Chapter 2

"How dare you commit murder in broad daylight?" I demanded.

The living room fell completely silent.

I rushed forward, twisting the faucet shut, then began pulling off my coat to wrap around the girl. Rebecca's lackeys seized my arms, holding me back.

Rebecca let out a derisive snort. "Well, if it isn't the idle CEO's wife. What's this? Coming to beg for your bully of a sister? Shouldn't you show a little more... sincerity when you plead with me?"

I found it utterly absurd, but for now, I couldn't afford to confront her head-on.

"Rebecca, it's negative four degrees Fahrenheit out there. No one can survive that exposed. Whatever issue you have with her, we can talk it through. There's no need for... for this."

Rebecca burst out laughing, like she'd just heard the funniest joke ever.

"Talk it through? Did she ever think to 'talk it through' when she picked on me?

"Where was everyone to speak for me when I was so depressed I wanted to die every single day?"

She leaned in close, her eyes burning with rage.

I stepped back, peering at the girl out on the balcony. With the glass between us and her body huddled against the cold, I couldn't see her face clearly at all.

All I could make out through her tangled hair were those defiant eyes—she really did look a lot like Emily.

My heart felt like it was being carved out with a knife.

Rebecca shot me a look of pure disgust, then settled herself comfortably back onto the stool, as if she had all the time in the world.

"Natalie, your sister did the exact same thing to me back then—beat me bloody in the bathroom, and when that wasn't enough, had people spray me with water. I'm just returning the favor. If you insist on interfering today, don't blame me for what happens next."

In my panic, I tried to throw myself at the glass, but Rebecca's goons yanked me back before I could reach it.

Another one of her lackeys blasted the girl with freezing water from the hose. She jerked violently, curling up and shrieking in agony.

I couldn't help but scream, "Stop! Rebecca, you're insane! That's not my sister—she doesn't even sound like that!"

Emily never came back. This was a mistake.

I tried to explain further, but Rebecca cut me off, snapping right over me.

"Not your sister? Well, then, if she's not your sister, so what if I teach her a lesson? What's it got to do with you?" Rebecca sneered.

No matter what I said, she just wouldn't stop.

Powerlessness washed over me, mixed with a searing frustration.

Rebecca, always emboldened by Jonathan's blind favor, treated his authority like a royal decree, acting with utter impunity. Even I was beneath her notice.

She was convinced that the girl was Emily, and no logic in the world would sway her.

Rebecca smirked, "With all that water, why don't you go save her?"

The icy water blasted the girl, making her scream so loud it sent chills down my spine. Then she just dropped to the floor, not moving at all.

That scream was like fuel for Rebecca—she laughed, totally smug and wild.

With a final surge of strength, I broke free, yanked open the balcony door, and threw myself into the stinging spray, collapsing over the girl's freezing body to shield her from the cold.

The water from the hose hit like shards of ice, stabbing into my skin with every burst.

A violent shiver racked my body before a deep, numbing cold seeped into my bones.

Clutching the girl tighter, I shrugged off my coat and wrapped it around her trembling form, feeling the faint whisper of her breath against my neck.

My teeth chattered uncontrollably. "Rebecca, she's barely breathing. She'll die if you keep this up."

But my pleas only fueled her rage, turning it into something wild and personal.

Hatred meant for me now poured over both of us.

She snatched the hose from the security guard's hands. "Mrs. Grant, I don't give people third chances. You asked for this.

"Since you're so desperate to play the devoted sister, I'll help you out."

A jet of freezing water smashed into my face. Darkness swam before my eyes, and my lungs burned as I choked.

Shaking violently, I held onto the girl, refusing to let go.

Right then, she might as well have been Emily in my arms. In my previous life, I failed to save her—and that regret ate me alive.

This time, there was no way I'd let that nightmare happen again.

But in the bitter cold, well below zero, ice began crusting over our clothes and skin. Survival felt impossible.

Sensation faded from my limbs, and strange visions flickered at the edges of my sight.

The girl's lips moved as if trying to speak, but her words dissolved into the spray of water, lost before they reached me.

I struggled to lift her up, but as soon as I tried to stand, a blast of water hit me right in the eyes, and we both crashed back down onto the freezing tiles.

"You monsters! This is a human life! Can't you have some humanity for once?" I screamed.

But my shouting was like fuel for their cruelty—they sprayed us even harder, laughing like it was all just a game.

They kept throwing nasty insults at us, cursing and jeering like it was all a game.

The girl hit the floor, and I caught sight of a bright red birthmark on her waist—it stood out like a sore thumb.

Emily never had a birthmark.

I'd raised her since she was little—I knew her inside out, and I was absolutely sure.

But that mark rang a bell. I swear I'd seen it somewhere before, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember where.

Shards of ice littered the floor, and my body was growing stiff. I couldn't muster the strength to lift the girl anymore, so I slumped down right beside her.

Just a single door separated us from safety, yet I never imagined we'd both end up dying here together.

My vision kept blurring and fading to black, again and again.

Without even realizing it, I curled up just like the girl, trying to make myself as small as possible.

Rebecca grew even more pleased with herself—her plan had worked perfectly, two victims at once. This was exactly the outcome she wanted.

As my consciousness faded, I glimpsed a commotion at the doorway, and a tall figure entered—it was Jonathan.

I wanted to call out for help, but remembered how, in my previous life, Jonathan's indulgence of Rebecca led to me being sold to a poor village and tormented to death by an old bachelor.

I watched him enter, silent, frozen in place.