Chapter 2

"Chloe, give Mom the teddy bear from your backpack for a second," I said softly.

I pulled a sewing kit from the drawer and detached an Apple AirTag from my keychain. Carefully picking open the seam on the back of the bear, I slipped the coin-sized tracker deep into the stuffing before stitching it back up with tight, neat threads.

"Promise Mom something," I said, looking directly into Chloe's eyes, articulating every single word. "No matter what happens, you must never let this teddy bear out of your sight. Okay?"

Early the next morning, I dropped Chloe off at school.

To ensure nothing went wrong, I marched straight into the principal's office and ruthlessly updated Chloe's emergency contact and pickup authorization list.

"No one other than myself—not even her father, David—is allowed to take her off school grounds. If anyone tries to force the issue, call the police immediately." I held the principal's gaze, my tone leaving zero room for negotiation.

The moment I secured the school front, I drove straight to the downtown police precinct.

In my previous life, the police hadn't found the digital breadcrumbs of dark web transactions on Serena's computer until long after Chloe was dead. I needed to preemptively dig up even the smallest thread to put her on their radar.

Reality, however, was far crueler than I had anticipated.

The desk officer listened to my statement regarding "suspicions of a ballet instructor trafficking minors" and offered a helpless shrug.

"Ma'am, I understand your concern. But Serena Vanderwood has a stellar reputation in this community. No criminal record, no complaints. You don't have any concrete evidence, and no actual harm has occurred. We cannot execute a search warrant on a law-abiding citizen's home based solely on a mother's 'intuition.'"

I walked out of the precinct with my jaw clenched tight, knowing full well the law was utterly useless to me at this stage. I was on my own.

At three o'clock sharp, I arrived at the school gates to pick up Chloe. But as her homeroom teacher led the line of students out, I scanned the crowd and couldn't find that familiar little figure.

"Where's Chloe?" I grabbed the teacher's arm, my nails digging into her flesh.

The teacher winced in pain. "Please calm down, ma'am. Chloe's aunt came by half an hour ago. She said there was a family emergency and took her."

"Didn't I specifically say I was the only one on the pickup list?!" The blood rushed to my head, and my vision swam with black spots.

"But... she verified it alongside your husband, Mr. David. He told us you weren't in a good mental state today, and they were taking the child to..."

I didn't stay to hear the rest of the excuse. I spun around and sprinted toward the parking lot like a madwoman.

David! Samantha! Those absolute idiots! How dare they go behind my back!

I floored the gas pedal and tore back home in a flat ten minutes.

Throwing the front door open, I found Samantha lounging on the couch, shoving potato chips into her mouth while watching mindless reality TV.

"Where is Chloe?!" I lunged forward, snatched the remote from her hand, and hurled it into the wall. It shattered on impact.

Samantha jumped, startled, before that smug, spiteful smirk crawled over her face.

"What are you screaming about? David took her to Serena's. Ms. Serena is so gracious, you know. She didn't even care about your little psycho episode yesterday. She said a very important art patron is coming to watch Chloe dance today. It could mean a massive scholarship! So why don't you step aside, you controlling freak, and stop ruining things."

Art patron.

Those two words struck my skull like a lightning bolt.

In my previous life, it was exactly after a private performance for this so-called "patron" that Chloe disappeared from the face of the earth.

That wasn't a patron. That was the highest bidder on the dark web!

"You handed her straight to hell!" I lunged, twisting my hands violently into Samantha's hair.

"Ah! You crazy bitch! Let go!" Samantha shrieked, frantically clawing at my arms.

Shoving her aside, I yanked out my phone to dial David's number in a frenzy.

"We're sorry, the number you have reached is turned off..." The cold, automated voice plunged me into an abyss of ice.

With trembling hands, I opened the Find My app.

On the screen, a green map began to load. One second, two seconds... my heart practically stopped beating.

Finally, a red dot pulsed onto the grid.

It was moving fast, and its trajectory was heading straight for Serena's apartment!

"If Chloe loses even a single hair on her head, I will bury both of you with her." I glared down at Samantha groaning on the floor, then spun around and bolted out the door.

By 4:00 PM, the city's ring road was choked with heavy traffic.

I gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned a stark white.

The visceral images of Chloe's brutal death from my previous life flashed through my mind like a frantic slide projector.

Those despairing eyes. That faint, fading "Mom... save me."

"No. Not this time. Never again." I bit down on my lip until it broke, the sharp tang of copper flooding my mouth.

I laid on the horn relentlessly, weaving through the gridlock with reckless abandon.

Jamming the brakes the second I reached the apartment building, I scrambled out of the car and sprinted toward the structure, which loomed above me like a gaping, blood-soaked maw.