Chapter 4

I rushed Rachel to the hospital.

After receiving the news, Sean hurried over.

The moment he arrived, he fixed me with a dark glare.

"You knew that psychiatric hospital was dangerous. Why didn't you tell me beforehand? You knew Rachel was going there. Why didn't you stop her?

"Anna Hall, you're completely cold-hearted. You just stood by and watched her walk straight into danger."

Shirley chimed in with a mocking sneer.

"You knew there were human traffickers operating in that hospital, yet you kept all of us in the dark.

"You never treated us like family. If you'd told us, Rachel wouldn't have gotten hurt."

Their accusations were so ridiculous that I laughed.

"Didn't I tell all of you not to come to the psychiatric hospital looking for me?

"I warned you again and again. You ignored me and showed up anyway. How is that my fault?

"It was a confidential operation!"

Shirley immediately argued back.

"How were we supposed to know why you didn't want us there? For all we knew, you were hiding something shady.

"Couldn't you have just told us the truth? If you had, would we really have exposed your secret?

"Confidential operation? Sounds more like you're involved in something you don't want people finding out about."

She actually had the nerve to insult my profession.

I rolled up my sleeves, ready to give them a piece of my mind, when Rachel woke up.

Sean and Shirley immediately rushed to her bedside.

"Rachel, are you alright? If anything had happened to you, I would've held Anna responsible!"

"Rachel, don't move around. Your wound is still fresh. You're a hero in my eyes. You stood up to human traffickers without flinching. Those monsters deserve to rot in hell."

A woman in the neighboring bed overheard the conversation and immediately approached.

"Were you injured by those traffickers from the psychiatric hospital?"

Rachel nodded.

The woman's eyes instantly reddened, and she tried to kneel.

"Thank you. You're all heroes. My grandson was one of the children rescued today.

"I have no way to repay you. Please take this money and buy yourselves something nourishing."

As she spoke, she pulled a thick wad of cash from her pocket.

I immediately stepped forward, helped her up, and pushed the money back into her hands.

Then I repeatedly warned her, "The traffickers haven't all been caught yet. Keep a close eye on your grandson.

"And whatever you do, don't tell anyone about this."

The woman nodded without hesitation.

After making sure Rachel was alright, I headed to the police station to hand over some video evidence.

Once the transfer was complete, I hailed a cab and sat in the back seat scrolling through my phone.

The moment I opened it, my heart sank.

Rachel had uploaded the hospital surveillance footage showing the woman kneeling to thank her.

In less than thirty minutes, the video had already racked up tens of thousands of views.

I immediately told the driver to turn around and head back to the hospital.

At the same time, I called Rachel.

"Rachel, the traffickers haven't all been caught yet. You need to keep a low profile. Doing this could make you a target for retaliation—"

Before I could finish, she hung up.

I called three more times in a row.

Every single call was rejected.

Furious, I shoved open the hospital room door.

Rachel was livestreaming.

"Rachel Ross! Do you have any idea—"

Shirley immediately covered my mouth and dragged me back out into the hallway.

Anger surged through me.

"Mom! Two of the traffickers got away! Rachel is putting herself in danger. They could come after her!"

Shirley held tightly onto my arm, afraid I would go back in and interrupt Rachel's livestream.

Her face was filled with pride.

"What do you know? Rachel is making a fortune from these livestreams.

"One virtual gift brings in a two hundred dollars, and her screen is full of them right now."

She glanced at me with open disdain.

"Only two traffickers escaped. What kind of retaliation could they possibly manage?

"This is a law-abiding society. You're making a mountain out of a molehill."

At that moment, Sean came running down the hallway.

He was staggering so badly he could barely stay on his feet.

His voice trembled uncontrollably, thick with panic and tears.

"Mom, Liam wasn't there when I went to pick him up from school. He's missing!"