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An Exchange of Lives
Last Updated : 2024-11-29
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My daughter has been kidnapped, and the kidnapper is asking for five million dollars as ransom. I can just about scrounge the money together, but the kidnapper makes it clear that he wants a life in exchange for my daughter's. He'll take the money and kill the person who brings it to him. I smoke throughout the night, my eyes bloodshot as I try to think of something. Then, I fix my gaze on my mother, who is now senile and insane.
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An Exchange of Lives Chapter 12
The screen reflected my own face, twisted and flushed, covered in tears, snot, and saliva.Maniacal laughter rang out from the other end of the call.I squeezed my throat so hard my eyes rolled back. However, the instinct to survive forced me to let go, and I coughed uncontrollably.But the hatred in those two pairs of eyes on the screen didn't diminish in the slightest.Melody's thin, fragile body was still leaning against the window's edge. It was as though with the slightest movement of the wind, she would be a kite with a broken string, crashing down heavily.My mind went blank as I reached out and pressed the knife on the table to my neck.My trembling hand drew a deep red line.I begged desperately, "Please, let Melody go. If you let her go, I can die right now!"The woman seemed to finally relent as she coldly stated, "I'll give you ten minutes. Go to the police station and turn yourself in."Like someone drowning, I grabbed onto the last straw of salvation, crying and
Last Updated : 2024-11-29An Exchange of Lives Chapter 11
"It's you!" I roared, only for her to respond with a chuckle.Her face was wrinkled, her teeth yellow. Her eyes glinted with hatred and a sense of twisted satisfaction."Yes, it's me." She touched the wrinkles on her face, her smile growing even more deranged. "Looks quite similar, right? It's all worth it after enduring so many cuts."All it took was changing my face, and you can't even tell us apart. You always followed me and called me 'Mom'. It's laughable! I almost couldn't stop myself from throwing up a few times. "Guess where your mom was while you were pampering me?"I didn't dare to think about it. Just the thought made my heart ache.The woman gave me an answer."I locked her in a space only a few feet wide in the basement. She couldn't even stand up straight. She ate, drank, and relieved herself there. No one could see her; no sound could reach her!"I told her if she dared to die, I'd poison your whole family's food with pesticide. And so, she didn't dare to die. N
Last Updated : 2024-11-29An Exchange of Lives Chapter 10
The sound of a message alert rang out.The sender was an unknown number. Attached was a video.It was a person, hunched over and dressed in rags, with their hair matted and face so filthy that it was nearly impossible to make out their features. Yet those eyes' terror, despair, and pleading were so hauntingly familiar that they sent a chill down my spine.It was Mom.It was really her this time!In the video, Mom was kneeling weakly at someone's feet. Her forehead slammed against the concrete floor, leaving bloody marks with each desperate bow.After every strike, she lifted her face, her lips moving frantically, but only incoherent sounds came out—moans, sobs, and fragments of pleas."Please... I beg... Please… "H-Hunter..."The person in the video viciously kicked her, sending her sprawling to the ground and exposing her grotesquely twisted legs.Then came a voice both disturbingly familiar and alien to me. Every word dripped with icy hatred."Are you begging me to spare
Last Updated : 2024-11-29An Exchange of Lives Chapter 9
The girl's parents had arrived. Her father knelt silently beside the girl, unmoving like a statue.As for the woman the girl always described as the gentlest and most beautiful mother in the world, she now had her hair in disarray, her once-perfect makeup smudged beyond recognition by tears.Sometimes she wailed, screaming her daughter's name, her face a mess of tears and snot. Other times, she grabbed and tore at my mom's hair and clothes, clawing and scratching like a wild animal. She was far more vicious and grotesque than any crazy woman on television.The nearby police officers wore expressions of pity as they tried their best to calm her down.Curled up in my mother's arms, I lifted my head.Mom's face bore a vacant, foolish smile, her eyes clouded and unfocused. Yet, she cradled me tightly, one hand wrapped around my waist, the other gently patting my shoulder. Her voice was soft as she comforted me."Hunter, my son… I will always be by your side. Don't be scared..."I fe
Last Updated : 2024-11-29An Exchange of Lives Chapter 8
He remained calm and composed as he continued to explain his theories at his own pace."Unless, from the very start, this wasn't a kidnapping at all—it was revenge. They were certain you wouldn't dare call the police."Besides, if this were really a kidnapping, a deserted basement would be far more discreet than an abandoned building that could have vagrants wandering in. And as for murder, slitting someone's throat in one clean motion is far quieter than pushing them off a high-rise building."He paused, giving me an apologetic smile. "Oh, I forgot to mention this. According to the autopsy report, your mother's body had severe bone fractures and significant tissue damage. She must have experienced a massive, violent impact. She likely died from the fall before someone dismembered her."A fall...My breathing grew ragged, like an old machine groaning under unbearable strain giving out its last wails. My mind buzzed, roaring with chaos, as if a fierce windstorm had burst into my sk
