Chapter 2

"Hello, Officer? This is at Apricot Lake, just outside the city. Our film crew was shooting, and we've discovered a case that appears to be intentional homicide to defraud a large sum of insurance money…"

At the words "intentional homicide," my mom's legs gave out, and she nearly collapsed.

Dad's face also turned from white to green, his lips trembling, unable to say a word.

"Don't… don't call 911!" Dad finally reacted, snatching Liam's phone and quickly hanging up.

He forced a smile that looked worse than a cry. "Misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding! We were just playing a joke with our child…"

"A joke?" Liam took his phone back, his eyes turning cold. "Kicking your child into a reservoir, you call that a joke?"

Dad's cold sweat instantly broke out.

"How… how do you know…"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you." Liam pointed to an inconspicuous corner on a nearby hillside.

"We installed high-definition night vision cameras over there for our night shoots. The kind with audio recording."

"Every word you spoke and every action you took on the shore last night has been clearly recorded."

At these words, my parents and Chloe lost their last shred of color.

Mom dropped to her knees with a thud, clutching Director Jensen's leg and wailing.

"Director, we were wrong! We're not human! We were just confused for a moment! Please, let us go!"

Dad also knelt, repeatedly bowing his head.

"We'll never dare again! Please, delete the video! We'll pay whatever it takes!"

Only Chloe remained standing. She glared at me viciously, her eyes like poisoned daggers.

"Skylar! You bitch! How dare you conspire with outsiders to harm your own family! May you die a horrible death!"

*SMACK!*

A crisp slap echoed.

It was Ava.

She had gotten out of the van at some point and stood in front of Chloe, her eyes as cold as ice.

"Watch your mouth. Say one more curse word to her, and I'll rip your tongue out."

6

Chloe clutched her face, looking at Ava in disbelief.

"You hit me? Do you know who I am?"

Ava sneered. "I don't care who you are. I hit you because you're an ill-mannered brat."

Chloe trembled with rage, wanting to lunge at Ava, but Dad yanked her back.

"Stop it!" Dad roared, wanting nothing more than to defuse the situation.

Director Jensen waved his hand, signaling Leo to move the camera.

He walked over to my parents, looking down at them.

"The video can be deleted."

My parents' eyes lit up, as if they'd found a lifeline.

"However," Director Jensen's tone shifted, "you must agree to one condition."

"What condition? Not just one, we'll agree to a hundred!"

Director Jensen pointed at me.

"From today on, this child has no more connection to your family. You are not allowed to look for her again, nor are you allowed to harm her. "

"She's with our crew now."

Mom paused, then a look of ecstatic joy spread across her face.

"Good! Good! No problem! We promise never to look for her again!"

To my mom, I was nothing but a burden. Now that someone else was willing to take me, she couldn't be happier.

Dad also nodded repeatedly, afraid Director Jensen would change his mind.

Only Chloe, unwilling, cried out, "Dad! Mom! Are you crazy?! What about the three million? What about my tuition?!"

Dad glared at her fiercely. "What's more important, money or jail?!"

Chloe immediately deflated.

Director Jensen pulled a piece of paper and a pen from his pocket, tossing them in front of my dad.

"Words aren't enough. Write an agreement, in case you go back on your word. Clearly state that you voluntarily give up your parental rights to Skylar. From now on, her life, death, and everything in between, has nothing to do with you. And I'll delete the video in front of you."

Dad picked up the pen without hesitation and quickly wrote the severance agreement, even pulling Mom to press her fingerprint.

After doing all that, Dad didn't even glance at me, looking expectantly at the director.

"Now can you delete the video?"

Director Jensen pulled a USB drive from his pocket and, in front of them, burned it with a lighter.

"This was the only backup."

Seeing the video completely destroyed, my parents breathed a sigh of relief. They grabbed Chloe and fled in disarray.

As if chased by ghosts.

Watching their heartless backs, my heart felt like it was soaking in ice water, cold and numb.

A warm hand gently rested on my head.

It was Ava.

She knelt down, gently wiping the tears from my face.

