ManyWriters

As the seaside wedding of Melody and me was underway, her childhood sweetheart Levi made a comment.
"I'd like to see the groom perform a falling-in-the-water show."
Without hesitation, she pushed me into the sea to amuse her childhood sweetheart.
I struggled painfully in the water, nearly drowning to death.
It was my mother, in the late stages of lung cancer, who recklessly jumped into the sea to rescue me.
But she inhaled too much seawater and became a vegetable as a result.
That night, I returned home to pack my clothes and found Melody in her wedding dress, tangled in passionate embrace with Levi on our new bed.
I stood in the doorway, soaking wet and utterly exhausted, dialing Melody's aunt's number.
"Auntie, can I still be your lover?"

The Clouds Part, Revealing the Moon

Upon returning to the villa, I released the video announcing my plans for a  clarifying livestream.


Among the reactions, Levi was the first to become uneasy.


Because he knew the truth about what happened back then, and he also knew why I had quit the national swim team.


But Melody knew nothing about any of it.


Because I once loved her, I didn't want to hurt her or make her feel guilty about my lost leg.


The clarifying livestream was scheduled for the evening.


However, Melody caught us off guard by showing up unexpectedly.


In the villa, I had just turned on the livestream and hadn't even spoken when Melody stumbled in, reeking of alcohol.


"Fintan, aren't you going to kneel down and apologize to me?"


"You left him to die! My brother's body was so mangled by sharks it was unrecognizable, and you still have the nerve to make excuses?"


Chapter 7