Chapter: 3540

"I didn't know..." Janis whispered.

Ainsley let out a bitter, hollow laugh. “Didn't know? Just because you didn't know, it was okay to ruin our lives? That's a pretty pathetic excuse. You have no idea. Those debt collectors were far scarier than we ever imagined. We thought we could escape by fleeing abroad, but they were like relentless phantoms, never more than a step behind us. The place we ended up in was a hellhole, steeped in misery and fear. We lived every single day looking over our shoulders, terrified of being caught. We hid for over a year, but in the end, they found us. I remember that day so vividly. It was around five- thirty, and the sky was on fire, painted in shades of gold and crimson. The sunset was the most breathtaking thing I'd ever seen. It was beautiful, but in a way that felt almost tragic, like the universe was offering a final moment of peace before everything fell apart. Those people attacked my father. I can still hear his voice, screaming for us to run. And then, there was nothing but silence. They dragged my mom and sister out of the house and threw them into the yard..."

Ainsley's face twisted into an expression that seemed almost inhuman, as if she were trapped in a waking nightmare. Her lips were pressed into a thin, bloodless line, her eyes wide and empty, reflecting a horror too deep to bear.

The chill in her voice was enough to send a shiver crawling up anyone's spine.

Unable to bear seeing Ainsley this way, Janis quickly reached for her hand. Ainsley's skin was ice-cold, like it had just been pulled from the depths of a frozen lake.