Chapter 3

The Sanders family froze.

A second later, Simon let out a cold laugh.

“Sophie must have been guilty, so she hid somewhere and didn’t dare show her face.”

He paused, then added with disgust, “That’s what people like her do. When they mess up, they run.”

Mr. and Mrs. Sanders said nothing.

But they were clearly thinking the same thing.

The host, however, didn’t agree.

“Have you ever considered that Miss Sanders might not have been hiding at all? That she may have already died in that avalanche?”

The entire room fell silent.

The host continued, “Maybe Miss Sanders didn’t escape alone.

“Maybe she knew Mrs. Sanders couldn’t move at the time. If both of them stayed there, they would both die.

“So she left on her own to find help, only for something to happen to her on the way.

“Mr. Sanders, after the accident, did you send anyone to investigate...”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Simon slammed his hand on the table and cut him off in fury.

Mrs. Sanders’s face went deathly pale. Her chest rose and fell hard, as if she couldn’t catch her breath and might faint at any second.

Mr. Sanders quickly held her up, his brows drawn tight.

The look he gave the host was full of displeasure and warning.

Floating in the air, I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

Even an outsider had guessed how I died.

But my biological parents and brother refused to believe it.

They would rather believe I was an ungrateful daughter who abandoned her mother and escaped alone.

They had all forgotten.

That day wasn’t just Lily’s birthday.

It was mine too.

I had only wanted their company for once.

That was why I gathered the courage to say I wanted to go skiing.

After the avalanche hit, Mrs. Sanders was buried under the snow.

I dug with everything I had.

I kept digging until I lost all feeling in my fingers.

Only then did I finally pull her out.

But by then, Mrs. Sanders had already passed out.

I couldn’t save her on my own.

I wrapped every warm thing I had around her.

Then, wearing only a thin sweater, I turned and walked into the blizzard.

I walked for an entire day.

I fell so many times I lost count.

Finally, right before my body gave out, I found the rescue team.

I told them where Mrs. Sanders was.

They told me to wait by the road.

But I had been waiting for less than ten minutes when an out-of-control truck came rushing toward me.

By the time I was taken to the hospital, it was already too late.

Before I died, I asked the doctors to donate my organs.

I wanted them to live for me.

To see the spring I would never get to see.

Everyone at the scene looked at the Sanders family with doubtful eyes.

After all, if the host’s guess was true, then the Sanders family had completely misunderstood Sophie.

Even Mr. and Mrs. Sanders’s eyes began to waver.

Then Simon suddenly sneered.

He stood up, his tone condescending.

“I don’t know who’s behind you or who’s trying to target the Sanders family.

“But listen carefully. I have proof that Sophie is absolutely not dead.”

Mr. and Mrs. Sanders looked up at him at the same time, surprise written all over their faces.

Simon took a deep breath, turned toward his parents, and lowered his voice.

“Dad, Mom, I’m sorry. There’s something I’ve been keeping from you.”

“After Sophie disappeared, I actually received a letter from her.”