Chapter 1

I instinctively looked toward the guide, Randall Brown. There was a faint scar on his face. Somehow, I hadn't noticed earlier while I had been glued to my phone.

Thinking back to those strange messages, I still couldn't believe it. Seeing floating comments in real life? No way.

I leaned closer to the woman beside me and lowered my voice.

"Hey… Can I ask how much you paid for this tour?"

We had been chatting about everyday stuff before, but somehow, the price had never come up.

She smiled, glanced around, then held up a finger.

"One dollar! I thought it was a scam at first, but turns out it's real!"

My stomach dropped.

My husband, Everett Grant, had told me this trip cost 600 dollars.

I forced a smile as another line of text floated past.

[Tina's clueless. She's still smiling when the bus is about to leave. She'll behave once she's inside the compound.]

I slowly stood and craned my neck to look around at the other passengers.

Most of them were elderly, their hair gray or white, with only a handful of younger people scattered among them.

What would anyone even gain from trafficking a bunch of seniors?

Right as that thought crossed my mind, more messages appeared.

[Come on, it's mostly old and frail people. It can't be that bad, right? Maybe you're overthinking it.]

[Think about it. One dollar doesn't even cover gas. They're not running a charity. The elderly are just a cover. The real targets are the younger ones.]

I still didn't fully understand, so I pulled out my phone and searched "one-dollar tour" across a few apps.

There were only a handful of scattered posts about parents getting scammed by cheap travel packages.

One post caught my eye. It was a mother searching for her missing daughter. The girl had signed up for a low-cost tour and vanished without a trace.

A week before the holiday, Everett had suddenly suggested we sign up for a tour to relax.

I had been thrilled.

The night before the trip, however, he told me he had to work overtime and couldn't come with me. He even went out of his way to tell me not to worry, that he would take care of our son while I was gone.

I thought he had finally grown a conscience, that he understood how hard the past few years had been for me.

Now, the more I thought about it, the colder I felt.

I needed to get off this bus!

"Mr. Brown, my stomach hurts. I need to use the restroom!"

He frowned. "We're leaving in two minutes. There's a bathroom on the bus."

My eyes widened. I bit my lip, panic rising fast. "Please. I-I didn't bring tampons. I need to buy some…"

Before I could finish, the woman from earlier popped up from the back row, all smiles. "Oh, honey, why didn't you say so sooner? I've got some! Here, here! Go take care of it!"

Before I could react, she pushed me toward the restroom.

I watched in despair as the door shut behind me.

At the exact same moment, the bus started moving.

The messages exploded across my vision.

[It's over. It's really over! The bus is moving!]

[Wait, what? Did Tina get smart for a second there? She almost got off.]

I forced myself to breathe and walked back to my seat.

One hour until we reached the destination.

If those messages were real, then I was in serious trouble.

But right now, stuck on this bus, there was nothing I could do. Everett was probably with that woman right now.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. I still had one chance.

I pulled out my phone and started a video call to Everett. I tried three times, but he didn't answer.

After that, I switched to a regular call. On the fourth try, he finally picked up.

"What's up, babe? Something wrong?"

His voice carried a hint of impatience. I had obviously interrupted his date.

A message flashed.

[Nice one, Tina! Keep bothering Everett. Don't make it easy for him to fool around.]

So I had guessed right.

"Everett, I thought something bad happened to you. I called so many times, but you didn't pick up. You scared me."

[Tina's got a sharp tongue. I like it.]

"What are you doing? Why didn't you answer the video call? I saw so many pretty views on the way. I wanted to show you."

The background on his end was noisy.

"Oh, I'm out meeting a client. It's not a good time. Let's talk later. Just enjoy your trip."

"Okay. Don't work too hard…"

The call cut off before I could finish.

Another message appeared.

[I thought she figured it out, but guess not. She's still hopelessly in love.]

[Tina, wake up! Everett's having the time of his life with his side piece! What's he working hard at exactly?!]

I let out a quiet, cold laugh and muted my phone, staring out the window.

A few minutes later, I glanced down again.

There were over a dozen missed calls from Everett.