Chapter 3

Amber's words felt like a thorn driven straight into my heart, leaving me gasping for breath.

But how could that be?

15 years ago, when Darnell first learned I was missing, he had cried as if his entire world had ended.

He had run through every street and alley, calling my name, searching for me without pause.

Over and over, he had wept with regret, blaming himself for taking me out to buy cotton candy and leaving me behind to wait when he didn't have enough money.

Back then, before the traffickers had taken me too far away, I saw Dad beat him until he couldn't stand. He had kneeled on the very spot where I vanished, his body racking with violent sobs.

I had opened my mouth, desperate to scream his name and tell him I was right there, but the duct tape across my mouth muffled every sound.

Later, as the traffickers moved me away, I looked through a crack in the car window and saw the entire street plastered with missing person flyers.

Darnell had held my photo, asking every passerby, "Have you seen this girl? She's my sister. She's lost. Please, if you see her, you have to tell me. I'll give you money, a lot of money…"

With his hands pressed together in a desperate plea, he looked so humble and helpless that I still remember it vividly to this day.

Tears streamed down my face.

I raised a hand stiff from the cold, reaching out toward Darnell for help.

Even though I knew he favored Amber and I was nothing more than an expendable burden to him, the lingering obsession in the depths of my heart refused to let me give up.

I needed an answer from Darnell.

He was the one who had plastered the streets with flyers and begged for me along the sidewalks. And he was also the one abandoning me now.

Which one was the real him?

But the moment my hand extended, Amber suddenly swayed, clutching her chest as she collapsed to the ground.

Seeing this, Darnell didn't bother asking questions. His immediate thought was that I was trying to hurt her.

Forgetting entirely that he was supposed to be playing a hostage, he rushed over and shouted at me, "It was just a joke! Did you really have to go this far and hurt Amber? Erin Huff, how can you be so malicious?"

I couldn't believe my ears.

He had faked an abduction and used Jaiden and a fake severed finger to force me into a wastewater pit.

And now, ignoring my shivering, freezing body, he blindly threw all the blame onto me.

Broken in body and spirit, every drop of color drained from my face.

Darnell seemed to realize that something was wrong. He let go of Amber and reached his hand out toward me.

But before his fingers could touch mine, Amber cried out in pain, "Darnell, my chest hurts…"

In that split second, Darnell retracted his hand without a hint of hesitation. He scooped Amber up into his arms and bolted out.

And I, already frail and spent, could no longer endure the prolonged immersion in the icy water. My strength gave out completely, and I sank to the bottom.

…

When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital bed.

I guessed Darnell was worried that a death would ruin the family's reputation. I figured that he had ordered Jaiden to drag me out of the water before driving off with Amber.

At that moment, my entire body was hooked up to IVs and monitor lines.

As the nurse adjusted my IV drip, she chided me with tender concern, "You treat your own body like a joke. Doesn't your family care about you at all?

"The last two times you had sudden gastric bleeding, even your kidneys took severe damage. It took three days and nights in the ICU to pull you back from the brink of death.

"The hospital has advanced targeted therapy options that could prolong your life, yet you chose to give them up. Now you've gone and wrecked yourself like this. Aren't you afraid of dying at all?"

As I stared at the genuine worry on her face, my chest tightened painfully.

Growing up, my family had never shown me such sincere concern. Yet, here was a total stranger caring more about me than my own flesh and blood.

But how could I not be afraid of death?