My stepsister, Grace, took her entire class on a wilderness expedition in Africa, only to be ambushed by a remote, uncontacted tribe. She was in mortal danger. And me? I’m the only internationally certified wilderness expert of my caliber. Ten years of experience under my belt, with deep ties to chieftains across the continent. My father got Grace's last desperate SOS and called me immediately. “Your sister ran into hostiles in the jungle. I need you on a plane, now. You’re leading the rescue.” I hung up without a word. When my stepmother couldn’t reach me, panicked for her daughter’s life, she rallied the other parents and stormed my apartment, kicking the door clean off its hinges. She froze, finding herself face-to-face with two uniformed police officers. I gave her a little wave, rattling the silver cuffs on my wrists. “Sorry,” I said with a thin smile. “My hands are tied.” 1. “Skylar, pack your things! Your father has a helicopter on standby. We can leave this instant!” my stepmother, Catherine, shrieked as she burst into my living room. “Grace was attacked by a native tribe in Africa! They’re saying there are cannibals out there, and all communication is down. We don’t know if she’s dead or alive!” Her frantic tirade stopped dead when she saw the gleaming steel locked around my wrists. She stared, dumbfounded. One of the officers beside me frowned, clearly annoyed by the intrusion. “Ma’am, please don’t interfere with police business.” “Wh-what?” “We received a complaint that this woman,” the officer gestured to me, “defrauded someone of five hundred dollars in an online romance scam. We have enough to bring her in for questioning. She’s coming with us.” I offered a placating smile and prepared to leave with them, but Catherine snapped out of her stupor. “No!” she screamed, grabbing my arm. “You can’t go! Grace is waiting for you to save her!” Tears streamed down her face. “What will happen to my daughter? She’s only eighteen! What if those… those savages get their hands on her?” I looked at her, my expression blank, completely devoid of the panic she expected. “Why are you coming to me? This is a job for the authorities. Call the police.” “Liam is a cop,” I added pointedly. “You should be calling him, not me.” Liam was Grace’s boyfriend. It was only fitting that he be the one to ride to her rescue. Besides, his skills in a fight far surpassed my own. The moment I said his name, Catherine’s fingers dug into my arm like talons. “Of course I know Liam’s a cop! But he’s never set foot in Africa! He doesn’t speak a word of the local dialects. How can I trust him to save Grace?” she hissed. “You’re the only one who can bring her back safely.” Her voice softened into a desperate, wheedling tone. “She’s your sister, Skylar. You grew up with her. How can you not be worried? She’s out there, hungry, cold, with nowhere to sleep…” I wrenched my arm free, my brow furrowed in annoyance. “I have to go with the officers. Don’t hold them up.” Seeing that I was ignoring her, she frantically dialed my father. The second the call connected, his furious roar filled the room. “Skylar, you ungrateful brat! Your sister could be dead or alive out there, and you’re just sitting at home, doing nothing?” “I’ve booked you a flight for tonight. You get your ass over there and assist the rescue, or I swear to God, you’re no longer my daughter. The Rhodes family will not have a disgrace like you!” I let out a cold laugh and shook my wrists, the handcuffs clinking musically. “Sorry, Dad. Can’t. I’ve got a date with a detective downtown. Got a statement to give.” Silence. I snorted and turned to leave with the officers. Just as I stepped over the threshold, Catherine’s voice, sharp and calculating, cut through the air behind me. “Skylar, it’s not just Grace who’s trapped. It’s her entire class—over forty students. Nearly half the group is missing with her.” She gestured to the crowd of anxious parents who had followed her here. “Look at them. These are the mothers and fathers of the missing. All these lives hanging in the balance, waiting for a savior. Can you really just stand there and do nothing?” 2. “Not my problem,” I said flatly, and walked away. Catherine’s shriek of pure rage echoed behind me, but she could only watch as the police led me away. I knew she wouldn’t give up, but the first person to visit me at the precinct wasn’t her. It was Liam. He set a cup of warm water in front of me. I didn’t touch it. He sat down, his face a mask of grim professionalism. “Grace’s situation is critical, Skylar. All their communications are dead. For all we know, she’s…” He trailed off, unable to finish. “The tribe in their last known location is notoriously hostile. There are old rumors of cannibalism—even the local government can’t control them. If they’ve captured her, it’s a death sentence.” He spoke with an urgent, breathless intensity. I just found it boring. “I