[Countdown to extraction: 12 hours.]

The system's voice cut through my thoughts, and whatever last shred of hesitation I had left, I buried it for good.

Harvey dropped a document in front of me.

"Sign it."

I looked down. Voluntary Relinquishment of Parental Rights.

He leaned in and wiped the tears from my face with his thumb.

"From now on, Ellie will be Lydia's legal daughter. She can't have children anymore, but you still can. We'll have more. I promise."

My stomach turned.

He had already forgotten. I almost died giving birth to Ellie. I had to beg the doctors to save my baby instead of me. In the end, they saved us both—but I lost my uterus. The surgeon had explained everything to Harvey in detail.

He hadn't listened. Or he just didn't care.

When I didn't answer, he let out a soft laugh.

"You don't have to sign. But think about your best friend. She's staying at the McKinzie nursing home, remember?"

Lynn Dole—my first real friend in this world. A year ago, she'd rented an apartment full of toxic chemicals without knowing it. Now she had leukemia. We hadn't found a matching donor for her yet. The nursing home was the only thing keeping her alive.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be, Jennifer."

His voice was soft. The threat underneath it wasn't.

My hands were shaking as I picked up the pen and signed.

Not because I agreed, but because none of this mattered anymore.

I turned and walked out. Halfway down the hall, I coughed—and blood splattered onto the floor.

[Host, this is a normal part of the extraction process. Please don't be alarmed."]

Blood seeped between my fingers.

I pressed a hand to my chest and felt the pain carving itself deeper with every beat.

My phone screen lit up. On the screen was our first photo together. Cherry blossoms. He is hiding a bouquet behind his back.

My grip tightened. Then I deleted every single picture of us.

That night, I finished writing the divorce papers and went back to the hospital room.

It was empty.

Water was running in the bathroom.

I pushed the door open—and my heart stopped.

Ellie was in the bathtub, thrashing, drowning.

Mother's instinct took over. I lunged for her tiny hand—

The door slammed open behind me.

Lydia stood there, her face a mask of shock.

"Jennifer—how could you? You tried to drown your own daughter!

"Just because you hate me, just because you don't want Ellie to be mine—how sick do you have to be to hurt your own child?"

Harvey stormed in right behind her.

I had never seen that look on his face before. Pure, undiluted fury.

"You're beyond saving."

He kicked me. I hit the wall. The back of my skull cracked against the tile. Everything went white for a second.

Then his hand was around my throat, squeezing.

"Even wild animals don't eat their own young." His voice was shaking with rage. "I underestimated you, Jennifer. How could you kill your own daughter?"

He shoved my head under the water.

I choked. I thrashed. Water filled my nose, my mouth—

A metallic taste flooded my throat. Then blood was everywhere—gushing into the bathtub, turning the water crimson.

Harvey froze. Something flickered across his face. Guilt?

Lydia's voice cut through the room.

"Jennifer, did you seriously prepare fake blood too? Just how far were you willing to go to make Ellie look like a victim?"

I wiped the blood from my lips. My hand trembled as I reached toward her.

"It was you... You tried to kill her..."

Harvey's last shred of patience snapped.

"Enough! How much longer are you going to blame Lydia for everything? All you do is lie and play the victim. No wonder Ellie doesn't want you."

The pain in my chest exploded.

The extraction process was amplifying every second. I couldn't even speak anymore.

Lydia walked past me with Ellie in her arms. She bent down close to my ear and whispered, "You showed up just in time to save the little bastard, didn't you? Don't worry. I'll make sure she has a miserable childhood."

My eyes went wide.

Just then, I received a call from the nursing home.

I answered.

"Hi, is this Jennifer? Lynn is in critical condition. You need to get here now. It might be your last chance to see her."

I ran like a madwoman toward the exit. The security guards stood in my way like a human wall, unmovable.

Harvey watched me.

"You want to leave? Fine. But first—you're going live on camera. You'll apologize to Lydia and Ellie, and you'll promise never to bother them again."

I stared at him in disbelief.

[Countdown to extraction: 3 hours.]

Then I thought of Lynn lying in that hospital bed. My eyes burned.

"Fine. I'll apologize."

Thousands of viewers flooded the livestream in seconds.

I took a deep breath. My voice was shaking.

"My name is Jennifer Rocher. I admit here and now that I have harmed my daughter, Ellie, as well as Lydia Winston. I sincerely apologize to both of them."

Lydia dabbed at her dry eyes.

"Jennifer, I don't blame you. I will raise Ellie well. Harvey says she looks just like me. Maybe that's fate—maybe we were always meant to be mother and daughter."

She kissed Ellie. Ellie giggled in her arms.

I stood to the side like an outsider in my own life.

The comments flew across the screen.

[What kind of mother tries to drown her own child?!]

[That's attempted murder. Why isn't anyone calling the cops?]

[A lame apology, and she thinks she can just walk away? No way!]

Someone in the crowd locked eyes with Lydia. A split second later, rotten vegetable leaves came flying at my face.

"Monster!"

"Trying to kill your own daughter? You deserve to die!"

I was kicked to the ground. Fists and feet came down from every direction.

Harvey took one step forward.

Lydia grabbed his arm. "Harvey, I'm so scared. Please protect me and Ellie."

He stopped. His foot came back. And then he just stood there, watching coldly as I was beaten on the ground.

I curled into myself. My vision started to blur.

The system's voice grew faint in my mind.

[Countdown to extraction: 1 hour.]

I don't know how long they kept at it. Eventually, the crowd dispersed. I lay there like a broken doll, covered in bruises and blood.

I dragged myself up and ran toward the nursing home without looking back.

When I burst into the ICU, the doctor was already walking out, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry. We did everything we could."

Lynn lay there under a white sheet. The last traces of warmth were fading from her skin.

A nurse handed me a piece of paper.

"Lynn's last words."

My hands trembled as I took it.

I unfolded it.

Four words. Scrawled crookedly, like she'd used every last bit of strength she had.

"Leave. Don't look back."

The tears I'd been holding back for so long finally broke through. I pressed the note against my chest and sobbed until my whole body shook.

When I walked out of the nursing home, a message from Harvey lit up my phone.

[Consider this whole thing over. Go home and rest. We'll come back once Lydia has cooled down.]

When I showed up at the hospital, he looked surprised.

"What are you doing here? Go home and get some sleep."

I looked at him.

[Countdown to extraction: 5 minutes.]

"Harvey... the biggest regret of my life was ever meeting you."

His face changed.

He opened his mouth to snap at me—and then he saw my foot step over the windowsill.

"What are you doing?!"

Panic flooded his voice. Words tumbled out of him, jumbled and desperate.

"Get down from there! You think this scares me? It was just an apology! This is ridiculous!"

I watched him calmly.

[Countdown to extraction: 1 minute.]

"It's not ridiculous. So I'm giving this life back to you."

[Countdown to extraction: 0 seconds.]

As the system's voice faded, I took one last look at Harvey's terrified face.

In the distance, Ellie looked at me and smiled.

I leaned back and fell into endless freedom.

Harvey lunged for the window, screaming my name like his own heart was being torn out of his chest.