"Don't be scared. We're your family now."

Liam also walked over. He took off his jacket and draped it over me.

"Come on, let's go get some good food."

Leo silently brought the production van closer.

Director Jensen, his face stern, stuffed the severance agreement into his pocket and grumbled,

"Raising a kid is such a pain in the ass."

Though his tone was harsh, I saw that his eyes were red.

That day, they took me away from the reservoir, to the best restaurant in the city.

For the first time, I ate lobster bigger than my face, and for the first time, I drank sweet fruit juice.

That night, Ava took me to the mall and bought me many beautiful new dresses, and a big, fluffy teddy bear.

Holding the teddy bear, lying on the soft bed in the hotel, I felt like I was dreaming.

A beautiful dream where I wouldn't drown, wouldn't be abandoned.

7

The film crew's schedule was delayed by the incident, so they had to rest in the city for a while.

I also gained a new identity – Director Jensen's "distant niece" and the crew's little assistant.

My job was simple: serving tea and water, and handing out things.

Everyone on the crew was very kind to me.

Ava cooked delicious meals for me every day, and after a month, I finally gained a little weight.

Leo was a man of few words, but he would quietly slip me the sweetest fruits and, when he saw I had mosquito bites, silently buy the best insect repellent.

Liam was a bit of a jerk, always teasing me and calling me "little pity," but he gave me all the expensive snacks his fans sent him and taught me how to play video games.

Director Jensen always complained that I was clumsy, but he would spend an entire afternoon patiently teaching me how to read storyboards and position cameras.

He said, "A girl needs to learn a skill to support herself, can't always rely on others."

I took his words to heart.

During the day, I studied with the crew, and at night, I read books in my hotel room.

All my textbooks were lost when I was pushed into the reservoir, so Liam downloaded a full set of digital textbooks onto his tablet for me.

I didn't want to fall behind in my studies.

Director Jensen was right; I needed my own skills.

Two months of peaceful days passed.

One evening, Ava suddenly received a phone call, and her face turned grim.

After hanging up, she looked at me, hesitant.

"Skylar, your… your parents are looking for you."

My heart sank.

They found me here.

Turns out, they never intended to let me go.

That severance agreement was just a temporary measure to get themselves out of trouble.

Sure enough, the next day, my parents, along with Chloe, stormed into the hotel where our crew was staying.

Behind them were several reporters carrying cameras.

As soon as Mom saw me, she rushed over, clutching me and wailing dramatically.

"My daughter! My mom finally found you! You were kidnapped by these human traffickers, you must have suffered so much!"

The reporters' flashbulbs immediately started flashing wildly at us.

Chloe also squeezed closer, grabbing my hand and crying to the cameras,

"My sister was tricked by this film crew! They won't let her come home and are forcing her to work! Please, everyone, help us!"

Dad, with a look of indignant grief, pointed at Director Jensen.

"It's him! He tricked us into signing some contract and is holding our daughter here, not letting her leave! They're gangsters! They're human traffickers!"

In the hotel lobby, all eyes were on us.

I watched my parents and Chloe's shameless performance, twisting the truth, and trembled with anger.

Director Jensen's face was as black as a thundercloud.

Liam was so angry he actually laughed.

"Holy shit, I've seen shameless people, but never *this* shameless."

8

Ava shielded me, looking coldly at my mom.

"Madam, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want. It was written in black and white, you voluntarily gave up your parental rights."

Mom immediately scrambled to her feet, pointing her finger at Ava.

"You little slut! You're the one who seduced my daughter! You guys used violence to threaten us into signing! We were forced!"

A reporter immediately thrust a microphone in front of my mom.

"Madam, are you implying that the film crew used illegal means to force you to relinquish your daughter's custody?"

"Yes! That's exactly it!" Mom cried even louder for the cameras.

"They saw that our Skylar was pretty and wanted to control her, to make her act in inappropriate films to make money! They're a bunch of beasts!"

This was a vicious and poisonous smear.

"Acting in inappropriate films"—that accusation was enough to destroy the entire film crew.

Director Jensen's lips trembled with rage.

