Chapter 2

"Fiona's brother and father?"

Seth doubled over laughing as if I'd just told a joke.

"Look at you two deadbeats. You say you're related to her? Tried to skip out on the bill, and now you're claiming to be her family? You think dropping her name will scare me into letting you go?"

The two male employees behind him chimed in.

"That's right. Our boss is Ms. Miller's sweetheart. Who do you think you are?"

"They're professional scammers, Mr. Zeller. Don't fall for their lies."

Panic tore through me. Dad's breathing was so faint that I could barely hear it anymore.

Then, it hit me that his emergency pills were in my bag.

I sprinted toward the shelf where I'd left it. But I'd barely taken two steps when someone grabbed my shoulder from behind.

Someone wrenched me backward with brutal force. Before I knew it, the two employees had thrown me to the floor.

My body slammed against the tile, and pain exploded through me, making my vision blur.

Seth just stood there holding his phone, scrolling through the live stream comments with a smug grin spreading wider across his face.

"You guys are amazing. I love the suggestions you're giving me. Today, I'm going to teach these freeloaders a lesson and show you all how it's done."

A wave of dread hit me. I knew something terrible was about to happen.

The next second, a hard-soled shoe stomped down hard on my hand. I screamed as a piercing pain shot through me, and I felt my bones crack.

Seth tilted his phone to capture my face contorted with pain and shouted excitedly into the camera, "See that, everyone? He's losing it. We caught him skipping the bill, and he got so embarrassed that he tried to attack us. But we've got him under control."

"Dad…"

Still in excruciating pain, Dad saw my broken, twisted hand, and his body started convulsing violently. He was about to pass out.

I couldn't let anything happen to him.

Seth was reading the encouraging comments on his live stream, and his smile turned vicious. He walked over to Dad and stood over him.

"Stop faking it, old man. Keep it up, and I'll give you a couple of kicks to turn that fake illness into a real one."

Seeing him lift his foot like he was about to kick Dad's chest, I felt my breath catch in my throat.

"No! Stop!" I screamed until my voice gave out.

His employees held me down while I struggled, making me unable to move.

Dad's body was going into shock now, his consciousness gradually fading. If this kept going, he was really going to die.

"Medicine… The medicine…" I stretched my arm desperately toward the shelf.

Seth followed my gaze and strolled over casually. He pulled the pill bottle from my bag and toyed with it, smirking.

"Want this?"