Chapter 70
“Charlotte!”
Anthony never saw it coming. One second, Charlotte was beside him, the next she was diving straight into the water. He reached out, but his fingers just grabbed thin air.
Did she even know how to swim?
He didn’t waste a second thinking. Anthony jumped in after her.
But what happened next caught him completely off guard. Not only could Charlotte swim, she was fast… faster than he’d ever seen. He’d won gold at swimming championships before, and even at his best, this distance would take him a minute and a half. Somehow, Charlotte was ahead of him.
She slipped beneath the surface and lifted the unconscious child, surfacing just as Anthony caught up.
Everything about this felt strangely familiar to Charlotte. Her heart thudded wildly in her chest, her thoughts spinning.
“Charlotte, give me the kid.”
She just stared at him, dazed, until Anthony frowned and took the child from her. He wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her close. “Hang on to me,” he said, voice low and rough.
Her fingers shook as she grabbed his arm. Together, they swam for shore.
Five minutes later, they dragged the boy onto the grass.
The kid’s head was bleeding badly, his breathing faint. He’d taken a hard hit, then gotten knocked around by the water. Now he just lay there, blood pooling beneath him, barely conscious.
“My baby! Please, my baby The boy’s mother, elegant in her expensive clothes, crumpled to her knees, sobbing. “Is there a doctor? Someone help my son, please
It was rush hour. The ambulance was stuck way down the road, nowhere close.
People crowded around, whispering, but nobody stepped forward.
“His skull’s cracked. Can anyone really save him?”
“I saw the whole thing. He got tossed through the air, landed in the lake… There’s so much blood. Even a doctor would have trouble.”
Charlotte heard them but didn’t
pause. She pulled off her heavy coat, her eyes determined. She yanked the black hair tie from her wrist, quickly
messy bun,
pulled her wet hair into of her
and exposed the palë
neck.
sŵnovels
Dropping to her knees, she unzipped her soaked backpack and dumped everything
out. An old tablet. A neatly folded Vanguard High School uniform. A few bottles. A small wooden box.
Anthony’s gaze sharpened. He hadn’t expected this. She knew how to use acupuncture needles.
The crowd started to notice too.
“Hey, what are you doing?” someone called out.
“I’m saving him,” Charlotte replied, her voice cool and steady. She disinfected the needles with practiced hands.
“Saving him?” a guy in the crowd
echoed. “Are you even a doctor? Or
maybe you’re just a med student? Wait is that a high school uniform? You’re not still in high school are you?”
People began to murmur.
“A high schooler? She can’t know anything about medicine! Who does she think she
is, trying to help?”
“We know you mean well, but don’t do anything crazy, okay?”
“Yeah! If something happens, you’ll never be able to take the blame!”
Voices overlapped, everyone piling on.
Charlotte didn’t flinch. She lined up the needles with calm precision. As she reached for the boy’s hand, his mother shoved her away, panic in here
reyes. What are you doing to my son?” she cried, her voice shaking.
The push made Charlotte stagger, but Anthony caught her right before she fell.
He straightened, his eyes icy as he scanned the crowd. “If you can help, then do it. If you can’t, keep quiet.”
Someone tried to speak up, but one look at Anthony’s cold expression shut them up fast.