Ryan had the mansion doors locked. Wrapped in his coat, I sat frozen in a corner.

In a haze, I remembered a winter years ago, when I had the flu. He’d stayed by my bed, making hot cocoa, even warming my feet in his arms. He said, “Evelyn, I know you’re afraid of the cold. Every winter, I’ll keep your feet warm.”

But just three months ago, after I miscarried and lay in the hospital weak and shivering from blood loss, Ryan dragged me out to a ski resort because Sophia wanted to ski. I stumbled again and again on the slopes, my body breaking down further, leaving me in constant pain every time the weather turned cold.

“Evelyn, what are you daydreaming about?” Sophia strolled over with a glass of red wine, “accidentally” spilling it over me. “Oops, sorry! But it doesn’t matter, Ryan bought that coat anyway. If it’s dirty, he’ll just buy you another one.”

Her words had barely left her lips when she suddenly shrieked, clutching her neck. “My diamond necklace! The one Ryan gave me! It was here just now—I only stepped into the restroom, and now it’s gone!”

The room fell silent.

Sophia’s eyes swept toward me, full of provocation. “Just now, only Evelyn was packing her suitcase. Did you sneak it in while no one was looking? After all, with your brother needing money for surgery, you must be desperate.”

“I didn’t take it!” I shot to my feet.

“Who would believe you?” Jason chimed in instantly. “You’ve been after Ryan’s money from the start. Now that you’re leaving, of course you’d want one last score! Search her suitcase!”

Ryan frowned, glancing at my luggage. “Evelyn, open it. If you didn’t take it, I’ll clear your name.”

My heart sank. Hidden in the lining of that suitcase was a signed divorce agreement. Back when he first brought me to the Hayes family, he had handed it to me himself, his fingertips warm as he said, “Evelyn, I know you love your freedom. If one day you ever feel wronged, take this and leave—I’ll never stop you. But I’ll spend my life treating you well, never giving you a reason to use it.”

But now, he had long forgotten.

Terrified they would find it, I clutched the suitcase desperately. “You can’t search it!”

“Guilty conscience?” Sophia lunged for the case. “Ryan, look at her reaction—she definitely took it!”

Before I could explain, Ryan snatched the suitcase from me and unzipped it.

His friends crowded around, sneering at my clothes and belongings.

“Look at these rags—flea market trash, and she brought them into the Hayes family?”

“And what’s this piece of junk—oh, a soda tab ring?”

The soda can tab ring Ryan had once given me as an engagement token was tossed into the trash by Sophia.

I stared at Ryan, searching for a flicker of recognition, but his face remained cold.

Just as they were about to reach the lining, Sophia suddenly pulled out a necklace and shrieked, “Here it is! My necklace! Evelyn, how could you steal from me?”

It wasn’t hers. It was my mother’s keepsake: a silver necklace with a tiny crescent moon pendant.

I lunged forward and snatched it back. “This isn’t yours! It’s my mother’s!”

“You’re lying!” Sophia turned to Ryan with tears in her eyes. “When Ryan gave it to me, the pendant had a diamond. She must’ve pried it out!”

Ryan gripped my wrist, forcing me to look up. His voice was like ice. “Evelyn, return the necklace to Sophia.”

“It’s my mother’s keepsake!” I fought against him. “Ryan, you were there when my mother handed it to me on her deathbed! You said you’d help me keep it safe!”

He wouldn’t meet my eyes. He yanked the chain hard. With a snap, it broke, the silver moon falling to the ground.

Sophia stomped on it instantly—the delicate silver warped, the engravings shattered.

“You’re insane!” I shoved her.

She cried out and deliberately stumbled backward, crashing into the champagne tower.

Glasses shattered, red wine and ice splashing over me. Shards cut into my arm, blood instantly mixing with the wine as it ran down.

Ryan didn’t spare me a glance. He rushed to Sophia, holding her trembling body. His voice shook. “Sophia, are you okay? Are you hurt?” He called for the butler. “Get a doctor, now!”

His friends all swarmed to console Sophia. No one asked if I was hurt. No one cared about the ruined keepsake on the floor.

I crouched down, picking up the bent silver moon, my fingertips smeared with blood and wine.

