The New Year's Day had barely started when my usually unromantic husband, Everett Grant, surprised me by booking a tour for me.

The moment I settled into the bus, however, a line of text suddenly drifted across my vision.

[Poor Tina! Her jerk husband booked a one-dollar tour for her, and then turns around and drops ten grand taking his mistress overseas.]

I froze, convinced my eyes were playing tricks on me, and kept chatting with the woman beside me as if nothing had happened.

Then the messages showed up again.

[Seriously? Tina's still smiling like an idiot. She has no idea this tour is really a trafficking ring. Once they get her to the island, she's done for!]

[Oh, no! The bus leaves in three minutes. Is Tina actually gonna die like this? That's such a miserable way to go!]

The bus had been quiet until the tour guide suddenly spoke up.

"We'll be departing shortly. It's about an hour's ride. After that, we'll transfer to a boat to reach the island."

I instinctively looked toward the guide, Randall Brown. There was a faint scar on his face. Somehow, I hadn't noticed earlier while I had been glued to my phone.

Thinking back to those strange messages, I still couldn't believe it. Seeing floating comments in real life? No way.

I leaned closer to the woman beside me and lowered my voice.

"Hey… Can I ask how much you paid for this tour?"

We had been chatting about everyday stuff before, but somehow, the price had never come up.

She smiled, glanced around, then held up a finger.

"One dollar! I thought it was a scam at first, but turns out it's real!"

My stomach dropped.

My husband, Everett Grant, had told me this trip cost 600 dollars.

I forced a smile as another line of text floated past.

[Tina's clueless. She's still smiling when the bus is about to leave. She'll behave once she's inside the compound.]

I slowly stood and craned my neck to look around at the other passengers.

Most of them were elderly, their hair gray or white, with only a handful of younger people scattered among them.

What would anyone even gain from trafficking a bunch of seniors?

Right as that thought crossed my mind, more messages appeared.

[Come on, it's mostly old and frail people. It can't be that bad, right? Maybe you're overthinking it.]

[Think about it. One dollar doesn't even cover gas. They're not running a charity. The elderly are just a cover. The real targets are the younger ones.]

I still didn't fully understand, so I pulled out my phone and searched "one-dollar tour" across a few apps.

There were only a handful of scattered posts about parents getting scammed by cheap travel packages.

One post caught my eye. It was a mother searching for her missing daughter. The girl had signed up for a low-cost tour and vanished without a trace.

A week before the holiday, Everett had suddenly suggested we sign up for a tour to relax.

I had been thrilled.

The night before the trip, however, he told me he had to work overtime and couldn't come with me. He even went out of his way to tell me not to worry, that he would take care of our son while I was gone.

I thought he had finally grown a conscience, that he understood how hard the past few years had been for me.

Now, the more I thought about it, the colder I felt.

I needed to get off this bus!

"Mr. Brown, my stomach hurts. I need to use the restroom!"

He frowned. "We're leaving in two minutes. There's a bathroom on the bus."

My eyes widened. I bit my lip, panic rising fast. "Please. I-I didn't bring tampons. I need to buy some…"

Before I could finish, the woman from earlier popped up from the back row, all smiles. "Oh, honey, why didn't you say so sooner? I've got some! Here, here! Go take care of it!"

Before I could react, she pushed me toward the restroom.

I watched in despair as the door shut behind me.

At the exact same moment, the bus started moving.

The messages exploded across my vision.

[It's over. It's really over! The bus is moving!]

[Wait, what? Did Tina get smart for a second there? She almost got off.]

I forced myself to breathe and walked back to my seat.

One hour until we reached the destination.

If those messages were real, then I was in serious trouble.

But right now, stuck on this bus, there was nothing I could do. Everett was probably with that woman right now.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. I still had one chance.

I pulled out my phone and started a video call to Everett. I tried three times, but he didn't answer.

After that, I switched to a regular call. On the fourth try, he finally picked up.

"What's up, babe? Something wrong?"

His voice carried a hint of impatience. I had obviously interrupted his date.

A message flashed.

[Nice one, Tina! Keep bothering Everett. Don't make it easy for him to fool around.]

So I had guessed right.

"Everett, I thought something bad happened to you. I called so many times, but you didn't pick up. You scared me."

[Tina's got a sharp tongue. I like it.]

"What are you doing? Why didn't you answer the video call? I saw so many pretty views on the way. I wanted to show you."

The background on his end was noisy.

"Oh, I'm out meeting a client. It's not a good time. Let's talk later. Just enjoy your trip."

"Okay. Don't work too hard…"

The call cut off before I could finish.

Another message appeared.

[I thought she figured it out, but guess not. She's still hopelessly in love.]

[Tina, wake up! Everett's having the time of his life with his side piece! What's he working hard at exactly?!]

I let out a quiet, cold laugh and muted my phone, staring out the window.

A few minutes later, I glanced down again.

There were over a dozen missed calls from Everett.

"What took you so long to answer? I thought you were dead!"

Everett sounded irritated.

"What's wrong? Why are you so worked up?" I asked.

My voice stayed slow and steady, calm to the point of cold.

"Why is my credit card frozen? I'm out here with a client, and the payment won't go through. What the hell's going on?" he asked.

"I was actually calling to ask you the same thing. The bank called me earlier. They said there was a large charge on my card today and suspected fraud, so they froze it right away," I replied.

"Are you kidding me? Didn't I tell you I had a client meeting today? Of course, I'm the one using it. Call the bank and unfreeze it. I need it right now."

His voice rose, sharp and demanding.