"You… you're slandering us!"

"I'm slandering you?" Dad sneered. He pulled a stack of photos from his bag and scattered them on the ground.

The photos showed me working on set.

There was one of me handing water to Liam, one of me helping Ava with a makeup case, and one of me sitting behind the director's monitor, learning.

But these photos were taken from extremely tricky angles.

The photo of me handing water looked like I was subserviently serving Liam.

The photo of me carrying Ava's case looked like I was being exploited as a laborer.

And the photo of me sitting behind the monitor was blurred, the screen's contents unclear. Combined with what my mom had just said, it easily led to wild speculation.

Dad pointed at the photos, heartbroken, and said to the reporters,

"Look, everyone! My daughter is only a teenager, still a student! They're enslaving her like this! How is this any different from child labor?!"

The reporters were like sharks smelling blood, turning their cameras on Director Jensen and Liam.

"Director, do you have any explanation for this?"

"Mr. Hayes, as a public figure, did you participate in the exploitation of a minor?"

Liam's face was incredibly grim.

He was an up-and-coming star; this kind of negative news would be devastating to his career.

Director Jensen was too angry to speak.

They were the ones who saved me, and now, because of me, they were being slandered as human traffickers and beasts.

My heart ached as if being cut by a knife.

It was all my fault.

I had dragged them down.

Looking at my parents and Chloe's smug faces, a huge wave of anger and powerlessness washed over me.

I broke free from Ava's protective embrace and shouted at the reporters,

"No! They didn't trick me! I didn't want to go home myself!"

Chloe immediately ran over, covering my mouth, looking at me with a 'heartbroken' expression.

"Sister, don't be scared. With the reporters here, they can't do anything to you. Have they brainwashed you?"

As she spoke, she whispered into my ear with a venomous voice,

"Skylar, you can't fight us. Just come back home obediently, or I'll make sure this film crew, everyone here, is ruined."

9

Chloe's threat was like a poisonous snake, coiling around my heart.

I looked at Director Jensen's ashen face, at Liam's clenched fists, at Ava's worried eyes.

I couldn't drag them down.

I took a deep breath and pushed Chloe away.

Then, to everyone's shock, I fell to my knees in front of my parents with a thud.

"Dad, Mom, I was wrong."

I hung my head, letting the tears fall.

"I shouldn't have run away, shouldn't have made you worry. I'll come home with you."

My parents froze, clearly not expecting me to suddenly back down.

The reporters were also stunned.

Chloe was the first to react. She immediately helped me up, smiling 'relievedly' at the camera.

"That's wonderful, my sister finally came to her senses."

Mom also immediately got into character, hugging me and crying disingenuously.

"It's good you're back, it's good you're back. Mom doesn't blame you."

Only I knew what I was truly thinking.

Compromise was only temporary.

I was going home.

Back to that hell, to find the direct evidence they wanted to kill me for.

I was going to personally send them to real hell.

Director Jensen and the others started to come forward, but I subtly shook my head at them.

Their eyes were filled with worry and confusion, but in the end, they didn't move.

And so, I followed my parents, 'escorted' by the reporters, out of the hotel.

The moment the car door closed, the smile on Mom's face vanished.

She delivered a stinging slap across my face.

"You little slut, you've gotten brave, haven't you?! Finding helpers?!"

Dad also turned around from the front seat, his eyes vicious.

"We'll deal with you properly once we get home!"

Chloe sat next to me, smiling triumphantly. She pulled out her phone and played a news report about the commotion at the hotel.

"Sister, look, now everyone knows you're a thoughtless, ungrateful little monster. That film crew is finished too, their movie will never see the light of day."

She leaned closer to my ear, her voice a devil's whisper:

"Forgot to tell you, that three-million-dollar insurance policy expires next month. So, this month, you *have* to die 'accidentally'."

"Tell me, this time, should we have you fall from a high-rise? Or… maybe an electrical accident?"

Outside the car window, city lights sped by.

My face was burning with pain, but my heart was calmer than ever before.

I looked out the window, silently saying to Director Jensen and the others: