True or Fake, Love or Hatred

Micah spread his hands and gave me a sinister smile. "You failed."

I pleaded with him through my tears, "Please let me go. If you kill me, you'll have to pay for it with your life, won't you? How will you win Nancy back if you're dead?"

Desperate, I tried to use Nancy to provoke him, clinging to my last bit of hope.

"You’re right. I’ll have to pay with my life if I kill you, but aren't we both living worthless lives now?" he said with a twisted smile.

"Who even cares? Timothy wants to divorce you because you're a fake heiress, and Nancy left me for Timothy because I'm an imposter too, right?

"Even our parents, who raised us for over 20 years, want us out of their lives. Isn't that right?

"Adeline, we’re both pitiful creatures abandoned by the world.

"We don't deserve to live in this world. We both deserve to die."

My survival instincts kicked in as I sobbed uncontrollably. I kept pleading with my broken voice, "No, that's not true. We can still live good lives."

Micah looked at me with despair in his eyes. His gaze was fixed on my blood-stained neck. "No one in this world loves us anymore."

I objected, "No! Please don't kill me. I can't die! I still have my daughter to live for!"

Micah shook his head with a faint smile.

"Let's play another game," he said.

He tied me up on the rooftop of the abandoned building and vanished. Though I was curled up in pain, I found myself more worried about my daughter than myself. I feared that I had said the wrong thing earlier and that no one could protect her now.

As expected, my fears were right.

In the dead of night, Micah and his companion approached me, leading my five-year-old daughter, Halle Lane, by the hand.

Halle was born blind. She took each step slowly, every footstep crushing my heart.

I forced myself to stay calm. "Micah, what are you planning by bringing Halle here?"

Hearing my voice, Halle quickened her pace. "Mommy! This man gave me a stuffed toy and said he'd bring me to you, but I don’t like the toy.

"Mommy, I miss you. When are we going home? You promised to read me the Cinderella story tonight."

Micah carried Halle over to me.

Though Halle could not see, her sense of smell was sharp, and she asked me in a worried tone, "Mommy, are you bleeding? Let's go to the hospital now. Mommy..."

Micah crouched down to look at the panicked Halle. "Halle, do you want your mommy to go to the hospital? If you do, then call your daddy and tell him to come here."

Halle nodded timidly. "Okay."

Micah used my phone to dial Timothy's number once again.

Thankfully, the call connected.

Timothy's voice sounded irritated as he spat, "What do you want now?"

"Daddy," Halle said softly.

There was a brief silence before Timothy responded. "Halle."

Halle gripped the phone nervously, her voice trembling and laced with tears. "Daddy, Mommy and I are on a windy rooftop. Mommy is bleeding, and Mr. Micah won't let us leave.

"Can you come and take her to the hospital, please?"

He paused for a few seconds, then shouted angrily, "Adeline Jones, are you teaching our daughter to lie to win me back? What exactly do you want me to say to this?

"If I go, Nancy will definitely be upset, and we both know who's waiting to take advantage of this situation.

"Haven't you had enough of this nonsense?"

It sounded like Nancy, who was next to Timothy, had been woken up by the commotion. She whined, "Tim, why aren't you in bed yet? Aren't you tired after what we did?"

"I'll be there in a second," Timothy replied, then added one last cutting remark, "Halle, don't learn to lie like your mommy. Daddy doesn't like children who lie."

Halle cried into the phone, "Daddy, I'm not lying! I'm not!"