Trapped in the Pool with a BROKEN ARM and I AM DONE Chapter 09
News of Everett’s immediate termination quickly spread through every corner of the staff Slack channel
Soon afterward, an anonymous exposé appeared on a local message board and went viral across
Briarhaven
Its title read: [Inside the Mind of the Lifeguard Who Let His Girlfriend Die.]
The post described in detail how Everett favored another woman and deliberately refused to rescue me
It even included time-stamped security images showing him opening my private locker and giving my
clothes to Brielle.
The writer claimed to be an employee of the water park.
But Everett recognized the bitter tone behind every sentence.
It was Brielle.
Clutching his phone, Everett crossed the city and went directly to Brielle’s apartment building.
He raised his fist and pounded repeatedly on her apartment door.
When Brielle opened it and saw him, she stumbled one step backward.
“What are you doing here?”
Everett held up his phone, his voice frighteningly calm.
“You wrote that post.”
Brielle looked away and tried to appear composed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Everett, I’m devastated about Maren too, but her death was your responsibility. It had nothing to do with me.”
“Your reputation is ruined, so stay away from me.”
Everett stared in disbelief at the woman he had once trusted and protected at every opportunity.
Suddenly, every sacrifice he had made for her seemed unbearably ridiculous.
“It had nothing to do with you?”
“Who deliberately stuck out her foot and tripped Maren that day?”
“Who pretended to faint so I would stay with her in the shallow end?”
“Brielle, I chose you, and that choice killed her.”
“Now you’re telling me you had nothing to do with it?”
Cornered by the truth, Brielle finally dropped her innocent act.
“Yes, I tripped her. So what?”
“You were the blind fool who insisted on seeing me as some helpless woman!”
“You were the one who handed me the rescue tube!”
“Everett, you’re a selfish hypocrite!”
“You claimed you were protecting me, but you only enjoyed the ego boost of having someone depend on
you!”
“You killed Maren with your own hands!”
The words struck Everett like lightning, leaving him frozen outside her door.
Brielle stepped backward and slammed the apartment door directly in his face.
Everett never remembered walking back downstairs.
He wandered aimlessly through unfamiliar city streets until day faded into night.
He had no money, no job, and no home.
Eventually, exhausted and filthy, he sat beside a trash can beneath a concrete overpass.
Then the massive digital billboard across the plaza lit up.
The enormous screen began playing a glossy advertisement for an exclusive new scuba club.
On the screen, a woman in professional scuba gear moved effortlessly through the clear blue depths of the
ocean.
When she removed her mask and revealed her bright, confident face, Everett went rigid.
The stale dinner roll he had been eating slipped from his hand and landed beside his feet.
