Chapter 2 - The Freezing Plunge
My stomach dropped to the pavement. “Jason.”
Ryan and Kyle laughed, setting their beers down and walking toward me. Before I could even process what was happening, they grabbed my arms. At first, my brain desperately tried to rationalize it. I thought it was a stupid, drunken joke.
Then, they tightened their grip, their thick fingers digging painfully into my biceps.
“Let go of me!” I shouted, struggling against them.
People started laughing. Not nervous laughter—cruel, entertained laughter. Ryan and Kyle dragged me forcefully across the wet stone patio. The uncovered pool looked almost pitch-black beneath the evening patio lights, and the temperature had dropped to the low fifties.
“Jason, stop this right now!” I demanded, my heels skidding against the stone.
He stepped directly in front of me, the heavy scent of whiskey on his breath. “You’ve been acting like you’re better than everyone all weekend, Megan.”
“I paid for everyone to be here!” I yelled.
“Exactly,” Jason sneered, leaning closer so only I could hear the venom in his voice. “Maybe this will remind you that your money doesn’t make you the boss of my family.”
Then, he placed both hands on my shoulders and violently shoved me backward.
The cold was so absolute, so violent, that I couldn’t breathe. My body hit the freezing water with a loud crash, and the sheer shock of the temperature paralyzed my lungs. My soaked clothes instantly turned to lead, dragging me down into the dark water. For several terrifying seconds, I kicked blindly, panic exploding in my chest as I fought my way back to the surface.
When I finally broke through the water, gasping and choking for air, a roar of laughter exploded around the pool.
Linda was clapping her hands in delight. Jason’s father had his phone out, filming my humiliation. Ryan and Kyle were high-fiving each other. And my husband stood at the very edge of the pool, smiling down at me as if humiliating his wife was the greatest, funniest achievement of his entire year.
Something inside me went completely, terrifyingly still. The love, the patience, and the desperation to make this marriage work instantly froze and shattered.
I climbed out of the pool, shivering so violently my teeth rattled. Water pooled at my feet on the stone. Not a single person offered me a towel.
Jason grinned, crossing his arms. “Learned your lesson?”
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I looked directly into his eyes. The absolute, dead emptiness in my gaze must have unsettled him, because his arrogant smile slowly began to disappear.
I didn't yell. I didn't cry. I didn't threaten anyone. I turned my back on them and walked inside the house.
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