Chapter 2

“But there’s something I have to tell you.”

Tears even welled up in her eyes.

“She’s the child’s stepmother. She’s been abusing my granddaughter for years. I’m an old woman. I wanted to stop her, but there was nothing I could do.”

“I had no choice. I secretly sent the child back to her real mother.”

A crushing sense of helplessness washed over me.

She did this every Halloween. No matter where we were or what was happening, she had to lie.

The Halloween after my daughter turned one, she called and told me my little girl had suffered an asthma attack and was dying.

I was so terrified that I could barely think. I drove home as fast as I could.

In my panic, I got into a car accident.

It left a long, ugly scar on my left arm.

Looking at me in the hospital bed, my mother-in-law had only shrugged.

“Halloween is supposed to be about tricks. How was I supposed to know you’d be stupid enough to believe me?”

“Besides, it’s your own fault you crashed. You should have watched the road.”

After that, I kept my daughter as far away from her as possible, especially on Halloween.

But today, she had clung to the car door and insisted on coming along.

I told myself that as long as I watched her carefully, nothing serious would happen.

Instead, everything fell apart almost as soon as we got out of the car.

After hearing her accusation, the officers moved to take me in for questioning.

“Child abuse is a serious crime. You’ll need to come to the station with us!”

People were practically spitting in my face.

“Disgusting! She doesn’t care because the kid isn’t hers. What a monster!”

“Cuff her! A few days in jail might teach her a lesson!”

As an officer took my arm, I felt like my head was about to burst.

I pictured my daughter alone, unable to find us. I pictured her collapsing during an asthma attack, struggling to breathe.

My heart felt as if it were being torn apart.

Tears streamed down my face as I looked at my mother-in-law’s solemn act.

I wanted to rip her lying mouth apart.

I forced myself to stay calm.

“Officer, I swear she’s my biological daughter. Whatever else you need to investigate, please find her first.”

“I can provide all the evidence afterward!”

My mother-in-law rushed between us and yanked up my sleeve.

“Don’t let her fool you! She just wants to keep abusing my granddaughter.”

“Look at this scar. I gave her that when I fought her off to protect the child.”

Everyone gasped at the ugly scar.

The officer’s face hardened.

“What is going on? If you two keep giving us conflicting stories, we’ll take you both in!”

I stared at my mother-in-law, fury burning in my eyes.

“I got that scar in the car accident your lie caused! You keep saying you’re a helpless old woman. Do you really expect anyone to believe you hurt me like this in a fight and walked away without a scratch?”

“Officer, please believe me. If there are any consequences later, I’ll take full responsibility.”

Given the urgency and the risk to my daughter, the officer nodded and arranged for us to split up and search.

My mother-in-law kept talking, trying to interfere.

“You’re not very good at your jobs, are you? You can’t even tell which of us is lying!”

But nobody listened. We got into the police vehicles and left her behind.

The officers took me straight to the security office.

But when we watched the footage from the moment my daughter disappeared, everyone’s eyes widened.