Last Updated : 2024-11-29An Exchange of Lives Chapter 7
"Hunter! Why are you bringing this up again when we're about to move and leave all this behind? Your mother is dead! Dead!"That old hag deserved it! She should've died long ago! She's always acting creepy and sinister, like she was possessed. I've been sick of taking care of her for ages!"Her words hit me like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing a raging fire in my chest. I couldn't even register the expression frozen on my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the glint of a knife on the table...When I came back to my senses, Hope was staring at me with a face as pale as a ghost's, her lips trembling slightly as though she wanted to say something but couldn't.A cold shiver ran down my spine. I stepped forward. "Honey…"Hope kept retreating until she knocked over a wooden chair. She didn't stop to pick it up. She bent down to scoop up Melody and rushed to leave as she said one last thing."I'm taking Melody to stay at my parents' for now."The door slammed shut with a
Last Updated : 2024-11-29An Exchange of Lives Chapter 6
"We can't call the cops!" I immediately rejected the idea without even thinking. "What if it angers the kidnapper, and they do something even worse? We can't stay by Melody's side every second of every day for the rest of her life."Hope's expression turned regretful, and she reluctantly agreed. Her exhaustion was evident—her complexion was pale and sallow, and the dark circles under her eyes were deep and heavy, as if she had aged ten years overnight.These past days, she was on edge every moment in fear that Melody might slip out of her sight and get in danger. Even at night, she only closed her eyes when her body could no longer hold out, waking shortly after in a panic.I finally made a firm decision. "We'll leave the country! We'll go somewhere no one knows us and start over."As for my mother's unfinished remains, there was no other way but to…I wiped my face roughly.Mom had devoted her entire life to me, and now she couldn't even leave behind a complete body, much less r
Last Updated : 2024-11-29An Exchange of Lives Chapter 5
Something inside me snapped.I lunged forward, grabbing at their collars and arms and shoving them aside. My mouth was wide open as I shouted, "Get out! All of you, get the hell out! Don't look! It wasn't me! I didn't do anything!"People rushed to restrain me. Blurred and distorted faces loomed closer, then receded, their mouths moving, voices overlapping and sharp. The cacophony hit my ears like countless nails scraping across a blackboard, the grating sound digging directly into my skull.Amidst the struggle, someone knocked over the parcel on the desk.As the box fell and toppled open, its contents spilled out.That second felt longer than a century. My heart pounded violently in my chest. It was as if it was trying to claw its way out through my throat.But I was powerless. All I could do was curl up in agony with my forehead pressed against the cold floor.After a moment of silence, gasps erupted around me."What is that?""Who's so twisted to pull a prank like this?""
Last Updated : 2024-11-29An Exchange of Lives Chapter 4
Mom gently ruffled my hair before turning to leave.As I watched her frail figure shuffle away, disappearing around the bend of the stairs, a sudden thought hit me.Did Mom... really not know anything?Though she was often lost in confusion, there were rare moments when she would regain clarity and play with Melody.If she knew that this trip meant walking to her death...My mind went blank. I started to chase after her, but Hope yanked me back with all her strength."What are you doing? Do you want to get Melody killed?" she shrieked.I shook my head slowly, then collapsed onto my knees, defeated.The kidnappers, to their credit, kept their word. Melody came back that same night.Aside from red marks on her wrists and ankles from being bound and her eyes swollen from crying, she bore no other visible injuries.Hope held her precious Melody, crying and laughing in relief, her words tumbling out incoherently.I grabbed Melody from her arms, gripping her by the arm so tightly
Last Updated : 2024-11-29
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Chapter 1
My daughter was kidnapped.The ransom was five million. I could barely scrape the money together, but the kidnappers made it clear…A life for a life.Even if they took the money, they would still kill whoever delivered the ransom.With my eyes bloodshot, I spent the entire night smoking to the point that the room was filled with thick smoke.When the cigarette burned to my fingertips, the pain snapped me out of my haze. I jerked my hand and crushed the butt into an ashtray already overflowing with stubs.My wife, Hope Chaplin, couldn't take it anymore. Her nails dug deep into my arm. Her eyes, swollen and bloodshot from crying for two straight days, glared at me."Hunter Zehm, it's your daughter we're talking about!" she screamed, her voice trembling with desperation. "If something happens to her, I won't be able to go on living!"I gritted my teeth, trembling as I lit another cigarette. I looked up, the smoke curling around me, and saw my elderly mother sitting by the coffee
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