Chapter 4

“In that letter, Sophie said she didn’t regret running away.

“But after doing something like that, she knew the Sanders family would never forgive her, so she had no intention of coming back.”

Simon’s voice gradually lowered.

“She said that since Mom didn’t die, and since she was still technically the Sanders family’s daughter, she wanted me to give her twenty million dollars to buy her off.

“Once she got the money, she would agree to cut ties with us and never appear in front of Mom again.”

Simon lowered his eyes.

“The only reason I kept it from you was because I didn’t want to upset you.”

After hearing that, Mrs. Sanders’s eyes filled with tears.

Mr. Sanders looked as if he was barely holding back his fury.

He clenched his fists and forced the words through gritted teeth.

“That ungrateful girl. We should never have brought her back to the Sanders family in the first place.”

After Simon finished speaking, everyone in the room began expressing sympathy for the Sanders family.

Then they turned around and started condemning me.

“Sophie Sanders really is heartless.”

“The Sanders family took her in, and instead of being grateful, she turned into an ungrateful brat.”

“Twenty million? Who does she think she is?”

Filthy words came crashing toward me from every direction.

Just then, the girl onstage who had spoken first stepped forward again.

“You’re not allowed to slander Sophie!”

Her eyes were red, and her voice trembled, but it was firm.

She pointed to her own eyes and said, word by word, “My dad told me that Sophie donated the corneas I have now.

“I can see this world because of her.”

The other children stepped forward one after another, speaking over each other.

“Sophie donated a kidney to me.”

“I got part of her liver...”

“Sophie’s heart is beating inside me.”

A little boy placed his hand over his chest.

His young voice was soft but serious.

“The doctor said this heart used to belong to a very, very kind sister.

“She’s nothing like what you’re saying!”

I looked at all those children.

Because of me, they had the chance to see the world again.

They had healthy bodies.

They had hope to keep living.

I floated in the air, nothing more than a wandering soul.

And yet, it felt as if a warm beam of light had passed through my empty body.

Because of the children, everyone became uncertain again.

The whole situation suddenly grew confusing and impossible to read.

Mrs. Sanders tightened her grip on Mr. Sanders’s sleeve.

Her lips trembled slightly.

Simon also felt an inexplicable sense of panic.

It was as if something terrible was slowly unfolding before him.

His chest felt tight, like a heavy weight was pressing down on it.

He gritted his teeth and forced the feeling away.

Then something suddenly occurred to him.

A calm, confident smile returned to Simon’s face.

His voice carried the certainty of someone who believed he had already won.

“Fine. Since all of you keep insisting that Sophie is dead, then where is her body?”

He looked around the room, his voice ringing clearly.

“She only donated her organs. Her body should still exist, shouldn’t it?”

At that, confusion appeared in the children’s eyes.

They clearly didn’t know the answer.

Several of them looked at one another, then shook their heads.

Simon grew even more confident.

He let out a cold laugh.

“Don’t tell me there was never a body at all, and all of you have been lying together from the start.”

The room fell silent.

The tension stretched to its breaking point.

Just then, the host suddenly received a file on his phone.

He lowered his head and opened it.

His eyes widened, and his pupils shrank.

Then he suddenly raised his phone, his voice trembling slightly.

“Wait. I know where Sophie’s body is!”