Chapter 4

Sarah locked me in a room.

My clothes were still wet. I sniffled quietly, wrapped myself in a blanket, and fell into a deep sleep.

I don't know how much time passed before I suddenly felt myself being lifted into warm arms.

I opened my eyes groggily. My mom was holding me, dirty and disheveled. The countdown above her head had changed to 1.

She touched my burning body and gasped. "You're so hot! Lily, you have a fever!"

My mom didn't care about anything else anymore. She ran for the door with me in her arms.

But at the doorway, Sarah was waiting with several large men. They blocked our way.

My mom held me tighter and glared at her. "What are you trying to do?"

Sarah didn't look weak or gentle at all. She gave a smug smile. "Aren't you so proud of yourself? Weren't you always so high and mighty? Look at you now—what a mess."

My mom's eyes turned red. She screamed, "Get out of my way! If anything happens to Lily, I'll kill you!"

Sarah laughed softly. She raised her hand and slapped my mom across the face. "You still think you're better than me? Dream on. You think you're still that rich girl from before? Everything you had belongs to me now. Your brother and David both chose me."

She waved her hand. We were tied up and dragged to an abandoned half-built building on the outskirts of town.

Sarah had herself tied to a chair too. Her eyes sparkled with pride and defiance.

"Just watch. David will choose me again this time. As for Lily... I'm going to sell her to some village in the middle of nowhere. I'm going to make her suffer a thousand times more than I ever did. Ten thousand times more."

I lay in my mom's arms, terrified and helpless, tears streaming down my face.

My mom gritted her teeth. She picked up a rusty piece of metal and started sawing at the ropes.

My dad arrived quickly. He saw how dirty and broken we looked. Frowning, he started walking toward us.

But before he could say anything, Sarah's crying rang out first. "David, you're finally here! Claire suddenly showed up at the house with a bunch of people... She said you really love her and that you'd definitely choose her... I'm so scared... save me!"

My dad's face went dark. All that was left was cold fury. "Claire, you would do something this cruel just to win me back?"

My mom shook her head desperately, her voice hoarse. "She did this, not me! David, please believe me! Lily has a high fever—please save her!"

My dad stared at her coldly, nothing but distrust in his eyes. "A fever? That's just another one of your pity tricks. I don't want to see you anymore."

He untied Sarah, picked her up, and left without looking back.

The men exchanged glances. They came toward us with ugly intentions. One of them reached out and touched my mom's face. "Poor thing. Your husband doesn't want you anymore. How about we keep you company?"

My mom let out a desperate scream. She broke through the ropes with all her strength, her hands torn and bloody.

She grabbed a rusty iron bar and swung it wildly. "Get away from us! Go away!"

One of the men was hit. He crumpled to the ground in pain.

My mom held me and stumbled outside, trying to run. But she ran straight into my dad, who had turned back.

My dad froze. His face darkened even more. "I was worried, so I came back to save you. But of course, this was all just another one of your schemes."

Behind us, the kidnappers were still chasing. In front of us, my dad didn't believe her.

My mom let out a bitter laugh. She held me tight and backed up step by step to the edge of the stairway.

My dad sighed and reached out his hand to us. "It's dangerous back there. Come here. Go home and apologize to Sarah nicely."

My mom pulled away from his hand. She looked him straight in the eye. "No."

A cold, mechanical voice suddenly rang out.

[Do you want to leave this world?]

"Yes."

My mom held me tightly. In my dad's horrified stare, she jumped.

He lunged forward like a madman, but his hands grabbed nothing but air.

My mom's voice was ice cold. "David, goodbye forever."

The next second, our bodies were wrapped in a soft glow and disappeared completely before his eyes.