Chapter 2

02.

Asher stripped me of my clothes and left me alone in the frozen wasteland.

I screamed and begged him to have mercy on our child.

He looked at me like I was a piece of filth. He kicked me toward the icy water and drove away without looking back.

My baby and I froze to death in that white hell.

I still remember the absolute despair and the agonizing pain.

I used to think Asher might feel a shred of guilt for our deaths. I didn't realize he could be this heartless in this life, telling his sister to ignore my cries for help.

The air grew colder. My thin hiking jacket wasn't going to hold out much longer. I realized it was a gift from Asher.

He knew I loved hiking, so he bought me tons of outdoor gear.

I used to think it was a sign of his deep love. Even though most of the stuff he bought was cheap and low-quality, I cherished it all.

Including this jacket that barely blocked the wind. It was his "love" that had led me to this dead end.

I took a deep breath. I couldn't just sit here and wait for the reaper.

I estimated the distance to the top. I pulled a climbing rope from my pack, threw it upward, and began to crawl.

The wind was brutal. My jacket felt like it was made of tissue paper against the freezing chill.

My hands and feet were numb. I kept pushing, fighting for every inch of progress.

Finally, I reached the top. But a massive, furry face suddenly appeared inches from mine.

It was... a black bear!

Terror surged through me. My grip slipped, and I went tumbling back down the cliff.

My head throbbed with pain. My back felt like it had been split open. I couldn't even roll over.

Luckily, I had a bit of good fortune. A small group of backpackers nearby heard the commotion and scared the bear away.

They were shocked to find me pinned on a protruding rock. They tried everything to pull me up.

The pain was too intense for me to move. They had no choice but to call for professional rescue.

When Nora first got the calls from the strangers, she thought I had hired actors to lie for me.

But then the calls kept coming. Even her superiors called to demand why she wasn't responding to a distress signal.

Nora realized this wasn't a game. But Asher had taken the entire team to search for Willa. She was powerless to help on her own.

The worst part happened when I tried to shift my weight. My foot slipped, and I began to slide toward the abyss once more.