and her body was cold as ice despite being wrapped in thick robes.

Meantime, the pilot of the seaplane contacted the yacht and sent them the coordinates of their location. The pilot contemplated for a few seconds looking at angered Alvin and reported, "Boss, we found three dead bodies floating." He spoke in Spanish. "They seemed to be from Narnia." He was sure something was happening on the cruise ship. Hence, they had to take precautions and carefully check, covering a mile of diameter on both sides of their way

Alvin's hands barely paused on Anya's palms hearing the pilot before resuming.. Nothing mattered but her life.