From His Invisible Wife to the World's Icon novel Chapter 116

Desperation fueled her. Lydia fought the water, thrashing toward the direction Frederick was swimming.

Her slender fingers were mere inches from brushing his hand.

"Frederick—help me—"

Sierra's terrified scream shattered the air as she deliberately slipped off the life ring and plunged back into the water.

Instantly, Frederick snapped his head toward Sierra.

No. No!

Don't leave me...

Sierra was faking it...

She wanted to scream it at the top of her lungs, but her burning lungs couldn't pull in a single ounce of oxygen. Her chest felt like it was going to explode.

Frederick seemed to hear her silent plea. He looked back, saw the rescue boats swarming her area and the lifeguards diving in, assumed she was safe, and turned back to swim toward Sierra.

Seeing that agonizing backward glance, followed by his absolute decision to abandon her for Sierra...

Her heart plummeted into the darkest abyss, sinking right alongside her body.

Through her blurring vision...

The boy in the white shirt she had loved so deeply faded away forever.

She slipped into the crushing darkness.

Suddenly, a powerful arm locked around her waist, hauling her violently out of the ocean's depths.

Oxygen flooded her burning lungs, triggering a violent fit of coughing and gasping.

A broad, solid chest pressed against her, wrapping her freezing body in a fierce, unbreakable embrace.

In that moment, she felt the frantic, chaotic pounding of his heartbeat against her own chest.

Her wet lashes fluttered open, and she looked straight into Xavier's deep, bottomless eyes.

His gaze shifted upward as he reached out with one hand to grab the rope ladder. His soaked white shirt clung to the hard lines of his heavily muscled torso.

Staring at his wet, devastatingly handsome face...

The heart that had just been paralyzed by pure terror suddenly kicked into overdrive, a fierce heat igniting in her chest.

"Boss! Hang on, Ms. Sterling!"

"I'm pulling you up right now!"

Wesley's frantic voice shattered the bubble, yanking her out of her inappropriate daze.

Looking around, she realized they were completely surrounded by rescue boats.

She was hauled onto the deck of one of the boats. Utterly drained, she collapsed against the bow. A thin blanket was draped over her shoulders, tightly cocooning her shivering frame. She looked up just in time to see Wesley supporting Xavier as they disappeared into the cabin.

The chaotic noise of the rescue swirled around her.

Lydia looked back toward the center of the water.

Frederick was carrying Sierra bridal style. The girl's face was flushed with fake distress as she buried herself in his chest.

And his eyes were impossibly gentle.

It was the exact same look he had given Lydia when she woke up from her car crash years ago.

Frederick Foster truly didn't love her anymore.

And as for her...

Lydia pressed a hand flat against her chest. It didn't hurt anymore.

But she couldn't do a single thing to help him.

Joanna raced her car to the hospital and sprinted toward the ER.

She watched the nurses wheel Lydia into a trauma room. Beside the doors, a man pushed himself off the wall and stumbled down the opposite hallway, completely unsteady on his feet.

The corridor was dead silent.

"Boss, are you going to be okay?"

Hearing Wesley's frantic question, Joanna chased after them, stepping directly into Xavier's path to block him.

The man slowly opened his eyes. His dark irises were completely dead, void of any human emotion.

In a split second, he was the invincible, untouchable titan once again.

It was as if the man who had nearly collapsed moments prior was a figment of her imagination.

But she knew exactly how sick he was.

Her sister had told her. The accident two years ago hadn't just severely damaged his physical endurance and stripped him of his ability to pilot jets.

It had left him with a mysterious illness.

At any given moment, without warning, his body could simply give out.

The Ford family had flown in countless world-renowned specialists, but no one could diagnose the root cause.

He was strictly forbidden from doing anything physically demanding or dangerous.

Yet, without a second of hesitation, he had thrown himself into the freezing ocean to save Lydia.

Tears pooled in Joanna's eyes. If his condition had flared up while he was in the water, it would have been a death sentence. "Is she really that important to you? You'd literally risk your life to pull her out?"