Before I could finish reading, the screen flipped away, and I could no longer read the rest of the text.

All I saw was Jaiden suppressing the sympathy in his eyes. His expression turned cold as he snatched the bag of money from my hand.

"You took too long to bring the cash. If you want to save your brother, jump in there."

I looked where he was pointing and saw a murky, foul-smelling wastewater pit.

In the past, this kind of suffering wouldn't have fazed me.

During the years I was held by the traffickers, I had grown used to the beatings, the torture, the freezing water, and the bitter cold.

But now, my late-stage stomach cancer had left me so incredibly weak that my body simply couldn't handle the strain. The slightest shock could make me vomit blood and pass out.

Jaiden's face darkened further at my hesitation. He pulled a bloody, severed finger from his pocket and tossed it at my feet. "Do it, or your brother dies!"

I stared at the finger and realized instantly that it was plastic. Yet, I still nodded. "Okay."

During all the years I was held by traffickers, I had prayed every day for my family to find me. Especially Darnell.

Because, for as long as I could remember, he was the only one who cared for me.

Mom was permanently depressed, and Dad was a workaholic who was never home. My entire childhood had been spent with Darnell watching over me and protecting me.

He had been my only anchor in the dark, the one last shred of hope I clung to.

So that day, whether he was actively deceiving me or just trying to appease Amber, it didn't matter. If it meant seeing him accept me as his sister again before I died, I would do anything.

With a loud splash, I dived headfirst into the wastewater.

For some reason, even though it was the height of summer, the water felt like ice.

The moment I hit the water, a suffocating pressure squeezed my chest.

"Darnell!"

Through the haze, I heard a sweet, high-pitched voice.

It was Amber Huff, my adopted sister.

She wore an expensive, light-colored dress and delicate stiletto heels. Her wavy hair framed a perfect, hourglass figure.

She didn't even walk in herself. A bodyguard carried her through the door like a princess.

"Ugh, it's filthy in here! Darnell, catch me!"

When I had collapsed weakly against the iron gate earlier, Darnell hadn't even blinked. But the moment Amber called out, he dashed forward without a second thought.

He reached out and gently took her from the bodyguard's arms.

"What are you doing here? Your health is already frail. You shouldn't be breathing in all this dust. What if something happens to you?" he chided, but his eyes were full of adoration as he held her a little tighter.

"I missed you! Besides, didn't you say that she fell for the abduction story and agreed to pay the ransom? I just couldn't wait to see how low your real sister would stoop for you."

"Shh…" Darnell immediately covered her mouth. "Keep it down! She's right there in the wastewater pit. I might not care for her, but she's still a Huff. I don't want to push things too far."

Amber glanced in the direction he pointed. When she made out my silhouette in the pit, a flicker of surprise crossed her face. "You actually threw her in there? I was only joking around. I can't believe you took me seriously!"

The biting cold wrapped around me like a shroud.

Shaking uncontrollably, I clung desperately to the ladder at the side of the pit just to keep from sinking.

Amber walked over and looked down at me struggling in the freezing water. Then, in a voice meant only for my ears, she whispered, "How is it? Fun? I planned this whole game, you know. I can't help it. My heart condition means that the slightest stress can kill me, so Darnell does whatever I want."

With that, she reached out and flipped the water valve switch next to the pit.

Another torrent of freezing water rushed in, sending the temperature plummeting even further.

Amber watched with immense satisfaction as I shivered violently in the icy depths, my face turning blue.

Her smile grew colder, sharper. "Why did you have to come back and ruin my life? Before you showed up, everyone treated me like the true heiress of the Huff family, spoiling me. But the minute you came back, everyone started reminding me that I'm just adopted.

"Actually, I've known for a while that you have late-stage stomach cancer and don't have long to live. So I figured, why not have Darnell fake an abduction to see if you'd risk your life for him? I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to actually trade your life for his."

She giggled behind her hand. Her laughter pierced my eardrums like needles.

