Chapter 2

I ran. I don't remember how I made it back to my rented room through the rain of curses.

I'd barely caught my breath when my phone exploded with notifications. Every single one was a trending topic.

#Murderer Sister Refuses to Save Drowning Sibling# #Grant Family Heiress Missing, Biological Daughter Watches Coldly# #CEO Liam Offers Reward for Cold-Blooded Ex-Wife#

I tapped the top link. It was Liam's livestream.

Susan sat in front of the camera, voice cracking on cue.

"I'm sorry everyone, I'm sorry for wasting public resources. But as a mother, I have nowhere left to turn. We failed to raise her right! ”

”Eight years ago she killed a man over gold, and I thought prison would change her. It didn't. Her own sister is dying in the ocean right now, and she RAN!"

Arthur bowed deeply into the lens.

"Please, help us find our daughter Chloe! The Lu family will pay one million dollars in reward—anything to drag that bitch back!"

The comments scrolled like poison.

"Dox her! Burn her!"

"I know where she lives—west side slums!"

"Any brothers in Haicheng? Go teach her a lesson!"

"Grab your tools, let's go!"

Before I could move, my door exploded inward.

My landlord stormed in with a mob, phones raised, flashes in my face.

"You're a murderer? Hiding in my building?"

They smashed my pots, my dishes, everything. Two men grabbed my head and forced it toward a camera.

"Kneel down!! Apologize to the livestream! Say you're a bitch! Say you don't deserve to live!"

The humiliation crashed over me in waves. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Then the crowd parted.

My parents stood in the doorway.

For half a second, I thought they'd come to stop it.

Then Arthur pulled a thick length of rope from behind his back and handed it to the mob.

"Please—tie her up. If she won't go willingly, we'll drag her."

I snapped my head up, voice breaking.

"Dad? DAD—do you know what you're doing? I'll die in that water!"

"Mom, isn't your real daughter's life worth ANYTHING? Are you really going to kill me for that girl?"

Susan's eyes flickered, then hardened.

"Shut up! Mia may be adopted, but she's a thousand times cleaner than you! While you rotted in prison, she took care of us, not you! "

"Now she's in trouble and you, her sister, refuse to lift a finger? How do you live with yourself?"

My chest was shredded, but somehow it still hurt more.

In their minds, blood meant nothing. I was a stain. A disposable piece of trash.

"I didn't kill anyone! There were things about that case you never knew—why would you never believe me?"

I thrashed against the rope. Nobody listens to a murderer.

Then Liam walked in, a high-voltage stun baton in his hand.

"Chloe, don't make me do this. For Mia, I'll do anything."

He didn't hesitate. He jammed it into my back.

My body convulsed, and the world went black.