Give The Rest Of My Life Back To Stars And Oceans

1 Right before we sailed, Jackson unbuckled my life jacket himself. "Your sister's right," he said flatly. "Without a push, you'll never surf like her." He turned away, steadying Fiona on the yacht without a glance back.

A massive swell dragged me under. Choking on saltwater, I saw Fiona above, filming my struggle while leaning into Jackson.

He barely sighed. "Swim this thousand meters, Nora, and I'll get you into the club!" For fifteen years, I'd played the obedient shadow.

I hiked mountains in heels until I bled, dove into frozen ponds for Fiona's earrings until I nearly died. I thought obedience bought belonging. I was wrong. I was just their toy.

Another wave crushed me, and I stopped fighting. I sank. When they hauled me aboard, Fiona pouted. "Jackson was going to praise you.

No stamina." I shoved them back, coughing brine, and met their eyes with hollow calm. "From now on, I do nothing you ask." That plunge into the ocean left me with a hundred and four degree fever and severe pneumonia.

But Fiona wasn't done having fun.

So, my family abandoned the yacht and boarded a luxury cruise liner just to keep her happy, leaving me to curl up in a tiny cabin on the lower deck.

Every single breath felt like broken glass scraping my lungs. Jackson didn't come to check on me once. Instead, he just called.

His voice on the line was colder than the sea. "Nora, haven't you thrown enough of a tantrum? Fiona is having heart palpitations because she was traumatized watching you drown.

Even if you want attention, you don't need to play the victim like this. Go apologize to her.

If you do, I'll overlook the attitude you gave us on the deck this afternoon." I opened my mouth to speak, but my stomach violently churned. I hung up on him.

To Jackson and Fiona, this was just me acting out. After all, they knew that if Jackson ignored me for a couple of days, I'd crawl back, begging for their approval.

That evening, the cruise ship docked. Fiona suddenly got the urge to go night diving. But right after slipping into her wetsuit, she fainted on the deck.

From the small porthole of my cabin, I watched Jackson sprint to her side.

He scooped her up in his arms, his face pale with a raw, desperate panic I had never once seen him direct at me.

I looked down at the simple band on my ring finger, the one bought for our upcoming engagement. Slowly, I slid it off.

I tossed it straight out the window, watching it vanish into the dark, churning ocean. Jackson caught the movement.

Through the glass, our eyes met, and his expression instantly darkened. Just then, my parents walked into my cabin carrying a cup of hot water.

Seeing my flushed, feverish face, my mother's eyes welled with tears. "Nora, sweetie, drink some water." I took a single sip, but before the warmth could hit my stomach, a crew member rushed to the door. "Ma'am!

The oldest daughter still hasn't regained consciousness!" The concern on my mother's face vanished instantly. She bolted upright, knocking the cup from my hands.

The boiling water splashed over the back of my hand, leaving a painful, blistering red patch, but she didn't even notice.

She and my father practically ran over each other to get to Fiona's luxury suite. The spilled water grew cold on the floor, just like my heart.

Half an hour later, just as I was drifting into a feverish sleep, my mother returned.

She had two staff members drag me to Fiona's bedside. "Nora," she whispered, her voice pleading. "Fiona isn't waking up. The doctor says her chronic anemia is flaring up again.

You have such a strong constitution. Let them take some blood for her." I lay there, shivering violently.

I wanted to scream that I had just been dragged from the sea, that my lungs were burning with pneumonia, but I didn't even have the strength to stand.

Before I could say a word, a thick needle pierced my vein. Jackson stood by the head of Fiona's bed, holding her hand tightly. He didn't look at me once.

By the time they finished, the world was spinning. I had to lean against the cold metal walls of the corridor just to stumble back to my room.

A buzz from my phone broke the silence. It was a text from Jackson: Good to see you have a conscience, Nora. I'll have breakfast with you tomorrow morning.

A bitter laugh escaped my throat. I was about to turn off my phone when a social media notification popped up. Fiona had just posted a photo.

It was a shot of Jackson asleep, his head resting by her bedside, their fingers tightly intertwined.

Her caption read: Even if the ocean lies ahead, as long as you're by my side, I fear nothing.

I stared at that photo for a long time, until my eyes burned and there were no tears left to cry.