"Oh, by the way, Darnell knew exactly where the traffickers were hiding you a long time ago. He deliberately delayed looking for you. He told me he hated you. He said someone tainted by human traffickers didn't deserve to be a Huff."

Amber's words felt like a thorn driven straight into my heart, leaving me gasping for breath.

But how could that be?

15 years ago, when Darnell first learned I was missing, he had cried as if his entire world had ended.

He had run through every street and alley, calling my name, searching for me without pause.

Over and over, he had wept with regret, blaming himself for taking me out to buy cotton candy and leaving me behind to wait when he didn't have enough money.

Back then, before the traffickers had taken me too far away, I saw Dad beat him until he couldn't stand. He had kneeled on the very spot where I vanished, his body racking with violent sobs.

I had opened my mouth, desperate to scream his name and tell him I was right there, but the duct tape across my mouth muffled every sound.

Later, as the traffickers moved me away, I looked through a crack in the car window and saw the entire street plastered with missing person flyers.

Darnell had held my photo, asking every passerby, "Have you seen this girl? She's my sister. She's lost. Please, if you see her, you have to tell me. I'll give you money, a lot of money…"

With his hands pressed together in a desperate plea, he looked so humble and helpless that I still remember it vividly to this day.

Tears streamed down my face.

I raised a hand stiff from the cold, reaching out toward Darnell for help.

Even though I knew he favored Amber and I was nothing more than an expendable burden to him, the lingering obsession in the depths of my heart refused to let me give up.

I needed an answer from Darnell.

He was the one who had plastered the streets with flyers and begged for me along the sidewalks. And he was also the one abandoning me now.

Which one was the real him?

But the moment my hand extended, Amber suddenly swayed, clutching her chest as she collapsed to the ground.

Seeing this, Darnell didn't bother asking questions. His immediate thought was that I was trying to hurt her.

Forgetting entirely that he was supposed to be playing a hostage, he rushed over and shouted at me, "It was just a joke! Did you really have to go this far and hurt Amber? Erin Huff, how can you be so malicious?"

I couldn't believe my ears.

He had faked an abduction and used Jaiden and a fake severed finger to force me into a wastewater pit.

And now, ignoring my shivering, freezing body, he blindly threw all the blame onto me.

Broken in body and spirit, every drop of color drained from my face.

Darnell seemed to realize that something was wrong. He let go of Amber and reached his hand out toward me.

But before his fingers could touch mine, Amber cried out in pain, "Darnell, my chest hurts…"

In that split second, Darnell retracted his hand without a hint of hesitation. He scooped Amber up into his arms and bolted out.

And I, already frail and spent, could no longer endure the prolonged immersion in the icy water. My strength gave out completely, and I sank to the bottom.

…

When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital bed.

I guessed Darnell was worried that a death would ruin the family's reputation. I figured that he had ordered Jaiden to drag me out of the water before driving off with Amber.

At that moment, my entire body was hooked up to IVs and monitor lines.

As the nurse adjusted my IV drip, she chided me with tender concern, "You treat your own body like a joke. Doesn't your family care about you at all?

"The last two times you had sudden gastric bleeding, even your kidneys took severe damage. It took three days and nights in the ICU to pull you back from the brink of death.

"The hospital has advanced targeted therapy options that could prolong your life, yet you chose to give them up. Now you've gone and wrecked yourself like this. Aren't you afraid of dying at all?"

As I stared at the genuine worry on her face, my chest tightened painfully.

Growing up, my family had never shown me such sincere concern. Yet, here was a total stranger caring more about me than my own flesh and blood.

But how could I not be afraid of death?

From the day I was diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer, I was so terrified that I couldn't sleep a wink. I took my diagnosis straight to Darnell.

But he didn't believe a single word.

He just assumed that my years with the traffickers had corrupted my character, teaching me to fake illnesses and play the victim just to get money out of him.

With a cold, dismissive sneer, he tore my diagnosis to shreds.

Because I didn't have the money for painkillers, I ended up fainting from the agony.

That was the first time I was hospitalized for critical gastric bleeding.