The music in the mansion still played, but the last shred of hope in my heart shattered completely.

I couldn’t stay here any longer. All I needed was to buy back my father’s painting at the upcoming auction—then I’d take my brother and leave.

When I opened my eyes again, the sting of antiseptic filled my nose.

Mr. Brown, the butler, sat by my bed holding a thermos. “Ma’am, you fainted yesterday. I brought you here. This is your favorite oatmeal—eat it while it’s hot.”

I took it from him, my fingers icy. Brown was the only one in the Hayes family who still showed me kindness.

I pulled out my phone and opened the visa app. The status read: “Under review. Expected approval in three days.”

I had planned to wait for the visa, then take my brother and leave this suffocating city.

Suddenly, the door burst open. Ryan stormed in, his eyes bloodshot as he clutched my throat. His voice was savage, almost feral. “Sophia’s missing! Was it you? Did you kidnap her out of jealousy?”

“I didn’t…” My throat tightened under his grip, choking me.

“Didn’t?” He slammed me against the wall, shoving his phone in my face.

On the screen was Sophia’s bracelet, found in the mansion garden. “Who else but you would hurt her? Your brother’s still in the hospital. If you don’t hand Sophia over, I’ll pull the plug on his ventilator right now!”

“Don’t touch Aaron!” I struggled, but he was far too strong. He dragged me outside, shoved me into his car, and drove straight to an abandoned warehouse near Chicago.

In the center of the warehouse yawned a bottomless snake pit, the cold air hissing with serpentine sounds, making me tremble all over.

Ryan tied a rope around my waist and suspended me above the pit. If he let go, I would fall straight in.

“Tell me where Sophia is!” He slashed a lock of my hair with a knife. “If you don’t, I’ll feed you to the snakes!”

I stared at the writhing mass below, my mind going blank. I hadn’t kidnapped Sophia, but he wouldn’t believe me. Aaron was still in the hospital. I couldn’t die.

In desperation, I remembered Sophia once saying she liked to take photos at an old factory on the outskirts of Chicago. Through gritted teeth, I blurted out an address: “She’s… at the abandoned factory outside Chicago!”

Ryan immediately sent men to check.

Half an hour later, they returned with news. They had found Sophia there—lying on the ground, her abdomen wrapped in bloody bandages, her face pale as death.

Ryan rushed to scoop her into his arms. Sophia opened her eyes, pointed at me, and sobbed, “Ryan… it was her… Evelyn sent them. They kidnapped me and… they cut out my kidney!”

“What?” Ryan’s head snapped toward me, his eyes murderous.

He stormed back, slashing the rope that held me. I crashed to the ground, my bones splintering in pain.

He ground his foot onto my hand, his voice colder than ice. “Evelyn, you dared touch her kidney? Then I’ll take your brother’s in return!”

Before I could explain, he ordered me locked in the warehouse and carried Sophia to the hospital. I pounded the door, screaming, but no one came.

It was deep into the night when Brown slipped in, his eyes red. “Ma’am, Ryan… Ryan had your brother’s kidney taken out to give to Sophia.”

“What?” My vision went black. I nearly collapsed, but Brown caught me and shoved a medical report into my hands. On it was Aaron’s name. Diagnosis: “Acute renal failure, postoperative hemorrhage.”

I ran to the hospital like a madwoman. But at the ward entrance, guards stopped me.

Through the glass, I saw Ryan standing inside. Sophia lay in bed, her face glowing with health. And my brother… my brother was covered in tubes, barely breathing.

Ryan stepped out, his voice icy. “Evelyn, this is what you owed Sophia. If you dare touch her again, I’ll double it on your brother.”

I was dragged back to the abandoned warehouse near Chicago and locked inside for three whole days. I nearly thought I would die there.

By now, the visa should have been approved. Ryan’s mother had already wired one hundred million dollars into an offshore account in the Cayman Islands. All I needed to do was leave Ryan, go abroad, and I could use it. I was so close to escaping this nightmare with my brother. I couldn’t die here.

On the fourth day, Sophia Reed suddenly appeared, wearing a hospital gown and carrying a metal canister. She smiled with twisted pride. “Evelyn, want to know where your brother’s kidney went?”

