The dark waves slammed against Clara’s chest, each hit colder than the last. She held seven-year-old Ella above the black water, her own arms shaking from the effort. A few yards away, the engine of the sleek white boat sputtered to life, churning the sea into white foam.

Clara: Raymond! Look at her! Please, you can’t leave us out here!

Ella: Daddy! Please don’t go! It hurts, Daddy!

Raymond: Get your hands off the side of my boat, Clara! I told you we were finished!

Clara: She’s your daughter, Raymond! She’s shivering! Her heart condition—she won't survive this water!

Raymond: She’s your responsibility now. I have a new life, and you’re not part of it!

Ella: Daddy, my chest hurts! Don't leave us in the ocean!

Raymond reached down and yanked Clara’s fingers off the metallic rail. The boat jolted forward, spraying freezing salt water directly into little Ella’s swollen eyes. The child screamed, clutching her mother’s soaked jacket as the vessel roared toward the horizon.

Clara: Raymond! Come back!

Ella: Mommy, I’m so cold... Is Daddy coming back?

Clara: Hold onto me, baby. Keep your head up. Look at Mommy, don't look at the water.

Just fifty feet away, the boat slowed down near a private yacht anchored in the calm cove. Clara gasped through her tears as she saw Raymond lower a ladder. A young woman in a bright red bikini leaned over the deck, laughing as Raymond pulled her aboard, wrapping a plush yellow towel around her shoulders. Raymond didn't look back once as Clara’s strength began to fade in the open ocean, holding a child whose heart beat weaker with every passing second.