The second time happened when Darnell wasn't home. Amber brought over a bunch of her friends. Determined to drive me out of the house, they teamed up and forced alcohol down my throat.

The harsh liquor severely irritated my stomach lining, and once again, I found myself knocking on death's door.

After that incident, I told Darnell everything, but he blindly defended Amber.

"Amber is kind-hearted. She would never do something like that. You're just projecting your own twisted mind onto her to frame her. I must have been blind to ever save you from those traffickers in the first place.

"You just want money, don't you? Fine. I'll give you every single cent of the 500 thousand dollars Mom and Dad left you before they died. Just take the money and behave yourself. Stop causing trouble and stirring up conflicts every single day."

…

Dragging my failing body along, I went to find Darnell, clinging to one last shred of hope.

The doctor had told me that my body was already incredibly weak. After I was submerged in that icy water, my condition was deteriorating rapidly. I desperately needed stabilizing treatment.

But before I could even step through the door, I saw Darnell sitting by Amber's side. He was peeling oranges for her and telling her jokes. His eyes were full of happiness and adoration.

There was once a time when he would sit by my bed just like that, peeling oranges and telling me stories to put me to sleep.

And now…

"Weren't you satisfied with causing Amber's heart condition to flare up? Now you've tracked us all the way to her ward. Erin, what exactly do you want?"

Seeing me, Darnell didn't show a hint of guilt for deceiving me, nor any remorse for leaving me to fend for myself in that wastewater pit. His first instinct was to snap at me.

Nevertheless, I swallowed my pride and spoke up. "Darnell, I'm sick. The doctor said—"

"You're here for money again, aren't you?" He looked entirely indifferent, disgusted even.

"It was just a little joke. Do you really have to hold onto a grudge like this? Fine!"

Without letting me finish speaking, he threw a thick stack of cash right at me.

"I'm buying your silence! Consider this payment to stay the hell away from Amber from now on! Is that enough?"

As I stared at the cash scattered all over the floor, my chest ached so intensely that I could barely breathe.

Amber walked over, pretending to help me up. But the blade hidden in her hand sliced precisely across my wrist.

"What are you doing?" Shaking from the pain, I instinctively pushed her away.

Darnell flew into a rage. Without a single thought, he shoved me hard to the ground and shielded Amber. "Erin Huff, you are absolutely out of your mind!

"Amber was only trying to help you, and you actually hurt her? Do you have any basic human decency left?"

"I didn't—"

I tried desperately to defend myself, but Amber was already sobbing, clutching her chest.

"Just forget it, Darnell. She's your real sister anyway. I'm just adopted. It wouldn't even matter if I died."

Already burning with anger, Darnell completely snapped upon hearing her aggrieved words.

Without listening to reason, he shoved me straight into the bathroom and locked the door from the outside.

My late-stage stomach cancer had already left me entirely drained. When Amber sliced my wrist just now, she happened to hit a major artery. The blood was gushing out uncontrollably.

"Darnell, open the door! My wrist is bleeding…"

But my pleas were met only with Darnell's icy reprimand through the door. "Stay in there and think about what you've done! You're not coming out until you realize your mistakes!"

…

[Third-Person POV]

Three hours later, Darnell began to grow restless.

The real reason he couldn't bring himself to face Erin properly was that during the 15 years she was missing, everyone had pointed their fingers at him. They blamed him for everything, saying he had ruined her entire life.

Years of crushing guilt and public scrutiny had driven him deep into denial.

So whenever he saw Erin, he was overcome with irritation. He could only use coldness and hostility to mask his deep-seated guilt and cowardice.

But now, glancing at the smear of blood on his sleeve and remembering the raw desperation in Erin's eyes, he couldn't stop himself from heading back to the hospital.

Before he even reached the bathroom doors, he saw a crowd of doctors and nurses gathered outside, their expressions incredibly grim.

A moment later, a heavy sigh echoed from inside the room. "Go ahead and notify the family. She's gone. Severe blood loss combined with a rapid escalation of her stomach cancer. We couldn't bring her back."