Chapter 3

Suspicion once again turned toward the Reynolds family as people whispered among themselves.

"I can't believe Greyson would say something like that to his own little sister. He's absolutely heartless."

"If Vance is telling the truth, then we can't trust what the Reynolds family just said. They could've been lying about her."

The Reynolds family had always thought themselves superior. Faced with the crowd's judgmental stares, they finally snapped.

Tears welled in Melanie's eyes. "What are you talking about? My son would never do something like that."

Grant's voice trembled with barely contained fury. "What do any of you know? Do you have any idea what that ungrateful daughter of ours did?!"

He turned to Greyson. "Enough, Greyson. Stop covering for her. Tell everyone what she did!"

Greyson drew a deep breath. His gaze swept across the room, his expression full of wounded pride. As if he could no longer tolerate the accusations, he finally exposed the family scandal they'd kept hidden.

"Before Maren left home, she started a fire in our house!"

The audience went silent.

"She was angry because we tried to discipline her. That day, while my mom was taking a nap, she started a fire in the living room downstairs and fled!"

Greyson's voice shook with anger. "Because of her reckless behavior, my mom almost died in that fire. Serena was the one who saved her."

He paused, his voice softening slightly. "Serena risked her own life to get Mom out of the fire. If she hadn't witnessed what happened, we wouldn't even know the truth.

"And Maren, that ungrateful brat, never once came back to apologize!"

Melanie choked back a sob. "If it hadn't been for my precious Serena that day, I... I would've died in that fire.

"I carried Maren to full term, and she tried to kill me. I'm glad she ran away. I don't ever want to see her again."

Grant spoke last, "We never acknowledged her publicly because we were too ashamed of her."

I hovered above them as bitterness slowly filled every part of me.

I hadn't started that fire. When thick smoke began billowing up from downstairs, I covered my nose and mouth and tried to get out of the house.

Then I saw Melanie lying unconscious in her bedroom. There was no time to think.

Gritting my teeth, I dragged and pulled her away from the flames and toward the front door.

A burning piece of wood crashed down on me. The pain was so intense that my vision went black, but I forced myself to keep going until I'd dragged her to safety by the entrance.

I couldn't find a single servant in the house that day.

Covered in blood, I ran outside and stumbled toward the road to find help.

A passing car stopped. The window rolled down, revealing Vance's face…

When I woke up again, I was in the basement of his house.

Vance told me he'd been watching me for a long time. He said I was going to be his final masterpiece.

"You're their biological daughter, but none of them love you. That's really sad." Vance looked at me with pity. "So I've decided to do a good deed and send you to heaven."

I begged him to let me go.

He gave me three chances. I could call my family three times. If even one of them agreed to save me, he would let me go.

However, neither Melanie nor Grant answered. With my last chance, I called Greyson, my hands trembling.

This time, someone picked up. I curled up in the corner, my entire body covered in injuries.

The moment I heard that familiar voice, tears spilled down my cheeks.

"Greyson, please save me."

He was silent for two seconds. Then his voice filled with anger and disappointment. "You actually have the nerve to call me? I haven't even dealt with you for setting that fire because you were throwing a tantrum!

"Do you have any idea how close Mom came to dying? And now you're making up another lie? Do you think we're all idiots?"

I froze, completely bewildered. "I didn't..."

He cut me off impatiently, "Enough. Either get your ass home right now and beg Mom for forgiveness, or die out there. Don't ever come back!"

The call abruptly ended.

I sat there clutching the phone as the screen went dark, reflecting my tear-streaked face.

Vance leaned against the opposite wall, his head tilted as he watched me. "That's rough."

He walked over and crouched in front of me, reaching out to wipe the tears from my face. "Poor Maren. You're out of chances. This place was already hell for you anyway. You might as well let me take you away."

I closed my eyes in despair.

This time, I stopped fighting back...

Back in the studio, someone spoke hesitantly, "But is it possible Maren ran away because she knew she'd done something wrong, and then she really was murdered? Maybe that's why she never came back."

Everyone froze.

Grant and Melanie went pale, uncertainty creeping into their eyes.

But Greyson suddenly gave a cold laugh. "Stop making ridiculous guesses. I have proof that Maren is definitely not dead."