They Planned My Fall, I Built My Throne

Spite burned across Abby's face as she stood at the bow of the yacht. With a vicious grin, she hoisted Milo into the air and hurled him straight into the crashing ocean below.

Just like in the nightmare, Rachael sprinted toward her. But this time, she didn't rush blindly to the railing searching for where Milo had fallen.

Instead, she lunged straight at Abby. Her fingers clamped around Abby's throat as she slammed her hard against the railing with enough force to rattle it.

Panic flashed across Abby's face while she clawed at Rachael's wrists, struggling desperately to break free, only to realize Rachael was far stronger than she had imagined.

Unwilling to lose, Abby reacted fast. A cold flash of steel flickered in her hand as she yanked out a knife and drove it viciously toward Rachael's face.

Rachael had been ready for the attack from the very beginning. The instant Abby moved, she twisted aside, caught her wrist in a brutal grip, and wrenched it hard.

A sharp cry ripped from Abby's throat as pain exploded through her arm, and the knife clattered from her fingers.

Without giving her a second to recover, Rachael kicked the knife straight into the dark ocean below.

After her attempts to harm Rachael failed, fury twisted Abby's face into something ugly.

Realizing force would not work, she abruptly changed tactics and tried to manipulate Rachael instead. "Rachael, don't you always claim you love that dog more than anything? If you keep stalling here, you're the reason he won't make it!"

A cold laugh slipped from Rachael's lips. Fisting a hand in Abby's hair, she yanked her forward and forced her to stare at the raging ocean below.

The second Milo hit the ocean, a rescue boat rushed toward him and hauled him out of the water.

"No... that's impossible!" Abby murmured in disbelief. "I already made sure the safety crew was dealt with..."

Not a flicker crossed Rachael's face. "What a shame. Your little plan fell apart. Milo has people coming to save him. You don't."

With that, she shoved Abby even farther over the railing until most of her body hung dangerously off the side.

Below them, the dark blue waves crashed violently against the yacht. Pure terror flooded Abby's face as a shrill scream ripped from her throat.

"Rachael! Marrying into the Brooks family won't end well for you! I know one of Austin's secrets!" Fingers trembling, Abby desperately latched onto Rachael's arm. "Pull me up first, and I'll tell you everything. It'll help you keep your position in the Brooks family!"

"I couldn't care less." Rachael's voice came out cold and emotionless. "The only thing I know is that you couldn't handle seeing me marry him, so you went insane and tried to kill me. Too bad for you—it backfired."

Terror seized Abby so hard her entire body trembled. "If I die here today, your life is over too! Everyone will know you're a murderer!"

Not a trace of warmth remained on Rachael's face. Without hesitation, she released her grip.

A shrill scream ripped out of Abby's throat as she plummeted downward.

Yet before she could crash into the raging ocean, her body jerked violently to a stop. At some point, Rachael had torn a strip of white silk from her wedding gown and wrapped it tightly around Abby's ankle.

Now Abby dangled upside down over the side of the yacht, the strip of silk cinched tightly around her ankle while the fierce sea wind left her swaying helplessly in the air.

Rachael braced one hand on the railing and looked down at her with a cold, almost amused smile. "Obviously, I'm not making myself a murderer over you. Ruining my whole life for someone like you? Please."

The moment the words left her mouth, a vicious gust tore across the deck. The strip of silk jerked taut under Abby's weight, and a thin ripping sound cut through the wind.

Abby shrieked again.

Without another glance, Rachael turned and walked away, leaving her dangling helplessly over the side.

By then, the chaos had spilled all the way to the reception hall. Guests began rushing onto the deck one after another, craning their necks to see what had happened.

Jenna's shrill accusation sliced through the wind from behind her. "Rachael! Abby's your sister! She only wanted to stop you from running out on your wedding! How could you treat her like this? Were you trying to murder her?"

Meanwhile, on the yacht's second deck, Austin wasn't socializing with the guests like he was expected to do. Instead, he stood alone beside the towering window, calmly watching the chaos erupt at the bow.

Then the phone resting beside him suddenly vibrated.

The moment he saw the name flashing across the screen, one brow lifted slightly.