see,” I said. My lack of reaction clearly stunned him. “What’s wrong with you, Skylar? That’s your sister out there! How can you be so cold?” I almost laughed. “A stepsister, Liam. And what happens to her has nothing to do with me.” “You—!” “Skylar, you are the best professional explorer in the country. I’ve read your files. You have extensive experience in high-risk extractions, and I know for a fact you’re on friendly terms with several African chieftains.” He started scribbling on a whiteboard, trying to map out a strategy, trying to convince me. “If you go, you can save them. I know you can.” When he saw my indifferent expression, his tone shifted from persuasion to command. “As a citizen, it is your duty to cooperate with this operation. I can officially compel you to assist.” How pathetic. I wasn't some rookie he could intimidate. His posturing had zero effect on me. “Seriously? You, a cop, are going to lecture me about civic duty? Don’t try to pull rank on me, Liam,” I scoffed. “You can talk until you’re blue in the face, but I’m not going. If she dies, she dies. Sounds like bad luck, but again, not my problem.” My callousness finally broke him. His hands clenched into tight fists. He took a deep breath, his eyes narrowing as a new thought seemed to occur to him. “Is this about what happened?” he asked, his voice low. “Are you still angry that I called off our engagement?” Years ago, Liam and I were engaged. Then he met Grace and fell for her, breaking off our engagement and making me the laughingstock of the city. He actually thought this was my petty revenge. Such an ego. I was about to tear him apart when the door was kicked open. My father stood there, holding a sobbing Catherine in his arms. She was clutching something. The moment she saw me, she lunged, her hand flying out and cracking against my cheek. Then she threw the object onto the table. “Give me back my Grace!” she wailed. “This is all your fault! Give her back!” My eyes widened as I saw what it was. How could this be? It was impossible. 3. It wasn't supposed to happen like this… not in this life. On the table lay a piece of bloody fabric—a shirt. The pattern, the colors… it was the exact one Grace had been wearing the day she left for Africa. Catherine was convinced her daughter was dead, and she was channeling all her grief and rage directly at me. “You heartless, ungrateful snake! You have no soul! That was your sister, and you wouldn’t even lift a finger to save her!” she shrieked. “I bet you’re happy now, aren’t you? You can finally inherit all of your father’s money! My poor, darling girl!” She collapsed into a pitiable, trembling heap. My father held her, his gaze burning with fury as he looked at me. “Skylar, even with Grace gone, don’t think you’ll see a single dime from me,” he growled. “I’d rather donate every cent to charity, give it to the stray dogs on the street, than leave it to an emotionless bastard like you.” I frowned, a seed of doubt planting itself in my mind. In my past life, this never… Suddenly, I caught a flicker of cunning in Catherine’s eye. And in that instant, I understood. The panic in my chest vanished. Faced with their accusations, I just smiled serenely. “So? What does that have to do with me?” I asked. “She’s the one who was stupid enough to go playing explorer in Africa. If she got herself killed, she has no one to blame but herself.” Liam, who had been lost in his own grief, snapped his head up. My words ignited the fury in his heart. He lunged forward and slapped me, hard. The sharp crack echoed in the room. My left cheek immediately began to swell and throb. “Is that something a human being would say?” he roared, his voice thick with outrage. “Grace is gone! And you’re standing there spouting that garbage? How dare you! She was your sister! Maybe not by blood, but she was your family, the person you saw every single day!” “Skylar, I was so wrong about you,” he seethed, breathing heavily. “You’re nothing but a cold, soulless monster.” He finished, so choked with anger he could barely speak. The crowd of parents gathered at the door stared at me, their expressions a mixture of disgust and horror. “Can you believe her? A world-renowned explorer with years of rescue experience, and she just lets them die out there.” “And Grace was her own sister! While her sister was facing God knows what, she was here sleeping soundly. Some big sister.” “Those poor parents outside are crying their eyes out, practically begging her on their knees to help, and she won’t budge. She’s made of ice.” Liam glared at me with pure hatred, clutching the bloody shirt as if it were a sacred relic. His bloodshot eyes screamed that he wished I had died in Grace’s place. