The phone rang in the middle of the night.

I hadn't been asleep. I let it vibrate for a long time until it finally stopped.

Less than ten seconds later, it started again.

I didn't know how long it rang, but eventually, I picked it up.

"Mr. Porter?"

It was a familiar female voice.

"This is Ruby Shaw."

The moment I heard her name, my grip on the phone tightened.

"Name your price," she said, cutting straight to the point.

"If 10 million dollars isn't enough, I'll make it 20 million dollars. Cash. Wire transfer to any account you choose, within 30 minutes."

I said nothing.

"Mr. Porter? Are you there?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"20 million dollars, cold hard cash. If that's still not enough, we can negotiate."

"It's not about the money."

"Then what is it about?" Her voice spiked.

"Aren't you supposed to be the best guide in this desert? The entire dispatch network recommended you. They said you're the only one crazy enough to go out there. If you don't take this job, my brother will die out there."

"Find someone else," I said coldly.

"Find who? Dispatch said you're the only one who can make it in during this weather window. The other guides won't go past 30 miles out. Any further north, and they won't make it back alive."

I knew that.

I had spent eight years risking my life to map this desert.

Every hidden current, wind shear zone, and quicksand trap was etched into my mind.

I was the only person alive who had the navigation data for this sector.

Ruby asked, "Mr. Porter, don't you have anyone you care about? You should understand what it's like to wait for death in the desert."

I fell silent.

Of all the people in the world, she was the last one who should say those words.

Joey's final satellite signal had pinged at 3:00 am. It lasted for exactly 11 seconds before vanishing forever.

Later, a slip of the tongue from a dispatch worker revealed the truth. Ruby had paid a million dollars to reroute the only fully equipped rescue team in the opposite direction to rescue her brother, Howard.

That grown man had managed to get lost outside a five-star hotel.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away in the deep desert, Joey was out of water, completely delirious, and burning up with a fever over 104 degrees.

Her last voicemail to me was only a few seconds long.

"Dad, it's so hot… and… I love you…"

Those few seconds had played on loop in my head for eight years.

"Mr. Porter?"

Ruby's voice snapped me back.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I'm listening," I replied.

"If 20 million dollars won't do it, 50 million dollars then."

She paused, letting out a cold laugh.

"Have you ever even seen that much money scraping a living out there? 50 million dollars is enough to buy a house, a car, and marry a beautiful wife in the city. You can't be stupid enough to turn this down."

"Ms. Shaw," I called out.

"What?"

"You're right. I've never seen that much money."

"Then—"

"But I've also never seen anyone haggle over human life like they're at a flea market. Your brother's life is worth 50 million dollars to you. But how much was my daughter's life worth to you?"

The line went dead silent.

"W-What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. Find someone else."

I hung up, and the tent fell dead quiet again.

When I closed my eyes again, the dream returned.

Joey was kneeling on the parched earth, the skin on her arms peeling away and her knees scraped raw.

She looked up at me, her eyes bloodshot and dry, her lips badly cracked.

"Dad… why isn't Mom coming to save me?"

I crouched down, my hand shaking as I reached out.

How could I answer her?

How could I tell her that her mother had diverted her rescuers to save a useless man who got lost at a hotel entrance?

Joey waited for a long time.

Then she smiled, her split lips oozing drops of blood.

"I'll keep waiting. Mom will definitely come."

I bolted upright in bed, drenched in a cold sweat.

The tent was pitch black, and the wind rattled the corrugated iron sheets.

"Zachary? You alright?" Arthur asked.

"I'm fine."

I reached under my pillow for my water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and took a heavy swig.

"Go back to sleep," I said to the darkness.

I wasn't sure if I was talking to Arthur or to myself.

At noon the next day, a helicopter landed just outside the camp.

The rotor wash kicked up a massive cloud of dust, nearly ripping the corrugated iron sheets right off the shack.

Arthur cursed under his breath and ran back inside. "That Ruby woman is here. She brought a whole crew with her."

I sat in the tent without moving. My fingers traced a frayed piece of red string.

It was the string tied tightly around Joey's wrist when I finally found her.

"Zachary, do you want to hide for a bit?" Arthur asked, poking his head in.

"No need."

I stuffed the string into my pocket and stood up.

By the time the tent flap was pulled back, Ruby was already standing a short distance from the entrance.

Her oversized sunglasses covered most of her face, but they couldn't hide her heavy makeup, which looked absurdly out of place in this desert.

She glanced my way, then turned her head and frowned in disgust.

"This is him?" she asked her assistant.

The latter nodded. "Zachary Porter, 43 years old. Desert guide. The only local who can cross the deep interior."

Ruby looked back at me through her sunglasses.

My face was weathered with wrinkles, my skin tanned almost black, and my entire body was coated in sand.

I looked like a completely different person from the man she had divorced eight years ago.

Besides, my real name was Jack Porter. After Joey died, I changed it to Zachary.

Ruby didn't recognize me.

"Let's hear his terms," she said, waving a hand at her assistant before turning to find some shade.

