Chapter 39

Scarlett's POV The warmth of the bathwater should have been relaxing—it should have been the kind of heat that melted away tension, easing my sore muscles after days of stress and endless calculations for the proposal. But for some reason, it felt heavy instead—too heavy—pressing against my skin like an invisible weight. I was trembling, my breath shallow, my head leaned back on the edge of the bathtub. Then without warning, a sharp, stabbing pain gripped the side of my neck, making me hiss in pain. I gasped, my body flinched automatically, and my balance shifted. My hand slipped away from the porcelain. The next thing I knew, I was sucked deeper into the water. Fuck. How unlucky could I be? At first, I thought I could push myself up. But my limbs felt sluggish—was it because I drank too much whiskey this time? The water around me had thickened into something syrupy, and my heart began to pound in panic. I tried to kick, to force my upper body back above the surface, but my muscles ref