Chapter 2

Five days remained until my “death” when my father sent a car to pick me up and bring me back home.

When I got into the car, motion sickness medicine and a bottle of room-temperature sparkling water had already been placed beside my seat.

I picked them up and glanced at them.

The driver explained, “The Don asked us to have those ready. He said you don’t like air freshener in the car, so we removed it beforehand.”

I put the medicine back.

Charles remembered everything. He remembered every little detail about me.

The only thing he forgot was to ask whether I was willing to leave.

My parents lived on an estate north of Palermo. Before the car had even fully stopped, my mother had already come out to greet me.

She hugged me.

“Helen.”

Her eyes were red again.

“I can’t bear to let you go.”

I said nothing, and she quickly released me.

“Come inside. The lawyer is waiting.”

I paused when I saw that the study was already filled with people: the Family’s lawyer, public relations consultants, and my father’s head of security.

On the table was a prepared death announcement.

[Helen Vison died in the port attack.]

Even the time it would be released publicly had been carefully marked.

The funeral arrangements, the chosen burial site, the public statement, and the time my personal social media accounts would be closed were all listed.

All public appearances involving Charles and me as a couple would be canceled. There was even a black-and-white photograph prepared to be released after my “death.”

The photograph had been taken last winter. Charles had been working in the study that day when I came downstairs, and he suddenly asked someone to take a picture of me.

At the time, I didn’t understand why he had done that. Charles only gave me a mysterious smile.

“You look especially beautiful today.”

Now that photograph had been chosen for my funeral.

How ironic.

My father took the documents from the lawyer.

“It’s just a formality. Everything has to look real, or they won’t believe it.”

I gave a bitter smile.

“Once I’m on that island, will I be able to contact you?”

My mother looked troubled, while my father immediately shook his head.

“It’s best not to. Phone calls, emails, and account logins could all leave traces.”

“What if I get sick?”

“Charles has arranged a private doctor.”

“Then will you come to see me?”

The study suddenly fell silent.

My mother walked toward me.

“Once it’s safe…”

She stopped there, because none of us knew when it would truly be safe.

I looked at her and said wearily, “So after I die, I won’t be able to contact you, and I won’t be able to come home either, right?”

“Helen, we’re only telling the world you’re dead. You’ll still be alive.”

My mother hurriedly took my hand, but I pulled it away coldly.

“What’s the difference? I can’t use my own name, I can’t come home, and I can’t see my parents.”

“But at least Sandra will live.”

My father suddenly spoke.

His voice was calm.

“And this war has to stop. Two docks have already been damaged, and several of our people have died. If this continues, more people will die.”

I looked at him, my expression blank.

“So the easiest solution is to let me die.”

My father frowned.

“Don’t say it like that. No one actually wants you to die.”

He pushed another document toward me.

“You’re just going to live somewhere else.”

I lowered my gaze.

It was a temporary access pass.

After leaving the banquet on the night of the explosion, I would pass through a private dock controlled by my father.

“Take this,” he said. “If you’re stopped at any checkpoints along the way, this will get you through.”

I accepted the card.

Only then did my mother show a small smile again.

“See? Everyone has already arranged everything for you.”

Before I left that afternoon, my mother pressed a jewelry box into my hands. Inside was an old gold chain.

I used to wear it all the time as a child.

“You could never sleep if you spent even one night away from home,” she said. “Take this with you. When you get there, at least you’ll have something from home.”

I held onto the box tightly.

“Mom.”

“Hmm?”

“If you had to choose which of us could stay, would you still choose Sandra?”

The smile on my mother’s face disappeared instantly.

After a long silence, she only said, “This situation is too serious. I don’t want her to take that risk.”

I gave a bitter inward laugh and nodded.

“I understand.”

The car left the estate.

I took out my phone and sent a message to a number I had not contacted in a very long time.

[Five days from now, I need a boat.]

Not long after, the reply came.

[Where to?]

I looked at the coastline rushing past outside the window.

[As far away as possible.]