My teeth ground together as I glared at her. She popped open the canister, and a foul stench hit my nose—inside was shredded meat.

“My kidney is perfectly fine,” Sophia whispered in my ear, her voice as venomous as a snake. “That night at the factory, I stabbed myself and faked the injury. Your brother’s kidney? I had it ground up into pet food—for my dog. And guess what? My dog loved it.”

“You monster!” I lunged at her, but her bodyguard shoved me down.

Her face darkened, and she slapped me hard, the crisp sound echoing through the warehouse. “Ungrateful bag woman! Did you think your brother was worth anything? He was just your bargaining chip with Ryan. Now that he’s dead, you’ve got nothing!”

In my pocket, the recorder I’d secretly asked Mr. Brown to buy was still running—capturing every poisonous word.

At that moment, my phone rang. It was the hospital. I struggled to answer, and a nurse’s panicked voice cried, “Ms. Lane, your brother has a severe post-surgery infection. He’s critical! Come quickly—if you’re late, it will be—”

“Too late?” Sophia snatched the phone, laughing cruelly into the receiver. “Good! Better if he’s dead—no use wasting a hospital bed!” She hung up and smashed the phone to the ground, the screen spiderwebbed with cracks.

I shoved past the guard and ran like a madwoman to the hospital. But by the time I reached the ward, Aaron had already stopped breathing.

His eyes were still open, as if waiting for me.

The doctor said that in his final moments, he kept whispering, “Sis, don’t let them wrong you.”

“Aaron…” I collapsed over his body, tears streaming onto his cold face.

While handling his paperwork, a sharp pain ripped through my abdomen. My vision blacked, and I tumbled down the stairs.

When I woke again, I was back in the hospital.

The doctor stood by my bed, his voice heavy. “Ms. Lane, you were pregnant. But from the fall, the child didn’t survive. I’m sorry… it may be difficult for you to conceive again.”

Pregnant? My hand trembled over my flat stomach, tears pouring once more.

My brother was gone. My child was gone. The last ties I had in this world—gone.

I pulled the recorder from under my pillow, replaying Sophia’s venomous laughter. Ryan’s cold face still burned in my memory.

Slowly, I sat up. The last trace of warmth in my eyes was gone.

“Ryan, Sophia,” I whispered, voice flat and cold. “Everything you owe me—I’ll take back, piece by piece.”

I called Brown. “Uncle Brown, one last favor. Help me get access to the Hayes family’s surveillance footage.”

Outside, the sky grew dark. I clutched the recorder, my nails digging into my palms.

The hospital door swung open. Ryan walked in carrying a bouquet of blood-red roses.

The overwhelming fragrance hit my nose. My throat tightened, and I coughed, hives spreading on my skin.

I was allergic to roses. Since I was fifteen, when I’d landed in the hospital after eating rose jam, I had warned him countless times. Back in our Queens apartment, he’d laughed while bundling me in blankets, saying, “I’ll never buy roses again, just to keep you safe.”

But now—he had forgotten.

Ryan shoved the roses into my arms. When I pulled back, his smile faltered.

“Evelyn, I know you’ve been upset lately, but Sophia just had a kidney transplant. She’s weak. You should give way to her. Do you remember what your mother said when she entrusted you to me? ‘Ryan, from now on, you’re the one Evelyn can rely on most.’ Tell me—which of my actions hasn’t been for your own good?”

“For my own good?” My grip on Aaron’s urn trembled. “You mean taking his kidney was for my good?”

Ryan frowned. “Why bring that up again? Sophia was the victim. Aaron’s medical bills depended on the Hayes family. If you keep this up, I’ll stop his treatment right now. Do you want him dead?”

He didn’t even know Aaron was already gone—dead the very day Ryan “sought justice” for Sophia.

Looking at his self-righteous face, the itching in my throat turned to stabbing pain.

I hugged the urn tighter. “Fine. I won’t argue.”

Thinking I’d yielded, Ryan’s expression softened. He patted the sofa beside him. “That’s better. Tomorrow there’s an auction at the New York Art Center. Come with me, clear your mind. We’ll pick some jewelry for Sophia. Get along with her.”

I said nothing. My eyes drifted to the suitcase in the corner. After the auction, I would leave for good.