Chapter 2
Anna’s sudden reaction worried Sarah, who immediately pulled Anna into a tight embrace. “Oh my, what’s gotten into Anna today? Why does she keep saying such strange things?”
I stopped at the doorway, watching Anna curled up in Sarah’s arms, then glanced at the wall clock.
At that moment, there was still one minute left before the time Anna claimed I would hand her over to human traffickers.
Earlier, concerned that Anna might have been frightened, I hadn’t planned to go out shopping and had asked Sarah to do the errands instead. She had stayed with me for a while, then said her stomach hurt and needed to use the bathroom.
I personally escorted her to the restroom, and she never came out. Even now, thinking back on it, I find the whole thing incredibly bizarre.
Later, when the traffickers called with their ransom demands, we learned that Anna had truly been kidnapped. The police even sent someone to examine the bathroom, but they could never figure out how a five–year–old child could end up 30 miles away within an hour.
I hesitated for a moment, closed the door, and pulled out my phone to call Anton. “Hey, remember to pick up some salt on your way home from work. Anna’s acting up at home–she might
be sick.”
Anton’s irritated voice came through the phone. “Are you kidding me? I’m in the middle of a client meeting! What exactly do you do at home? Can’t you go buy it yourself?”
He hung up immediately after that.
I wasn’t angry. I turned and walked back into the house, saying to Sarah, “Sarah, I think Anna might be traumatized. Let’s stay with her in the living room. I’ll arrange for a psychologist to come check on her later.”
Hearing this, Sarah frowned. “Are you really being this dramatic? Anna’s just being a little mischievous.”
“A child’s physical health is important, but so is their mental health.” I put on a worried expression and walked over to touch Anna’s face.
Then I got up and pushed open the bathroom door, saying, “Sarah, didn’t I tell you the bathroom needs regular cleaning? Look, there are cockroaches running around. I just bought new insecticide and need to spray it thoroughly. Don’t let anyone use the bathroom for the next three hours–you could get poisoned.”
My actions clearly disrupted Anna’s plan. Her expression showed obvious panic.
This time, let’s see how Anna would validate her rebirth
2/8
12:50
prophecy.
Two minutes passed, and the so–called rebirth prophecy naturally fell apart. No one in the family took it seriously.
Just then, Anna suddenly shouted loudly, “No, I’m going to mess my pants!”
Sarah panicked when she heard this. “Oh no, what should we do? Lena, can’t we use the bathroom yet?”
I had noticed Anna’s shifty eyes from the start–she was clearly plotting something.
Looking at her, I pulled out a basin I had prepared earlier and said, “Just go here. The bathroom definitely can’t be used.”
“I want to use the bathroom! I don’t want to go in a basin, or I’ll mess my pants!” Anna threatened.
I just chuckled coldly. “Then go ahead and mess them. The bathroom can’t be used today anyway, and I can change you into clean pants.”
My response left Anna speechless for a moment. She shouted frantically, “Mommy is the bad guy! Grandma, call the police and arrest Mommy, or she’s going to kill me!”
I said, “Fine, when the police come, I’ll tell them you messed your pants.”
Seeing my indifference, Anna simply pouted and started holding her breath, her face gradually turning red.
“Anna, why are you doing this? Open your mouth and breathe!” Sarah was really afraid she’d hurt herself and quickly pried open
her mouth.
Watching her sulky behavior, I felt completely unmoved.
Regarding Anna, I’ve always felt my parenting approach wasn’t fundamentally flawed. I tried to fulfill any reasonable request she had. I did everything I could to raise her to be an honest, loving child, but I could never understand why she turned out the way she did.
Seeing my firm attitude, Anna actually held her breath and messed her pants.
A foul smell spread through the room, and Sarah covered her nose, scolding, “You little brat!”
She went to get water, preparing to clean Anna’s bottom.
I didn’t stop her, just calmly got up and went to the bedroom to get clean pants.
However, when I walked out of the room with the pants, I was completely stunned.
Sarah stood there looking bewildered, holding the basin as we stared at each other, and Anna was gone!
The living room was empty. Elliot had somehow fallen asleep on the couch, and Anna’s soiled pants were still lying on the floor.
Sarah was frantic, searching every corner of the house inside and out, but there was no trace of Anna anywhere.
No sound of doors opening or footsteps–a five–year–old child had mysteriously vanished once again.
I muttered to myself, “How is this possible?”
I was even more anxious than Sarah because I knew exactly what was coming next.
“Is it really impossible to change?” I gritted my teeth, searching the room for any clues, but found nothing.
Panic set in, and I instinctively made the same decision as in my previous life–I called the police.
While waiting for the officers to arrive, I searched the entire neighborhood but still couldn’t find any trace of Anna.
Unwilling to give up, I asked the property management to pull the security footage, but Anna was nowhere to be seen in the recordings.
When the police arrived, everything unfolded almost exactly as it had in my previous life.
They couldn’t find any valuable leads either, leaving us with nothing but a request for patience before they departed.
It wasn’t until I received that video of Anna with her eyes gouged out that I fell into complete despair.
What was meant to happen had happened. The kidnappers called, demanding a ransom of one million dollars.
Seeing Anna’s condition, Sarah sobbed uncontrollably.
Anton also rushed home from work. When he saw the footage of Anna being tortured, he charged at me in fury and delivered two resounding slaps across my face.
He roared, “I asked you to watch the child at home–this is how you watch her? If anything happens to Anna, I’ll make you pay with your life!”
If the police hadn’t been there, he probably would have killed
- me.
Later, when the police questioned us again about any unusual circumstances during Anna’s disappearance, Elliot suddenly seemed to remember something and said, “I remember Anna saying that her mom would personally hand her over to human traffickers and gouge out her
out her eyes.”
Anna’s prophecy had come true.
Sarah also looked like she’d had a revelation: “That’s right, I was recording at the time and think I caught it on video.”
Sarah pulled out her phone and showed the video from that day. In the background of the footage, Anna was standing on the table, shouting those words that would send me plummeting into the abyss.
I was stunned, having completely failed to notice when Sarah had recorded this video.
Before I could fully process what was happening, Anton suddenly lunged at me like a madman, grabbing my collar: “That’s your own daughter–how could you do such a thing? Are you even human?”
Before the police could pull him away, he kicked me hard in the
chest.
I crashed heavily to the ground, the intense pain snapping me back to reality.
“Something’s wrong–something’s not right,” I thought frantically, until I saw Anton’s angry, twisted face and suddenly realized what it was.
I said, “You believe the nonsense of a five–year–old? Your
parents were both home at the time—why don’t you go suspect them instead?”