"But the bank said the charge was overseas. You told me you were working late at the office, so I assumed someone stole the card. There's no way to unfreeze it right now. They said I have to go in person when I get back."

I even threw in a few annoyed complaints, playing along.

"Honestly, what's wrong with that bank? Saying you're overseas like that…"

He went quiet for a second.

I could practically hear the guilt creeping in. He didn't dare push it further and dropped the subject.

The comments flickered across my vision again.

[Serves him right! Now the mistress has to pay for everything, and she's already rolling her eyes so hard. It feels so good to watch it!]

[Good. Finally, some karma. He can't keep up the act now. Just look at her face. She's probably dumping him the second they get back.]

Ever since I married Everett, he had wanted me to quit my job and stay home full-time.

I said no.

Right before I gave birth, the house we were living in got seized and auctioned off. We were kicked out and forced into a tiny rental.

That was when I found out the truth.

Before we even got married, Everett had already been blacklisted.

His business partner had run off with the money, leaving him buried in debt. The business collapsed not long after. He couldn't pay back the bank loans, so his name ended up on the default list.

With the baby on the way, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and accept it.

All his accounts were under strict bank supervision.

The debts were from before our marriage, so legally, they had nothing to do with me.

That meant all our day-to-day expenses came out of my account.

And just now, I messaged my bank manager, telling her I had lost my card and needed it frozen immediately.

So at the moment, Everett didn't have a single dollar to his name.

I had never had a single easy day with him.

He threw me on a one-dollar tour, then turned around and spent tens of thousands on another woman. All the hardship fell on me, while she got to enjoy everything in my place.

Not on my watch!

I used to feel bad for Everett, thinking he worked hard to make money. Even with a newborn to take care of, I still tried to pick up freelance work online whenever I could.

Turned out I was just a complete fool.

When I get back, I'm going to tear Everett apart!

But right now, the bigger problem was how I was getting out of this.

There was no other way. I would have to take it one step at a time.

Most of the people on the bus had fallen asleep.

I held up my phone, pretending to snap pictures of the scenery outside.

That was when I noticed something off. Almost everyone in this tour group had the same strange tattoo on their leg.

My heart skipped.

A wanted notice I had seen recently flashed through my mind.

Damn it! Everett really set me up to die.

I shut my eyes, forcing myself to think.

An hour later, the bus finally rolled to a slow stop. Randall stood at the door with a megaphone, blocking the exit.

"Alright, everyone. We're getting off to grab a bite, then we'll switch to the boat to head to the island."

The comments exploded again.

[Don't do it, Tina! This is your chance. Run now! Once you're on that island, it's over!!]

[Wake up!]

I waited until the very end before getting off the bus.

"Mr. Brown, sorry. I'm a little carsick. I want to rinse my mouth over there."

I pointed toward a set of sinks not too far away.

He paused for a second, then exchanged a look with the driver. "Alright. I'll hold onto your luggage for you. Just hurry back when you're done."

"Okay. Thanks."

They kept my ID, like they already knew I wouldn't get far.

I walked quickly toward the sinks. A few other tour groups had arrived around the same time. I figured if I blended in, I might be able to shake them.

[Yes! Tina finally figured it out. Run!]

All I had on me was a little over 20 bucks in cash.

Before the trip, Everett told me everything was covered, that I wouldn't need to spend a dime. So I hadn't prepared much, just stuffed a bit of cash into my pocket without thinking.

Then, it hit me.

My phone was gone. Did I drop it when I rushed off the bus?

I glanced back the way I came, my chest tightening. I had just frozen my own bank card. Without my phone, I was completely stuck.

I pushed through the crowd and made it to the other side.

From a distance, I saw Randall checking the time, clearly getting ready to move everyone onto the boat.

This place was in the middle of nowhere. There was no way the cash I had would get me home.

That was when I spotted a jewelry store across the road.

I touched the bracelet on my wrist, my emotions twisting together.

My mother had given it to me as part of my wedding gift.

After a long hesitation, I finally made up my mind. I would sell it just to get through this.

The moment I stepped inside, the messages appeared again.

[Poor Tina! She still hasn't realized Everett already swapped out that bracelet.]

[That damn Everett. Tina, you have to make it back safe and deal with him yourself!]

What? Swapped it?

I glanced back toward the bus. Randall was already urging people to get on.

My heart started pounding. I didn't have time to process this. I needed another plan.

I turned to leave, but the shop owner had already noticed me.

"Miss, can I help you with something?"

I slipped off the bracelet and handed it over. "I want to sell this."

"Sure. I'll need to cut it open to check the material. Is that okay?"

I nodded.

He pulled out a pair of cutters and snipped it clean in half. The cross-section showed white inside.

My stomach dropped.

Damn it. The messages were right. Everett had swapped out the gold bracelet my mother gave me.

"Miss, this is gold-plated over silver. It's not worth much. There's barely any gold here. At most, I can buy the gold portion. I don't take silver."

"Can you melt it down and check?" I asked.

I hadn't expected it. What should have been a 3.5-ounce gold bracelet now had barely 0.07 ounces of gold left.

"It's still worth something, right?"

The owner rubbed his chin, sneaking a glance at me, clearly hesitant. "Alright. You look like you're in a hurry. I'll give you 100 bucks for it."

"Deal."

At least this way, I would have enough to get home safely. I could deal with the rest later.

Just then, a voice came from behind me; cold enough to send a chill straight down my spine.

"Miss, it's time to head back. The boat's about to leave."

My heart slammed against my ribs.

The messages exploded again.

[It's over! Tina's really done for!]