Chapter 2

I yanked my arm free. "Get out of my way."

"I'm not moving!" Melissa dropped to the ground, stubbornly throwing a tantrum. "Everyone, look! The murderer is trying to run away. My dog Max was killed because of her!"

She yelled loudly, but I noticed her gaze flicking toward me, gauging my reaction.

Greg immediately blocked my path, clenching his fists and cracking his knuckles menacingly. "Lauren, Melissa asked you to go into the woods to look for Max. Are you deaf? If you refuse, I'll make sure you never leave this campsite."

I pulled out my phone. "Fine. I'll call the police right now. Let them decide who's really the one causing trouble."

I had just pressed 911 when a large hand suddenly snatched the phone away.

"What police?" Mr. Woodruff gripped my phone, his face darkening. "This is a company team-building trip. How will it look if you call the cops over? Do you want the entire industry laughing at us?"

Staring at my empty palm, I finally understood—they weren't just trying to force me to search for the dog.

"Mr. Woodruff, are you restricting my freedom?"

"I'm teaching you discipline!" he snapped, shoving my phone into his pocket. "Until Max is found, I'll be holding onto this. You'll get it back when the dog returns."

In my last life, this was how it had started too.

Melissa climbed to her feet and walked up to me, a smug smile playing on her lips. "Did you hear that, Lauren? Now, get into the woods and find my dog! If you don't find him, you can die in there for all I care."

"I'll say this one last time. I'm not going."

Melissa's smile froze.

"Lauren, don't push your luck!" Greg immediately butted in. "Mr. Woodruff gave you an order. You dare defy him?"

I shot him a glare. "I don't know if the company can or cannot survive without me. But I do know this—if I die in that forest, every single one of you here will be guilty of murder."

My eyes swept across the group of colleagues who had been watching. Those who had been cheering Melissa on earlier now looked away guiltily.

Melissa raised her voice again. "Stop trying to scare everyone! Max is a good boy. If he's fine in there, you'll be fine too. You're just selfish and cold-blooded!"

As she cursed me, her eyes scanned the campsite until her gaze finally locked onto my tent, which stood at the edge of the site. I had pitched it alone the day before.

Melissa strutted over. "You won't go search, huh? Then don't even think about staying here either!"

She yanked hard on the guylines. The stakes ripped out of the ground.

"What are you doing?" I rushed forward.

Greg blocked me like a wall, shoving me back. I slipped and crashed onto the gravel. My palm split open, blood oozing out.

"Melissa can do whatever she wants. Who are you to stop her?"

In those few seconds, Melissa had already torn my tent apart. She threw my waterproof mat into the mud, stomped dirty footprints across my sleeping bag, and finally dug through my backpack, pulling out a wooden safety charm.

My dad had gotten that charm for me from a church. In my last life, I had clung to it during my time in prison.