Chapter 2

The television screen’s glow reflected on my bloodless face.

Ryan’s handsome profile was incredibly clear in the camera’s frame. He was bent over, carefully handling Valerie’s bracelet.

Meanwhile, my sister, Mia, was all alone, trapped on a snow-capped mountain where temperatures plunged dozens of degrees below zero.

Three whole hours!

What I got wasn’t Ryan returning with his team, but him driving the rescue command vehicle back along a different scenic road.

I frantically rushed in front of his truck, beating desperately on the window.

“Ryan! Where were you?!”

“What about Mia? Did you save her?!”

The window slowly lowered, revealing his face, etched with impatience.

“Harper, calm down,” he frowned. “I was handling an emergency.”

An emergency?

I was shaking with rage, pointing towards the mountain, tears blurring my vision instantly.

“Your ‘emergency’ was retrieving a bracelet for some rich girl?!”

“What about my sister? Is Mia’s life not more urgent than some stupid bracelet?!”

Ryan’s expression darkened.

“Miss Valerie’s hand was frozen to the metal railing of the overlook. There was a risk of amputation.”

“And besides, I’d already had the team prepare everything. We were going to leave the moment I returned, not a minute wasted!”

“Not a minute wasted?!” I let out a shrill, hysterical laugh.

“Ryan, do you even realize, the blizzard peaked *three hours ago*! The entire mountain is locked down now! You didn't just delay for a minute; you stole Mia's *only* chance to live!”

He seemed stung by my raw desperation, his voice hardening like ice.

“Harper, I’m the captain! I know more about rescues than you do!”

“If I say I can save her, I *will* save her!”

“Now, move! Stop being irrational and getting in the way of my actual work!”

Just then, his walkie-talkie crackled to life.

A young team member’s trembling voice came through:

“C-captain, we… we found Miss Mia near beacon number three on the west ridge…”

My heart instantly clenched. “How is she?”

A moment of silence passed on the other end of the walkie-talkie, followed by muffled sobs.

“She… she’s no longer showing signs of life.”

“Hypothermia, full organ failure, her body completely frozen solid…”

My world seemed to crumble in that instant. I sank helplessly onto the snow.

Ryan’s face went instantly ashen, a powerful shock and panic flashing in his eyes.

But it was all too late.

My sister, who just yesterday held my hand, laughing and promising to bring back the most beautiful snow-capped photos from the mountain, was now gone forever, left behind on that cold peak.

When the rescue team brought her body back, she was curled up, her hands clutching a small wooden box tightly, never letting go, even in death.