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife when another officer suddenly entered the room. “Call from the rescue team in Africa.” Liam snatched the phone and put it on speaker. An excited voice crackled through. “Good news! We’ve made contact with the missing students! They’re alive!” “Miss Grace Rhodes is with them!” Catherine’s face lit up with overwhelming joy. “When can you bring her home?” she asked, her voice trembling. “When will she be safe?” The voice on the other end hesitated. “The situation is still extremely volatile. We need Ms. Skylar Rhodes’s assistance. Her experience and her local contacts are the only things that can guarantee Miss Rhodes’s safe return.” Every single person in the room heard those words. Catherine’s tear-swollen eyes locked onto me. “Skylar, I’m begging you. Name your price. Anything you want. If you bring Grace back, you can have my life!” My father roared, his patience gone. “Your mother is begging you, your sister is out there waiting! If you have any Rhodes blood in you at all, you will get on that plane to Africa right now!” Just then, an elderly woman stepped out from the crowd of parents. She shuffled forward and, without a word, dropped to her knees before me. “My granddaughter… she’s all I have left in this world,” she pleaded, tears streaming down her wrinkled face. “She’s trapped out there. I’m on my knees, begging you… please, bring my little girl back to me.” I glanced around at the sea of desperate faces. Liam stepped forward, his voice laced with contempt. “Skylar, can you still stand there and do nothing? Do you truly have no heart?” A cold smile touched my lips. “Fine,” I said. “I’ll help.” “But I have one condition.” 4. Hearing me agree, a wave of relief washed over Catherine’s face. But when I mentioned a condition, her expression hardened. “I want seventy percent of Rhodes Corp.” The room fell silent. Then, Catherine’s voice exploded in outrage, her finger jabbing at me. “Seventy percent? Why don’t you just ask your father to step down and make you CEO?” I gave a helpless shrug. “Your choice. I’m not forcing you. But if you refuse, you can just sit here and watch your precious daughter die.” “You… you monster!” Catherine trembled with rage. My father, looking defeated, finally made a decision. “Done,” he said through gritted teeth. “But the contract is only signed after Grace is back, safe and sound.” Catherine, fuming, had no choice but to agree. I drew up a detailed rescue plan, complete with topographical maps I sketched from memory. I designated Liam to lead the ground team. He looked at me, confused, but I just gave him an unreadable smile. My father had the share transfer agreement drafted. Everyone waited. Following my plan, Liam’s team quickly located a breach in the tribe’s perimeter. They moved in, and soon found Grace and the other students held captive. The video feed came online. Grace, however, didn’t look like a traumatized hostage. Her cheeks were rosy, her skin glowing. Liam, playing the hero, grinned triumphantly into the camera. “Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes, I have her! Grace’s safe!” he shouted. “It was all thanks to Skylar’s plan! Everything went off without a hitch, just like she said it would. We’ve got everyone!” At that moment, I took the share transfer agreement from the lawyer’s hands. I stared at the legal jargon and the astronomical numbers, feeling nothing. I signed the first letter of my name—S. And then, just as I knew she would, Catherine lunged forward and ripped the document to shreds. “Did you really think I’d let you win, Skylar?” she sneered, her face twisted in triumph. “Who do you think you are, trying to steal my daughter’s inheritance? You’re dreaming!” I watched her, my expression calm, my heart a frozen stone. She snorted. “You’re nothing but a motherless stray we took in. Letting you rescue Grace was a chance for you to prove your worth, not a negotiation.” She tore the last piece of the contract, her demeanor that of a common street thug. The other parents, seeing their own children were safe, dropped their desperate pretenses. The masks of civility fell away. “You’re a wilderness expert. It’s your duty to save our children when they’re in danger. You should have been the first one on that plane.” “That worthless trash. Making us beg and plead before she’d lift a finger. She really thinks she’s someone important.” I watched their ugly, ungrateful faces, a perfect mirror of what had happened in my last life. A wave of nausea rolled through me. Some of them looked like they wanted to hit me, to vent their frustrations on my body. They backed me into a corner, and I couldn't stop the cold, bitter laugh building in my chest. Fine. If this is how you want to play it… then I don’t have to hold back anymore. The next second, the image on the large screen behind them flickered to life. What appeared there made their blood run cold and their faces turn ashen with terror. In moments, they would be the ones on their knees, begging for mercy.
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