Chapter 1

As the only expert capable of completing a rescue at a depth of one thousand meters, I received a salvage order worth millions.

Over a decade ago, I had dove into those same waters.

My son Alvarez's research submarine was damaged on the ocean floor. He suffocated to death in the darkness, deprived of oxygen.

I was consumed by grief. It was my husband Thomas who held me through countless nights of despair.

Only later did I learn that he had personally diverted the only rescue vessel capable of reaching that depth—all to save his best friend's daughter.

And that girl had merely choked on some water in the shallow end.

From that day on, I divorced my husband and threw myself into deep-sea salvage and rescue work with obsessive intensity.

Until I knew the currents of these waters better than my own home.

I only hoped that one day, my son's tragedy would never happen again.

Today. The same waters. The same hull deformation. Oxygen depleted. Extremely high risk.

But when I saw the client's information, I froze on the spot.

That name, that face—I would never forget them for as long as I lived.

I smiled slightly and pushed the documents back to my partner.

"This time, I can't dive."