"Evie, that's Little Bean's toy."
Seraphina turned just in time to witness the drop.
"It was an accident," Evie said, her expression entirely blank.
Little Bean's inner voice echoed from sixty feet away, practically cracking with panic: "That was my absolute favorite ball! The yellow one! The one with the duckies!"
"Evie, you... you... you owe me a ball!"
Seraphina didn't argue; she simply leaned over the water to fish it out.
Just as her body tilted forward, her peripheral vision caught Evie standing close behind her. Evie's hand lifted slightly, hesitated, and then dropped back down.
"Mommy! Evie's heart rate just spiked and dropped again!"
"What's going on over there? Great-Grandma pushed my stroller away, I can't see!"
Seraphina replied silently, "It's fine, don't worry."
Suddenly, Little Bean's panicked voice rang out again: "Mommy! Watch your back! Someone is running toward you!"
Seraphina tensed instantly.
Before she could even turn around, a violent force slammed into her back.
Evie seemed to have been shoved from behind, sending her crashing directly into Seraphina.
As Seraphina tipped over the edge, she threw her hand out and instinctively grabbed Evie's arm.
Before Evie could process what was happening, she was dragged forward, and both women plunged into the koi pond.
The freezing water reached their waists.
Evie swallowed a mouthful of water, thrashing wildly in panic.
Seraphina managed to find her footing first and immediately reached out to grab Evie's hand.
Terrified out of her mind, Evie didn't care about anything else. She clamped onto Seraphina with a desperate, crushing grip.
Seraphina had barely steadied herself before Evie's frantic pulling dragged her back under the surface.

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