The assistant walked over. His polite demeanor was laced with arrogance as he said, "Mr. Porter, Ms. Shaw is being exceptionally generous. We can negotiate the money.

"50 million dollars is just the starting point. We can also arrange a Bellmont residency permit or study-abroad slots for your children—"

"I don't have children."

The assistant froze for a second before checking his tablet.

"Then we can offer something else. Real estate, top-tier medical access, or…"

Just then, David Webb, an old guide, walked past. His son, Kieran Webb, was following behind, carrying a bucket.

Kieran had a loose tongue. He jerked his chin toward the assistant and muttered to David, "Zachary's got it rough. His wife abandoned him, his only daughter died, and now he's just rotting away out here in the desert all by himself. He doesn't even have anyone to talk to."

It wasn't loud, but Ruby caught it. Her gaze swept over from behind her sunglasses.

She let out a cold snicker. "With a man like that, no wonder she couldn't leave fast enough."

Arthur's fists clenched.

I reached out and held him back.

Ruby walked back over, looking down at me like she was handing out charity.

"I get that you're hesitant. The desert is dangerous. But my brother's safety is paramount. Name your terms. As long as you go in and bring him back, everything is on the table."

"I said I'm not going," I replied firmly.

"You want more money?"

"It has nothing to do with money."

She frowned, clearly annoyed at having to deal with an ungrateful idiot.

"Then what does it have to do with? That dead daughter of yours?"

The air instantly turned to ice. Arthur caught his breath.

Ruby smirked, completely unfazed, and pressed on. "Did you drag your daughter into the desert and get her killed? Is that why you're too chicken to go back out there now?"

My hands balled into tight fists. The veins in my neck bulged, and my temples throbbed violently.

"Shut up."

The whole camp went dead silent.

The smirk froze on Ruby's face, and her bodyguards immediately stepped forward to shield her.

But she recovered quickly, her expression twisting back into that deep-seated arrogance.

"Looks like I hit a nerve. You couldn't even keep your daughter alive. No wonder you're stuck playing tour guide in the desert. My brother is nothing like your daughter. His life actually matters."

I stared straight into her face.

It had been eight years. She was just as beautiful as she used to be.

And just as heartless.

"You need to leave, Ms. Shaw."

Ruby didn't leave.

Before long, four black SUVs rolled into the camp. The number of bodyguards instantly doubled.

Ruby's assistant sat at a table, making phone calls loud enough for the entire camp to hear.

"...Yes, make sure they all get the message. Any guide who refuses this job gets blacklisted immediately. Use every resource to ruin them. Yes, everyone. No exceptions."

Arthur walked over, holding a tin mug, his face dark.

"Is she insane? She's going to ruin everyone in this camp."

I said nothing.

David emerged from his tent and walked up to me, hesitating. Kieran followed closely behind, his face flushed red.

"Zachary…" David spoke, his voice strained.

"I know you have your reasons, but… Kieran and I don't have any other skills. We need this job to put food on the table. His wife is giving birth next month, and our family—"

With a heavy thud, Kieran dropped to his knees. His knees sank into the loose sand, leaving deep ruts.

"Zachary, please. Just agree to it."

David trembled, then kneeled right beside Kieran.

I bent down to pull them up. "Get up."

Before I could, two bodyguards stepped up from behind and grabbed me, pinning my arms to my sides.

I struggled, but I couldn't break their grip.

A third bodyguard lunged from the side and slammed my face straight into the dirt.

The scalding sand pressed against my cheek, burning my skin.

Ruby slowly walked into my line of sight.

She crouched down, took off her sunglasses, and looked down at me. "If you don't say yes, none of these people around you will ever make a single dime. I'll make sure of it."

Her voice was perfectly calm, devoid of any emotion. "I've been in business a long time, and there hasn't been a single thing I couldn't buy."

I turned my head slightly to look at her.

There was no warmth or urgency in her eyes—only a cold, absolute sense of dominance.

Exactly like eight years ago.

She had that exact same look back then. "I don't care. My brother is in trouble too. Just name your price."

The sound of a struggle came from nearby.

Two bodyguards dragged Arthur out into the blazing sun.

Arthur was shouting curses, but they shoved a hand over his mouth, cutting him off into muffled grunts.

Under the direct sunlight, his face turned bright red within a minute.

The desert sun at this hour would cause heatstroke in 30 minutes. In two hours, it would kill him.

"Stop!" I roared. "I'll do it."

The bodyguards finally let go.

I slowly pushed myself up from the sand.

Ruby stood up and brushed the dust off her skirt. "See? That wasn't so hard."

I looked up at her, my eyes completely cold. "Do you want to know why I refused to go?"

She raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Because if I go into that desert, your brother won't survive."

Ruby's expression didn't change, but her lips twitched faintly. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I will bury him out there with my own hands." I spoke calmly, pronouncing every single word clearly. "My daughter took her last breath out there. In the exact same spot your brother is in right now."

The wind died down.

Ruby's face turned instantly pale, her composure finally shattering.

The entire camp went dead silent. Only the distant sand dunes kept up their low hum.

"Now, do you still want me to go?"