Left for Dead Came Back for Everything novel Chapter 37

"The video was deleted later, but Yvonne paid trolls to spin the narrative. They're saying you threw yourself in because you refused to divorce him, trying to blackmail Zander while painting him as the victimized, perfect ex-husband!"

A terrifying wave of anger surged through Eliza. "What? Everyone saw the storm! How did that turn into me deliberately jumping to guilt-trip Zander? Is everyone blind?"

Gwen sighed heavily. "People online only see what they want to see. With Yvonne driving the narrative, she figured you were dead and could spin whatever lies she wanted. The rumors blew up so fast that I couldn't even pay to have the trending topics pulled down."

A sudden realization hit Eliza. "You said the stream was still running?"

She grabbed Gwen's shoulders, her expression deadly serious. "Do you have the full recording?"

Standing quietly to the side, Julian raised an eyebrow, curious about her plan.

"Of course I do. I hired a hacker to rip the back-end data from her stream so I could pinpoint exactly where you fell."

Gwen quickly tapped on her phone and handed it to Eliza.

The beginning of the video was shaky, accompanied by the deafening roar of the wind.

The yacht lurched violently, throwing both Eliza and Yvonne toward a gap in the railing.

The footage clearly captured the exact moment they plummeted into the water.

Zander was a bit blurry in the shot, but the video clearly showed he was closer to Eliza. He was inches away from grabbing her shoulder, but Yvonne suddenly lunged and threw her arms around him from behind.

And just like that, he gave up, turning to shield Yvonne instead.

A massive wave then swept Eliza further out, plunging her straight into the abyss.

As the video ended, tears streamed down Gwen's face all over again.

Julian had seen it, too.

His hands trembled as he clenched his fists. Seeing it with his own eyes made him realize just how terrified and utterly helpless she must have felt in that moment.

He practically knew everyone in Eliza's inner circle.

He knew Gwen and Eliza were best friends from college.

"Hello. I'm Julian Lawrence."

Gwen nodded, then her eyes widened in shock. "Wait, what? Julian Lawrence? Not the brilliant Julian Lawrence from Riverport University?"

She stared at him in disbelief.

Julian offered a slight smile. "Yes, I went to Riverport University."

Absolutely floored, Gwen immediately bowed in gratitude. "It really is you! Thank you so much for saving her. I never expected to run into you here."

She thought to herself that Eliza clearly had a guardian angel watching out for her.