The moment his hand touched her, Hadley’s eyes grew wide, and a flicker of panic flashed in her pupils.

Without warning, she struggled to break free, lunging after Ayla. “Hold on! You can’t go yet! What did you mean about the letter? I need answers—what letter?”

“Hadley!” Eric tightened his hold, not letting her move any closer. “Stay away from her! That woman isn’t sane—she’s completely lost it!”

Being so near to Eric overwhelmed Hadley. There was barely any space between them at all.

Still shaken from before, she couldn’t bear another moment of it.

Her strength gave out.

Hadley lost consciousness, her eyelids fluttering as she slumped against him.

“Hadley!” Eric called out, moving quickly to steady her.

He looked down and saw she had fainted right in his arms.

His eyes shot over to Ayla, blaming her for the mess.

“Why are you still here? Get her out of my sight!” He barked out an order.

“Right away, Mr. Scott!”

“Stop! What do you think you’re doing?” Ayla’s voice cracked as she pleaded, her face chalk-white. “Mr. Scott! You can’t treat me like this! I didn’t do anything wrong!” This content belongs to find?novel.net

Eric’s lips twisted into a cold sneer. He didn’t waste his breath answering her.

She was fortunate she hadn’t actually managed to hurt Hadley. If anything had happened to Hadley, Ayla would be facing consequences far worse than a jail cell.

“Mr. Scott!” Ayla shrieked, shaking her head wildly. “You already know the truth! Why are you still punishing me? You wouldn’t be this heartless! There was a time when you actually cared about me…”

To Eric, it was clear Ayla had lost all sense of reality.

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He scowled, his patience wearing thin. “Get her out of here!” he ordered sharply.

“Yes!”

“Please, no… don’t!” Desperate, Ayla fought back, biting a bodyguard’s arm. The guard let out a pained grunt and loosened his hold a bit, giving her a chance to slip away.

“Stop right there!” the guard yelled.

Ayla didn’t hear a word. She understood there was no escaping the bodyguards on board.

Driven by panic, she squeezed her eyes shut and hurled herself off the yacht and into the water.

“Mr. Scott!” Tamara called out, urgency in her voice. “She jumped overboard!”

“After her! Don’t let her slip away!” Eric barked out the order.

“Understood!”

Once he’d given the command, Eric bent down and carefully lifted Hadley, still unconscious, into his arms. Ayla had crossed a line—there would be no forgiveness now.

Inside the car,

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