Love Left Her For Dead (Natalie Carter) novel Chapter 11

Jayden and Logan rose to the surface one after the other, clad in diving suits. They'd just swapped in fresh oxygen tanks and were about to dive again when another diver suddenly emerged from the water.

"Mr. Carter, Mr. Hall, I found something!"

Without a moment's hesitation, the two men swam toward that diver as fast as they could. The moment they saw what the diver was holding, Jayden and Logan froze. Even their breath caught, as if time itself had stopped.

It was a necklace. The faded etchings, the worn-down edges, and the faintest trace of the familiar scent pierced into their memories like a needle.

Jayden's pupils contracted sharply, a deafening buzz flooding his head.

Logan's Adam's apple bobbed, but he couldn't make a sound. Cold sweat beaded on his palm as he reached out with trembling fingers, only to flinch the moment he touched it, like he'd been electrocuted.

The two of them slowly exchanged a look, fear and confusion flooding their eyes.

"It's hers…"

"It's Natalie's necklace…"

The memory from that year flashed in their minds.

When Natalie was 13, both of them had given her a necklace made of three interlocked rings. The middle, slightly smaller ring represented Natalie, while the two outer rings represented Jayden and Logan.

It had been a silent vow—a promise that they would always be by her side, protect her, and never, ever leave her.

Natalie had worn that necklace every day; even when they hurt her because of Clara, she never took it off. But now… they'd found the necklace, and she was gone.

The truth they'd been avoiding and refusing to accept finally stared them in the face. Natalie was dead. There was nothing left of her.

Grief spread like a sickness, swallowing them whole. A single tear fell, blending with the heavy rain before disappearing into the sea. A thunderclap, followed by a flash of lightning, split the sky, briefly illuminating the pale faces of the two men.

The rain blurred Jayden's vision. The world around him twisted and warped as one thought repeated itself endlessly in his head—Natalie was dead.

His sister, the only family he had left in this world, was gone.

Logan's breathing turned ragged, each gasp cutting through his chest like shards of glass. He should've known. He should've accepted the truth from the start. The explosion, the fire—no one could've survived that.

And they'd even tied her down, just to make sure she wouldn't run. How could she have lived? How could anyone have survived that?

But he didn't want to believe it. He couldn't believe that the strong, resilient young woman who was full of life and hope was gone.