She Stayed in the Winter No One Knew

The entire room went silent.

Everyone froze where they were, staring toward the front row in disbelief.

The host kept smiling as he urged them on.

“Mr. Sanders, Mrs. Sanders, please come up and accept the award. Your family’s extraordinary kindness truly deserves this honor.”

The moment he finished speaking, whispers spread through the room.

“It’s actually the Sanders family? I never knew they were this charitable.”

“Doesn’t Mrs. Sanders believe in the afterlife more than anyone? She was actually willing to donate her own child’s organs?”

Those words stabbed into Mrs. Sanders’s ears one after another.

The gentle expression on her face cracked inch by inch.

Her complexion turned deathly pale, then faintly blue.

She nearly passed out.

She clutched Mr. Sanders’s arm, her voice trembling.

“What do they mean?”

“My children are perfectly alive. Why are they cursing my child like this?”

The eldest Sanders son, Simon Sanders, darkened at once.

His sharp gaze swept toward the host, and his voice turned icy.

“What nonsense are you talking about? No one in the Sanders family has died.”

Mr. Sanders’s presence became even more oppressive.

“Hmph. Think carefully before you speak.”

The host was so intimidated that he stumbled half a step back.

He quickly lowered his head and pulled out the information in his hand, checking it again and again.

He went over it three or four times, and a thin layer of sweat broke out across his forehead.

After a long pause, he finally spoke hesitantly.

“Mr. Sanders, Mrs. Sanders, the documents say the donor is indeed... your daughter.”

“Shut up!”

Mrs. Sanders screamed, her eyes already red.

“Lily is on her graduation trip overseas. She sent me photos just a few days ago. How could she possibly...”

Simon grabbed his mother’s hand and comforted her in a low voice.

“Mom, don’t panic.”

Then he turned back to the host, his eyes dark and cold.

“I’ll give you one last chance. Tell me the truth.”

Mrs. Sanders cut him off, her voice breaking.

“Simon, call your sister right now. What if something really happened to her?”

Simon immediately made a video call.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

No one answered.

Their hearts sank little by little.

Mrs. Sanders’s face went completely white. She stared at the phone screen, her lips trembling so hard she couldn’t speak.

Even Mr. Sanders could no longer sit still.

He leaned forward slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

Then the phone suddenly rang back.

Simon answered almost instantly.

“Lily!”

The screen lit up, revealing a pretty young face.

Lily Sanders rubbed her eyes, her hair a messy cloud around her head.

She had clearly just been woken up in bed.

Her voice was groggy as she mumbled, “Simon, why are you calling me in the middle of the night? Did you forget there’s a time difference?”

Mrs. Sanders snatched the phone from him and asked anxiously, “Lily, are you all right?”

“Mom?”

Lily froze for a second, then laughed.

“I’m having a great time here. What could possibly happen to me?”

“I already told you not to worry. I’m an adult now!”

Mrs. Sanders burst into tears at once, crying and laughing at the same time.

Mr. Sanders let out a long breath and leaned back into his chair.

Simon took the phone back and patiently reminded Lily of a few things before finally hanging up.

Then he turned to the host, his eyes cold.

“Did you see that? My sister is alive and well.

“You cursed my sister in front of everyone. The Sanders family expects an explanation.”

The atmosphere in the room instantly turned tense.

The host was completely at a loss.

Then one of the older girls onstage timidly raised her hand.

“It wasn’t that sister.”

Everyone turned to look at her.

The girl bit her lip and said softly, “My dad showed me a photo of the sister who saved me.

“Her name was Sophie Sanders.”