Chapter 3

The police had a duty to investigate, but they couldn't force a child to speak without evidence.

After a long standoff, I stared at Sarah.

"Sarah, you’re a mother too. I know you can understand what I’m going through."

I paused, tears dripping from my chin. "My daughter was only eighteen. Her birthday was in a few days. I raised her with everything I had, and now..."

I knew I looked pathetic, my eyes swollen shut, but I forced myself to lock eyes with her.

"I’m begging you, help me. What happened? Why did Bella run out of the woods so terrified? Please, help a grieving mother."

Sarah looked away, her eyes darting around. She repeated the same cold line. "I'm sorry, Claire. We really don't know anything."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Marcus snapped. He lunged forward, grabbing Sarah’s shoulders and shaking her violently. "You know! You damn well know! Tell me who did it! Who!"

"You have a daughter too! If this was Bella, would you stay quiet?!"

He was completely hysterical. It took two officers to finally restrain him. He thrashed until he passed out from pure exhaustion.

The police advised us not to push too hard, warning us that it might backfire. They told us to wait until the rain stopped so they could look for other clues.

But once the rain stopped, would there be any clues left?

Just when Marcus and I were falling into utter despair, Sarah came to our house voluntarily.

Bella stood behind her, crying and bowing to me.

"I'm sorry, Claire."

My eyes were too swollen to open properly, but I strained to look at her. "Bella, sweetie, can you tell me what happened that day?"

Bella burst into loud, sobbing tears.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It was Tyler! He said if I told anyone, he’d beat me to death! I was so scared. I didn't want him to hurt me too!"

Sarah immediately hugged Bella, dropping to her knees in front of me. "It’s not Bella's fault. It’s mine! I was so scared of what Tyler would do to my family... but Bella kept asking me when we were going to save Chloe..."

After Sarah finished explaining, I took a long, shaky breath. "Sarah, are you willing to let Bella testify?"

"We were playing in the woods," Bella sobbed, "and Tyler came over. He wanted to play 'house.' He said he was the dad, and we had to be his wives. He said Chloe’s dress was pretty, so he wanted to 'play' with her first. Chloe said it hurt and tried to run, but he beat her. He threw his jacket over her face to stop her from screaming. Then... Chloe stopped moving."

It felt like shattered glass piercing my chest. Every breath tore at my lungs. I listened to Bella's trembling voice, shaking my head in disbelief. My daughter was only eighteen. She knew nothing of the cruelty of this world, and she was tortured to death.

The police arrested Tyler quickly. He was sixteen, but he weighed 180 pounds and stood six feet tall.

From behind, he looked like a fully grown man.

When he saw us at the station, he shrank back.

But a heavy, expensive-looking woman stepped in front of him, looking at us with utter disdain. "Fine, I heard what happened. We'll pay for the funeral. How about that?"

She pulled two thick stacks of hundred-dollar bills from her designer purse and threw them onto the table.

To my horror, Marcus laughed. He walked over, picked up the cash, and stepped closer to her. "Twenty thousand? That's it?"

He shook his head. "How about I give you a hundred thousand, and I get to take your son's life?"

Before anyone could react, Marcus slammed the cash into her face, lunged at Tyler, and started hammering his fists into the boy's face. Marcus was too fast. Within seconds, the officers tackled him to the ground, but Tyler's nose was already smashed and bleeding.

"Ah! You psychopath! Your daughter is already dead, and now you disfigured my son! He was supposed to go to a top private school!"

I was shaking with rage. What did she mean, *your daughter is already dead*?

Seeing Marcus pinned down, Brenda became even more arrogant.

"My son told me everything. Your daughter loved wearing those revealing dresses. Wasn't she just begging for attention?"

"Honestly, she deserved it. She’s lucky it was my son. Otherwise, some homeless crackhead would have gotten to her!"

I was speechless with shock.