I convinced myself that maybe I had misjudged him.
Maybe I was allowing anxiety to cloud my judgment.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
HIGH ABOVE THE OCEAN
The day of the flight was beautiful.
The sky was clear.
The ocean sparkled beneath us.
For a brief moment, I relaxed.
The scenery was breathtaking.
The helicopter moved smoothly through the air as we followed the coastline.
Then I noticed Daniel staring at me.
There was something unsettling in his expression.
Not affection.
Not excitement.
Something colder.
Something I had never seen before.
Suddenly, every warning sign I had ignored came rushing back.
My heart began pounding.
I knew something was terribly wrong.
THE MOMENT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Daniel moved closer.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“You should have trusted me,” he said.
I stared at him in confusion.
“What are you talking about?”
He smiled.
It was the kind of smile that sends chills down your spine.
Then he whispered one word.
“Goodbye.”
Before I could react, he shoved me.
Everything happened in seconds.
The helicopter door.
The rushing wind.
The endless sky.
The freezing fear.
The ocean racing toward me.
Then darkness.
THE FIGHT TO SURVIVE
What Daniel didn’t know was that I had taken extra safety precautions due to my pregnancy.
Because of previous concerns raised by my doctors, I had been using specialized emergency safety equipment during certain forms of travel.
It wasn’t designed specifically for a situation like this.
But it helped.
When I hit the water, the impact was brutal.
Pain shot through my body.
For several terrifying moments, I struggled to stay conscious.
