Cassidy wept pitifully, her forehead swollen red from a knock.

I ignored her, bent down, and picked up my phone. A message from my brother lit the screen.

[Kendall, I’ve arranged top-tier mercenaries and a private jet. Please wait for me!]

The panic in my chest eased slightly, and I turned off the phone.

Aidan, however, struck me hard across the face.

“Put restraints on her!”

“Tie Kendall up, we’re going in to negotiate now!”

The restraints clamped tightly around my hands and feet. I struggled with all my strength, panic surging once more in my chest.

In my previous life, I hadn’t known why Aidan failed the negotiation.

But I knew in the end, he had saved only Cassidy’s daughter.

“Aidan, let me go!”

“I don’t trust you!”

“You’ll doom our daughter! You’ll fail the negotiation and get all the children killed!”

I shouted harshly, my hands and feet rubbed raw, bleeding from the struggle.

Aidan’s expression was dark, yet his voice brimmed with confidence.

“Kendall, I will definitely save our daughter. Just wait here.”

With those words, he turned and left, a bulletproof vest strapped to his chest.

Cassidy followed close behind, throwing me a proud, mocking smile before the door slammed shut.

My eyelids twitched violently as I writhed on the ground. No matter how I fought, the restraints cut deep, leaving me helpless.

Minutes dragged by. Sweat drenched my body, and my heart pounded like a drum in my chest.

Then suddenly, my phone rang.

“Mom?”

“Mom, I saw Dad!”

“Is Dad here to save me?”

Her soft, fragile voice flowed through the line.

“Mom, the bad man took away all our phone watches, but I hid mine secretly. He doesn’t know.”

“Mom, am I really smart?”

Hearing my daughter’s tender, childish voice, tears streamed down my face.

“Melanie, don’t let the bad man find out. Go hide in the corner, stay away from those explosives!”

I tried to comfort her, but fear consumed my mind.

Suddenly, silence fell on the other end. Then came the sound of children crying.

“Melanie?!”

“Melanie, what’s happening over there?!”

My chest felt as if it would burst open as I screamed in panic.

After what felt like an eternity, my daughter’s trembling voice returned.

“Mom, a kid got strangled to death by the bad man.”

“It was Auntie Cassidy’s daughter, Lyra. She said the bad man was crazy, a rapist, and then he suddenly went mad.”

“Mom, Dad is talking to him. He said he wants Lyra…”

“Why doesn’t Dad want me?”

Her innocent, naïve question left me speechless.

Ever since Cassidy’s daughter transferred into the kindergarten, Aidan had changed.

During the kindergarten sports day, he left me and our daughter behind to stay by Cassidy and her child’s side.

When the children at the kindergarten all caught the flu, he even took leave to be with Cassidy and her child.

I had argued with him, demanded answers, yet Aidan always spoke with the same calm tone.

“Cassidy and her daughter are alone in Rockville, with no relatives. It’s my duty to help them.”

Those words haunted me, echoing in my mind. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to stand.

“Melanie, don’t be afraid. Uncle is on his way to save you…” I whispered softly to comfort her.

Just then, the door was flung open.

“It’s her! She’s the one who ruined the negotiation rescue, she’s the reason your children died!”

Cassidy’s best friend pointed straight at me, accusing.

In an instant, several people rushed in, their faces wet with tears.

“Bitch! You murdered my son!”

“Why don’t you go die?!”

“You’ll pay with your life!”

The woman shrieked with rage and kicked me savagely in the stomach.

Behind her, a man stormed in, his eyes filled with venomous hatred.

“I’ll kill you, bitch!”

“Go to hell with my son!”

His palm struck my face with brutal force, slamming me into the wall. Darkness clouded my vision, and I almost fainted.

“What are you doing?!”

“Get them out!”

“Restrain those two immediately!”

Agony coursed through me as officers rushed in, prying them away and clamping handcuffs on their wrists.

I collapsed on the ground, gasping, every breath burning like fire.

“Mom, what’s happening to you?”

“Mom, are the bad people bullying you?”

My daughter’s fragile sobs spilled from the phone, each word piercing my heart.

I clenched my jaw, my mouth filled with the bitter taste of blood.

“Melanie, don’t cry. No one is bullying Mom. Mom doesn’t feel pain.”

“Be careful, sweetheart. Don’t let the bad man find you. Uncle will be there soon…”

I endured the pain and vomited a mouthful of blood.

“Miss, you must go to the hospital at once!”

The police froze in shock at my condition, quickly reaching for the phone to summon an ambulance.

I shook my head firmly, forcing out a few more words of comfort to my daughter before ending the call.

The phone watch could not hold long, and I feared that the lunatic would discover her.

Bowing my head, I hurried to redial my brother’s number.

Yet before the call connected, Aidan emerged with Cassidy by his side.

“Negotiator Aidan, how is it?!”

“Are our children safe?!”

“Please, my child is fine, right?!”

The parents rushed up, panic painted across their pale faces, their questions frantic.

Aidan’s face was dark, while Cassidy spoke softly in comfort, though her trembling legs betrayed her fear.

Their faltering composure was evident, and the parents seized on it at once.

“Let us in! We’ll deal with that lunatic ourselves!”

“My daughter!”

“… what will happen to my child?!”

The parents grew restless, emotions spilling over, when Cassidy suddenly cried out.

“It’s all Kendall’s fault! She made us miss the best chance for negotiation!”

“Now not only is my daughter beyond saving, but all thirty-six children in the kindergarten are doomed!”

Tears streaming, Cassidy collapsed weakly into Aidan’s arms.

He reached to hold her, murmuring comfort, while his eyes turned on me with raw disgust. His hand lashed across my face.

“Kendall, is this the result you wanted?”

“Delaying the negotiation, letting the rescue slip away!”

The force of the slap nearly sent me to the ground, but I forced myself to stay upright. Aidan’s gaze hardened with resolve.

“I will negotiate again. Please, give me a little more time. This time, I will use everything I know, every skill I have, to save these thirty-five children!”

After saying this, Aidan turned and prepared to re-enter.

Panic surged in my heart.

In my previous life, after Aidan’s first negotiation failed, he had immediately carried out a second.

It was in that second negotiation that he failed.

The madman detonated the explosives, killing my daughter and the other children.

“No!”

“I don’t agree to you going in!”

I grabbed Aidan’s hand tightly, shouting through clenched teeth.

“My brother will be here soon with mercenaries. He will save Melanie and those children!”

My fingers clung to him with all my strength, stalling for time.

Aidan’s face darkened, the corner of his mouth curling in a mocking smile.

“Kendall, how much longer are you going to keep this madness up?”

“You don’t have a brother at all!”

“If you keep blocking my negotiation and rescue, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

Aidan forced my fingers open one by one, pain stabbing through my hand until sweat beaded across my body.

At that moment, the deafening roar of helicopter blades shook the air above us.

“Look, a helicopter!”

“Someone’s jumping down!”

“There’s more than one!”

“Are they here for our children?”