'Finally, I got what I wanted'
Even though she wanted to struggle, she couldn't
her legs couldn't move and she was sinking faster and faster, she opened her eyes and stared at the darkness as it overwhelmed her
She felt her lungs giving up, and her life slowly slipping away. Her body fell deeper into the water.
She could hear everyone's laughter, their words, everything they said to her, everything that hurt her, everything that led her to this point.
"You should just kill yourself!"
"It would be better for everyone!"
"Just die!"
"Die, so ugly!"
Her life wasn't a Cinderella story, she didn't get the prince, she didn't get the fairy god mother nor the beauty…she didn't get the happy ending.
Tears were falling from her eyes but was quickly swept away by the water.
"Create hope for your self!" In the midst of those laughter and scorns, she heard his voice, that man that gave her vague sense of familiarity.
She didn't know why but she suddenly struggled, she did not want to die, at least not like this!
not a useless person
not a coward
It would go against everything her mother had taught her, everything she'd learned from the world…
She saw a shadow coming closer to her, the closer it came, the more clear she could see the man's perfectly sculpted face and body
They were now both standing face to face, as much as she wanted to spend more time to admire the man's face, her eyes were already closing and she was losing all strength.
'I don't want to die... I don't want to..'
The man hesitated for a moment before he held her waist, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes but it left as soon as it came. He pulled her closer to his body, their chest touching. She could feel his heartbeat, it was strong…fast.
Anna struggled to keep her eyes open and held the man tightly as he carried her and swam up shore.
Anna gasped for air as soon as they reached the surface, her chest felt like it was on fire, she coughed violently while the man patted her back gently
"Try to breath normally, it will ease the pain" His voice held a tinge of warmth to it as he patted her back continuously
Taking the man's advice, Anna no longer felt the pain like before, her chest heaved as she tries to control her breathing, her nose and eyes burned from a lot the water that had gotten into it but for some reason at that moment, she felt more alive than she had ever been.
While she was still in the man's arms, she leaned on him for support.
Dylan's back stiffened, he hadn't been this close to the opposite sex since that incident....
"How could you let them push you in?"
Anna finally regained her senses when she heard the man's question
"I....I.." To be honest, now she didn't know the reason anymore
Why did she give up on life so easily?, her mother had always taught her to be relentless and not give up so easily so, how could she be so weak? She hated it when people called her weak but she now realized that she was exactly what they said…but she wanted to change that.
"How can you be so reckless, you could have died!" Dylan didn't know why he was busy scolding this unknown girl,
when he watched the Lu sisters push her in, he didn't really see the wheel chair so he expected her to swim ashore but almost a minute had passed and she still didn't come out.
He had been taught and trained to protect people his whole life, seeing that she hadn't come out, he quickly jumped into the water to save her despite the fact that he knew he couldn't touch her.
"Why didn't you at least try to swim ashore? "
Anna looked at the man's handsome face, a bitter smile appeared on her face
"Because, I can't swim" she patted her legs softly "They can't swim"
Bai Sheng turned to look at her legs, that when he noticed that they hadn't moved one bit, she hadn't used those legs for a while.
They looked so thin and lifeless, He looked at the girl who was still in his arms and subconsciously turned his head to where she fell from. He finally spotted the wheel chair
"I'm sorry" He apologized, he out of everyone could understand what it felt like to be disabled, to be different from others, he always hated it when people reminded him about it, about those terrible years. The one person who he had confided in about these feelings had betrayed him.
"Thank you for saving me, to be honest...." Anna turned her gaze from her legs to the man's face.
His slightly long hair stuck to his face, water droplets rolling down, his eyes were so dark, it gave her a sense of fear but also a sense of security, his eyes bore into hers and she took in every detail, he's listening to her…no one ever listened to her.
She didn't know why, but she trusted him
"To be honest I...wanted to die.
I was tired of living, that was why I didn't stop them but I.....I..." Anna felt hot tears rolling down her cheek
"I finally created hope for my self!, I have hope now, I don't want to die....there's still hope!"
She smiled for the first time in a long time, a bright sincere smile was on her face!
"So thank you!"
"Hmm" Bai Sheng hummed, he felt that there was something unique about this girl, she was very different from the others, a person who accept her faults and weakness and turn it into strength is the most strongest person there is.
It was good she didn't die, he felt like he could really make something of her, if she was willing to stick by him…Dylan almost couldn't believe his train of thoughts, he wanted a women to stick by him?
"You are the third daughter of the Lu family, am I right?"
Anna nodded
"Let's get you inside for now before you catch a cold" Dylan said, he knew something was up when Clara had refused to introduce the third daughter of the Lu family. "You have a lot to learn from life, you haven't even seen the half of it!" she was still young, there was more to life than she thought and he was determined to show her. Dylan was never one to hide his thoughts.
Anna nods, he sounded experienced, he knew the world but not in the way she did.
"Thank you, I'm Anna Lu" Anna stretched out a hand to him
He stared at that hand for a moment before taking it
"I'm Dylan, Dylan Yang"
Dylan raised the girl up, carrying her in his arms he walked towards the dock where her wheel chair was.
Despite it being a great weather in the morning, the night wind was cold and with their clothes being wet, the cold became almost unbearable.
"Damn it!" Anna cursed softly as she stared at her broken wheel chair, apart from throwing her into the water they also broke the wheel chair...so annoying. How was she going to get inside now? Her father had given her the electric wheel chair as a birthday present and even though he didn't really about what she did with it, she still treasured the chair.
"Don't worry, I'll take you inside myself then" Dylan said sensing the girl's worries
"Thank you..." her voice was soft, Dylan looked into her eyes and thought he would get lost in them.
She was beautiful in her own way, her green eyes reminding him of the forest.
"No problem" Bai Sheng still didn't understand why he felt so free with this girl, he hardly spoke to anyone this much, what made her so different?
....
"Brother Bai isn't by the lake, I wonder where he is"
The moment Li Chen finished his words, a surprised voice was heard
"Mi...Miss Anna?".
.
.
.
Sholana curled into the embrace of her husband, content for the moment.
"Why are you so quiet?" Nathan asks as he pulls her closer and kisses her neck, Sholana giggles and plants a kiss on his lips.
"I just want to enjoy this moment for a while…we're leaving tomorrow, I will miss this place"
Nathan shifts their position on the couch, making Sholana straddle him and he hugs her tighter and buries his face in the crook of her neck.
"We'll do that, my love," He said.