"No!" I try to chase after them, but my mother’s body goes slack in my arms.

I look at her. Then at the car speeding away with my son. And I break. I scream. I sob. I lose everything.

The hospital is cold. Sterile. Dead. The doctor doesn’t look me in the eye.

"I’m sorry. She didn’t make it."

I sink to the floor. Liam is gone. My mother is gone. I have nothing.

At her funeral, I stand in front of the grave, a lifeless shell of the woman I used to be. Tears no longer fall. Because I don’t have any left.

All I have now is rage. Hatred. Vengeance.

I stare at the grave, my voice cold, empty.

"I will get Liam back."

I lift my chin, fire burning in my veins.

And then I board the next flight to New York.

New York City is nothing like home. The towering buildings, the blinding lights, the endless crowds—I should feel lost in all of this, but the truth is, I’ve been lost long before I stepped foot in this city.

I came here with one goal. Find Liam. Take him back. Make Ethan pay.

But New York is massive, and Ethan is nowhere to be found. I try everything. I go to his old office, only to find out he resigned. I visit places I think he might be, hoping I’ll run into him. I even call every single contact I have, but no one knows where he went. Or maybe they do. They just won’t tell me.

And then Ethan does the one thing that truly crushes me. He blocks me. No calls. No texts. No emails. Nothing. It’s like I never existed.

I sit in a cheap motel room, staring at my phone, my fingers trembling as I try to call him for the hundredth time.

"The number you have dialed is no longer in service."

I throw the phone against the wall. My chest heaves. My heart aches.

I lost my son. I lost my mother. I have nothing.

I don’t know how long I stay in that room. Maybe days. Maybe weeks. The money I brought with me is running out, but I don’t care. I don’t feel anything anymore.

Until I get the message that finally breaks me.

A video. From a number I don’t recognize.

I almost don’t open it—until I see the sender’s name.

Trisha Caldwell.

Ethan’s sister.

My blood runs cold.

I press play. The screen flickers, and then—

Liam.

My beautiful son, sitting on a couch with his favorite stuffed bear. Relief washes over me, but it only lasts a second. Because then I hear it.

"Mommy, can we go to the park?"

Not my voice. Not me.

Olivia.