Chapter 3

Steven quickly stepped forward to shake hands with the arriving officers.

"I'm a fellow officer. I'm just here to check on Thomas's little sister," he said casually.

It was only then that I noticed he was dressed in plain clothes. The moment he reached the doorway, he tried to slip away.

However, the two officers blocked his path with firm resolve.

I rushed to explain the situation.

"Officers! My parents really have been kidnapped! I have a recording as proof!"

The phone call I had specifically recorded finally came in handy. As the kidnapper's voice played, Steven's face turned ghostly pale.

"But Thomas said it was all an act…" he stammered. "He said you staged this whole thing yourself!"

I let out a cold snort, unwilling to waste my breath arguing.

Unfolding the crumpled paper in my hands bit by bit, I pieced together fragments of hazy memories from my past life. Carefully recalling every minute detail, I quickly sorted through my thoughts and came up with a plausible explanation to provide the officers with a lead from that previous life.

"Officers! I remember seeing the suspects near my house before. Their voices sound very similar… They even asked me for directions once, though I can't be entirely sure."

The police wasted no time setting up sketch artists and surveillance equipment.

I concentrated fully, describing every feature of the two kidnappers.

Before long, a comparison with a database of prior offenders yielded results.

They were two young men who had served time for robbery. One of them had even used his real name to rent a house. The police immediately organized a rescue operation.

Sinking into the sofa, I felt as though I had been pulled out of a pool—cold sweat drenched me to the bone.

Twenty minutes later, the officer accompanying me received an update.

"I'm sorry, Wendy," he said. "We didn't find your parents at the scene. But we did find this."

In the kidnapper's home, they had discovered numerous surveillance photos—not just of my parents but also of me.

"They've been watching you for a long time. Don't worry; these two won't get away," the officer reassured me.

My mind felt like it was on the verge of imploding. The very thing I feared most had happened—the kidnappers had moved my parents to another location.

This meant that all the clues I had painstakingly gathered were now useless.

Off to the side, Steven was on the phone with Thomas.

Even though he tried to lower his voice, I could still hear every word crystal clear.

"It's a real kidnapping. They already have suspects. You should come back…"

From the other end of the call, Thomas's laughter rang out—mocking, indifferent.

He spoke as though he intended for me to hear every word.

"Just stop, will you? The bigger the scene you make, the harder you'll fall. And when Mom and Dad disown you for embarrassing them, don't come crying to me…"

A surge of anger and bitterness from my past life overwhelmed me.

Even if he despised me, the sister his family had only recently found, how could he still be so blind in a situation like this?

I had done nothing wrong. Neither had our parents.

The son they had doted on and cared for meticulously for over two decades now prioritized his adopted sister over their safety.

How devastated would they feel if they knew?

The thought of their misplaced trust made my heart ache on their behalf.

As I wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of my eyes, the house phone suddenly rang, its shrill tone piercing the room.

The officer in charge of surveillance gave me a quick glance.

My heart began pounding wildly.

The kidnappers were calling again!