2.Chapter

Stella froze. She hadn’t seen him yet, but that voice had haunted her dreams for years. In the past, whenever her parents and Max had treated her unfairly, it had been Lionel who comforted her, giving her the strength to keep going.

He’d once promised her everything—that he’d go to military school, become a soldier, and marry her so he could protect her properly.

But on the day she was kidnapped, his last words to her had been harsh. He’d said, “Ending up like this is all your own fault.”

In the dark days that followed, she’d turned those words over in her mind until they carved themselves into her bones. He’d blamed her. He truly believed she’d brought this on herself.

The kidnapping had happened right after Stella was accepted into Quentiham University—the top college, a reward for her hard work, while Anna, perpetually sickly, had only managed to get into a community college.

Their parents had demanded that Stella give up her spot for Anna. When she refused, her father Andrew had struck her.

That was the night she ran away. And only Anna had gone after her. And then, both of them vanished. It wasn’t until Anna didn’t return that the family realized they had been taken.

Lionel, the one person Stella’d always trusted, had turned on her for the first time, accusing her of being too stubborn, of causing the kidnapping.

His words had shattered her completely—especially when he added, “Stella, I thought you were innocent. When your parents and brother didn’t trust you, I still did. But look at this. You really let me down.”

‘He’s even suspected I’ve orchestrated the kidnapping. So why’s he here now?’ Stella wondered, confused.

But she didn’t care to find out. Summoning what little strength she had left, she wrenched the car door open, hauled herself inside, and slammed it shut. Her voice, when she finally spoke, was eerily calm, but beneath it simmered a lifetime of pain. “Let’s go.”

Lionel froze. He’d noticed the changes in her immediately. Before coming, he’d read about what happened to abducted girls—how they returned as hollow shells of themselves. The articles had hurt to read, but seeing her like this was even worse.

He’d prepared himself for this moment a thousand times. Yet nothing could have braced him for the reality of the girl he’d watched grow up—emaciated, trembling, dressed in nothing but threadbare clothes in the dead of winter.

His eyes locked with Max’s through the windshield. Max didn’t drive off immediately. Instead, he studied Stella’s blank expression, and then flicked a glance at Lionel in the rearview mirror. When neither of them spoke, Max rolled up the window and pulled away.

Lionel stood there, watching the taillights disappear into the night. Just then, hurried footsteps approached—a police officer came rushing out. “Oh, just missed them,” she muttered in frustration.

Turning, Lionel saw her holding a brand new down jacket.

Recognition flashed across her face—he was that doctor who’d been all over the news lately. “You’re Dr. Quinn, aren’t you?”

“That’s right,” Lionel replied with polite detachment.

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify