Chapter 4

After cooperating with the police in the investigation, Henry was taken into custody.

During that time, Amelia even tried to plead Henry's case, earning herself some seriously perplexed looks from everyone at the station.

"Maya, Henry's the father of your baby! How could you send him to prison?" Inside the station, Amelia cried her eyes out, begging for Henry, her sincere act leaving everyone momentarily stunned.

"Ma'am, are you sure you've got this right? Henry forced himself on your daughter against her will. He's a rapist," a female officer, thinking Amelia had lost her marbles, kindly said.

At that, Amelia wailed even louder. "Officer, he's just a kid! He took a wrong turn. We gotta give him a chance to turn his life around!"

The sight of the victim's mother begging the cops to spare her daughter's attacker left everyone in the room speechless.

"Ma'am, you should go comfort your child. We've got work to do here. We'll contact you if we need your help later," the female officer said coldly, shooting me a sympathetic glance.

I nodded, took Maya, who was still shocked, by the hand, and left.

I thought that was the end of it, but the day after Maya's surgery, I got a frantic call from her.

Using the phone's location, I rushed over to a restaurant.

I barged into the private room and saw Maya sandwiched between an elderly couple, looking anxious as hell.

Across from them, Amelia sat, grinning, urging Maya to agree with them.

"Let my sister go!" I lunged forward, yanking Maya out of their grip, and the other three jumped in surprise.

Amelia's face flashed with guilt. "Sienna, these are Henry's parents."

Jaxon Walker, Henry's father, stood up with a smile. "Sienna, I'm Henry's father. We're gonna be family now."

I almost laughed out of anger. "It seems Henry's shamelessness runs in the family. Who the hell wants to be related to you?"

How could they raise a rapist and then talk about family? They really had no shame.

Jaxon was angry, but he held back his anger, thinking about what he came for. "Sienna, Henry messed up, but he's just a kid. He's our only son. If anything happens to him, we don't know how we'll go on."

Jaxon and his wife burst into tears, hugging each other. Amelia was moved to tears, too. "Sienna, look how pitiful they are. Let Henry go."

I shouted, "Shut up! Henry put himself there, and the law put him there, not me. They raised a monster, but they're crying for their kid. What about you? Maya just had surgery, and you drag her here? Are you even worth being a mother?"

Amelia went pale at my words. She turned to grab Maya but missed.

I continued, "I've been disappointed in you for ages, but Maya wasn't. But now, you've broken her heart for good. Stay out of Maya's life from now on."

With that, I grabbed Maya and walked out of the room.

After that, Amelia called me a million times, but I was too busy sorting out Maya's transfer to a new school to pick her up.

When she realized my attitude, she stopped trying to contact me.

Then, one evening, after we'd been out of touch for a while, my grandmother, Penelope Henderson, called me.

Thinking it might be Albert missing me, I answered happily.

But the voice on the other end sent a chill down my spine. "Albert's gone missing!"

As soon as I heard Albert was missing, my gut told me Amelia had taken him.

I booked a car ride on the spot and raced home through the night from the next town over, my anxiety boiling over like a pot of water on high heat.