Chapter 3
I dragged myself home, exhausted. When I saw that message about a promise from seven years ago…
“I’m in.”
15
I always knew who’d been texting me. Before I married Ethan, there was this guy who’d followed me around like a shadow.
When I got married, he suddenly left the country. After that, just birthday wishes and New Year’s texts. Nothing more.
For seven years I guarded a dead marriage while someone else was actually waiting for me.
I pushed down the lump in my throat and contacted a lawyer to split our assets.
But before I could even finish the call, the door flew open.
Mom stumbled in, her face twisted with panic.
Before I could even react–SLAP–her hand connected with my face.
Mom started sobbing hysterically next to me.
“Lily, you’re a MONSTER! Why can’t you change? Why can’t you accept Olivia exists?!”
My ears were ringing. Blood dripped from my split lip onto the floor.
Ethan grabbed my throat, screaming so hard I nearly passed out.
“It was YOU! You had Olivia and Noah kidnapped, didn’t you?! I took my eyes off them for one minute and they vanished!”
“What will it TAKE for you to leave them alone?!”
Mom’s hands shook as she held up a small box.
Inside was a tiny severed finger–clearly a child’s.
The finger looked freshly cut.
“Lily, Noah is my only grandchild. He’s been raised away from the spotlight all these years, dealing with whispers about being a ‘bastard kid.‘
“Why would you go afte
D?”
Mom’s face looked twenty years older, completely drained.
“I can’t keep making excuses for you anymore.”
Once again–zero chance to defend myself. They’d already convicted me in their heads.
Mom called the cops and had me thrown in a holding cell without blinking.
To “make me talk,” she even arranged for some off–the–books interrogation.
The stun baton hit me again and again.
I convulsed like I was having a seizure, eyes rolling back, while Mom and Ethan just watched.
I went from screaming bloody murder to just… nothing. Barely breathing.
19:59
Whoops! My Revenge Plan To Trash EX Worked Too Well!
1.6%
Chapter 3
Then the kidnappers sent a message.
The video showed Olivia and Noah blindfolded and tied to chairs.
They were covered in blood. The kid looked like he might not even be breathing anymore.
Mom nearly fainted when she saw it.
Ethan went ghost–white, shouting at the screen through clenched teeth.
“Name your price–ANYTHING! Just don’t hurt my son-”
The kidnapper’s face broke into a smile.
“Want your son back? Fine. A life for a life.”
“Break Lily’s legs and bring her to us. Then we’ll trade.”
Mom and Ethan froze. They both turned to look at me.
I could barely speak, just begging through broken whispers.
“Mom… it wasn’t… me…”
I caught a flash of doubt in Mom’s eyes. But then Olivia’s desperate screams came through the video.
“Mom! Ethan! Please hurry–Noah’s barely hanging on!”
“Sis, I’m begging you. He’s just a little boy!”
Any hesitation vanished from their faces the second they heard Olivia crying.
Ethan grabbed a chair and walked toward me.
My heart dropped. “Ethan, don’t. Please don’t do this.”
He set his jaw and slammed the chair into my knees with EVERY ounce of strength he had.
CRACK. SNAP.
My legs shattered like glass. I collapsed in a screaming heap, the pain so intense I nearly blacked out.
Ethan yanked me into a hug, his voice trembling.
“Lily, I’m sorry. I just–I can’t breathe without Olivia. When this nightmare’s over, I swear to God I’ll make it right.”
Mom wiped her tears away and glared at the kidnapper with pure hatred.
“We’re bringing her to you now. You better make damn sure my daughter and grandson are okay!”
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