Chapter 1

In my vision, Shawn vanished completely into the wind and snow. All that remained was the howling wind, mocking my stupidity.

I struggled to open my eyes. Beside me stood only Shawn's personal assistant, Gary Mendes. He stared at me with a complicated look on his face.

A spark of hope ignited in me—the instinctive will to survive.

"Save... save me..."

Gary's hand reached out, stopped halfway, then pulled back.

"I'm sorry, Miss Anna.

"Mr. Lingard said Miss Janice was frightened, so everyone had to escort her down the mountain.

"Mr. Lingard said the avalanche has stopped and you're not buried that deep. Since you grew up in the countryside, a little bit of snow like this won't freeze you to death. He said you should calm down."

Gary guiltily averted his gaze after he finished speaking.

A simple pull from him would have helped me crawl out, but he wouldn't even do that.

He chose to obey that stupid CEO of his and leave a living, breathing person behind in the snow pit.

The footsteps faded away, the distinctive crunch of boots on snow. I was completely abandoned.

I desperately tried to bend my fingers, reaching for the hard object inside my underclothes.

It was something my adoptive mother gave me before I returned to the Lingard family.

She said, "Anna, this is a life-saving talisman. Don't use it unless you have no other choice because once you do, your peaceful life will come to an end."

Back then, I said with a smile, "I won't need this. My biological parents and brother will take care of me."

Thinking back now, what a colossal joke that was.

I summoned every last ounce of strength to press the red button.

Beep.

The indicator light flickered weakly twice, then went dark.

The satellite signal was sent successfully.

I wasn't sure if I could hold on until they arrived from abroad. After all, I was in a no-man's-land sealed off by the avalanche.

Just then, the phone screen pressing against my chest suddenly lit up. It was a special vibration pattern.

There was a new message in the "Mercenary Group of Love" group chat.

Even with the weak signal, on this special frequency, the message still came through.

Eason Keller had posted a photo. In the photo, he was polishing a heavy sniper rifle, its barrel dark and glinting coldly.

The caption was simple:

"Anna, we've received your location. We happen to be on a mission near the border, only 200 kilometers away from you. This snowy mountain has a nice view, perfect for burying people."

I wanted to laugh but couldn't move my lips. I wanted to reply but my fingers were too frozen to type on the screen.