A call he once would have answered without a second thought.

Austin's eyes drifted back to the deck. This time, he rejected it.

Below, Jenna's accusation cut through the crowd and pulled the tension even tighter.

By then, Abby had been hauled back onto the deck by the crew and several guests. White-faced and shaking, she collapsed against Jenna and broke into sobs.

"I was running away from my own wedding?" Rachael turned back, her expression already smooth and unreadable again. "Jenna, what makes you say that?"

"You were the one who threw the dog overboard first," Abby sobbed. "If I hadn't stopped you when I did, the crew you planted would've hauled you out of the water and helped you run away. You panicked because I was going to expose you, so you tried to kill me. Everyone here saw it!"

Jenna wrapped both arms around Abby and rubbed her back, her face tight with pained disbelief. "You kept causing a scene over the wedding gown earlier, and I thought you were only upset. I never thought that even after the ceremony, you'd still be trying to run away. And now you actually tried to kill your own sister?"

At that moment, a crewman rushed back onto the deck with Milo in his arms. The little dog was drenched from nose to tail. As soon as his paws touched the floor, he wriggled free and bolted straight for Rachael.

To the guests, the scene looked like ironclad evidence. Rachael had obviously planned to flee the wedding with her dog.

Tears shimmered in Jenna's eyes as her voice broke. "If you really didn't want to go through with the wedding, you could've talked to us about it. But Abby is still your sister. After everything you did to her, how are you supposed to explain this? Our family has always treated you well, and the man you married belongs to one of the most powerful families in Zabert. How could you..."

A woman in the crowd shook her head with a click of her tongue. "Seriously. She may have good grades, but she clearly has no common sense. What kind of career could possibly compare to marrying into a family like this? And she still tried to run away? That's absurd."

Someone else immediately joined in. "I heard the engagement agreement only said it had to be one of Albin Brown's daughters. It never specifically said Rachael had to be the bride. Honestly, Abby seems way more gentle and considerate. She would've been the better match."

One guest muttered, "After making a spectacle like this, there's no way Austin will still want her. A man like him would never tolerate being embarrassed in public."

A cool, indifferent voice sliced through the chaos. "Who's making such a scene crying? This is a wedding, not a funeral."

Austin descended from the yacht's second level with steady, unhurried steps, his expression calm as ever. The moment he appeared, the tense whispers spreading across the deck died down almost instantly.

Abby went rigid. She clearly hadn't expected him to show up so fast.

"Austin," Rachael called softly, her voice tinged with hurt.

Yet the instant his eyes landed on her, Austin caught the cold calculation hidden beneath that fragile expression.

"Austin, I never thought Rachael would actually go this far and try to kill her own sister," Jenna said in a hurry. "Even if you decide to call off the marriage right here and now, we won't stop you."

"A woman planning to run away from her own wedding wouldn't pick a gown that made her stand out in every crowd and barely let her walk properly." Austin spoke, his expression cold and impossible to read. "My wife doesn't seem like the kind of person who attacks someone without a reason. If she laid a hand on anyone, I'd rather know what drove her to that point."

Jenna froze for a second. "That's not what I was trying to say."

"What I personally saw was Abby throwing my wife's dog into the ocean," Austin continued steadily. "Luckily, someone managed to pull him out. Everything that happened afterward was because of the dog."

His gaze swept slowly across the deck. "We don't need to take anyone at their word. This yacht has over three hundred security cameras. At least one of them had to catch what really happened."

The color drained from Jenna's face. She froze, unable to come up with a response.

Beside them, Rachael's eyes narrowed slightly.

Something about this felt off. Was it possible her husband could see the future too?

Or had he simply chosen to stand on her side?

Love at first sight? Yeah, right. The idea was ridiculous.

Still, he had stepped in and helped her today, and that counted for something. After the wedding, she figured she could at least try not to make his life difficult.

Sliding her hand through Austin's arm, Rachael lowered her gaze towards Abby. "Abby, whatever issues we have should stay within the family," she said coldly. "But making a scene in front of all these guests and accusing me of trying to run away from my own wedding? What was your plan here? Were you trying to get rid of me so you could marry Austin instead?"