Chapter 2

2

I gripped the phone, my palms slick with sweat.

It seemed this timeline was slightly different. Even the kidnappers' location might have changed.

The confidence I had a moment ago vanished, replaced by sheer panic.

"Can you give me more time? I... I need to find the money," I pleaded, my voice trembling.

The line went dead.

I forced myself to stop crying. I knew showing weakness to these thugs wouldn't work.

I had to get the cash and find them.

I grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled down everything I remembered from before.

There were two kidnappers, both young men. They held my parents at one of their houses.

In the old timeline, the money was supposed to be dropped in a trash can near the south exit of the train station.

Silas had caught them before they even touched the money.

I immediately dialed 911.

Then, I called Uncle Peter, a family friend and shareholder in my father's company. I told him to have the finance department withdraw the cash.

Uncle Peter sounded just as panicked as I was.

"Call the police, Vivienne! I'll handle the money."

I felt a small spark of hope.

Two minutes later, the local patrol arrived.

Noah, Silas's best friend and colleague, walked in with a scowl on his face.

"Vivienne, your brother just called me. Lucky for you, I was nearby..."

"But reporting a fake crime is a felony!"

My heart shattered.

Silas was so sure I was the culprit that he sent his best friend to stop me.

He wanted to prevent me from "making a scene."

Without the police force and their tracking experts, how was I supposed to save them?

I crushed the paper in my hand.

Thinking of my parents being tortured, I broke down in tears.

"Noah, I'm not lying! I'm an adult, and I'm responsible for my words."

"Please, I need the police! I need you to save my parents!"

I was hyperventilating, constantly glancing at the clock.

Ten minutes had already passed. Time was running out.

Noah leaned back on the sofa, scrolling through his phone with total indifference.

He didn't care that I was crying.

"They say kids from orphanages are cunning. You think crying will manipulate me?"

"Your brother was right. You aren't family. You're just an outsider with a cold heart."

"Clarice is so much more sensible than you..."

Clarice and I had very different fates. She was adopted at eight and raised as a princess.

Silas, especially, protected her with a devotion that bordered on obsessive.

Even as adults, they were uncomfortably close.

The ticking of the clock pulled me back to reality.

I swallowed my rage and forced myself to be calm.

"Noah."

I looked him dead in the eye.

"You are an officer on duty. You have a legal obligation to investigate this..."

He interrupted me with a cold laugh.

"Who do you think you are, little girl? Ordering me around?"

"You think because you're a Beaumont now, you run things? You're just a stranger in this house."

His words felt like ice water in my veins.

"Silas told me everything. Your parents don't even love you that much. They still call you by Clarice's name sometimes."

"He told me how you bully Clarice just to get attention. You forced her to move out."

Noah helped himself to a bowl of fruit on the table, insulting me while he ate.

I knew Silas had fed him these lies for months.

In their eyes, I was just a manipulative girl trying to steal a spot that wasn't mine.

I stood in front of him again. I didn't care what he thought of me.

"What will it take for you to believe me? My parents are in danger!"

"If we miss the window to save them, that's on your head!"

Noah paused, then stood up slowly.

"Go ahead and report me then. A brat like you needs to learn a lesson..."

Before he could finish, two uniformed officers appeared at the door.

"Is Vivienne Beaumont here? We received a high-priority emergency call."

My legs gave out, and I nearly hit the floor.

There was still a chance!