Chapter 3

I hammered on the door with every ounce of strength I had.

"Serena! Open the door! Give me back my daughter!"

The door cracked open. Serena stood behind it in a silk robe, her hair slightly disheveled, a look of flawless, innocent surprise plastered across her face.

"Evangeline? What are you doing here?"

"Where is Chloe?!" I shoved her aside and forced my way in.

The living room was completely empty.

Just then, David walked out of the hall.

His clothes were rumpled, and an unnatural flush lingered on his face. The moment he saw me, the color drained from his expression entirely. "You crazy bitch, how did you find this place?!"

Staring at the two of them, the last shred of illusion I held about my marriage shattered into dust. I must have been blind in my previous life to have never seen through the filthy affair between this wretched pair.

"Where is Chloe?" I kept my eyes fixed on Serena.

"Evangeline, what are you talking about?" Serena shrank back behind David, feigning a frightened, delicate act. "Chloe didn't come to class today. David only stayed to apologize for your outburst yesterday..."

"You're lying!" I pointed a finger right in her face. "Samantha already confessed everything! You two sneaked her out to meet some 'art patron'! She's right here!"

Seeing his lie exposed, David flew into a humiliated rage. He grabbed my wrist and started dragging me toward the door. "Are you getting paranoid delusions?! I told you, Chloe isn't here! Get your ass back home right now, and stop making a damn scene!"

"Let go of me!" I struggled frantically and sank my teeth hard into the back of David's hand.

As he shrieked and momentarily loosened his grip, I quickly darted back two steps, whipped out my phone, and dialed 911. "My daughter has been kidnapped! I'm at Oak Bay Apartments, Unit 1802. Please send officers immediately!"

Hearing me call the police, both David and Serena's expressions shifted. But Serena quickly regained her composure, a faint glimmer of mockery flashing in her eyes.

The police arrived in minutes.

Two officers entered the apartment, quickly assessed the situation, and ordered me to calm down. Serena, meanwhile, was incredibly cooperative from start to finish. She let them search wherever they wanted, answered every question smoothly, and even took the initiative to prop open all the room doors.

Aside from a small studio housing a Steinway piano, the rest of the rooms were utterly bare. There was absolutely no trace of Chloe, nor any sign of an art patron.

Serena gathered the lapels of her robe, sighed softly, and looked at the officers with a face full of aggrieved innocence.

"Officers, I honestly don't know what's going on. My apartment is only so big, and you've looked everywhere. If I were really hiding a person, how could you possibly not find her?"

"That's impossible!" I was trembling from head to toe. "Officers, I'm begging you, search it again! They must have hidden her somewhere!"

The commotion in the hallway had attracted the neighbor from across the hall.

The impeccably dressed neighbor woman listened for a bit before she couldn't help but interject. "Officers, Ms. Serena is a very respectable woman. This mother seems to be having some mental issues. Just because her kid is missing doesn't mean she can go around biting people."

His face livid, David stepped forward and seized my arm. "Officers, I'm her husband. Her mental state has been extremely unstable lately. I'll take her away right now." He hissed at me, "Are you done throwing a tantrum? Do you have to completely humiliate me before you're satisfied?!"

I jerked out of David's grip and looked around the room. The police, the neighbor, David, and Serena hiding in the back. The gaze of every single person fell on me, as if they were looking at a complete and utter madwoman.

In my previous life, it was exactly this seamless web of lies that had utterly fooled me. Rendered speechless and defenseless, I was kicked out into the street, only to ultimately await my daughter's gruesome death livestream on the dark web.

"Ma'am, if you continue causing a disturbance, we will arrest you for trespassing," the officer said, his tone turning severe as his hand rested instinctively on his utility belt.

And at that exact moment, I remembered something.

Security footage could be doctored, and people could put up flawless fronts. But stitched inside the teddy bear in Chloe's backpack was the AirTag I had painstakingly placed there myself!

I whipped out my phone and tapped into the Precision Finding feature.

[ 15 ft away ]

Staring at that fluctuating number, the blood rushed uncontrollably straight to my head.

"Wait!"

Shoving the approaching officer's hand away, I held my phone up like a compass. Following the directional arrow pulsing on the screen, I stepped methodically toward Serena's master bedroom.

"Ma'am! You take one more step, and I will use force!" the officer roared from behind me.

But I had already reached the deepest corner of the master bedroom, coming to a dead halt in front of a solid wall.

The distance on the screen updated to [ 0.5 ft ].

A moment later, in the dead silence of the room, from directly behind that solid wall, came a faint, muffled electronic chirping.