My parents, without my knowledge, took out a three-million-dollar life insurance policy in my name. That weekend, for the first time ever, my father took me fishing. He even bought me a hot dog, a treat usually reserved for my sister. He knelt down, his voice heavy as he straightened my collar. “Anna, please don’t blame your dad.” “Your sister needs to study abroad, and we just can’t afford it.” “Just think of this as helping the family one last time. It’ll be like falling asleep. You won’t feel a thing…” The moment the words left his mouth, he kicked me into the reservoir behind us. 1 Icy water flooded my nose and mouth. I couldn’t swim. Survival instinct kicked in, and I thrashed wildly, my arms and legs flailing in a desperate, chaotic dance. On the bank, my father watched me with cold indifference, as if observing a dying ant. Beside him, my mother pulled out her phone, seemingly checking the time. My sister, Karen, took out a compact mirror and meticulously reapplied her lipstick, a hint of impatience in her voice. “Dad, why is she taking so long? What if someone sees?” My mother soothed her. “Don’t worry, no one comes here at this hour. I checked. It only takes three to five minutes for an adult to drown. A child like her will be even quicker.” My father nodded, his voice devoid of any warmth. “We’ll wait a little longer. Once she sinks, we’ll call the police. We’ll say she slipped and fell in by accident.” My strength was fading, my vision blurring at the edges. Why? All because my sister wanted to attend a prestigious boarding school in England, with a tuition of a million dollars a year. And the beneficiaries of that three-million-dollar life insurance policy were my parents. So that was it. The hot dog I’d never been allowed to have before was my last meal. The first time my father had ever called me “sweetheart” was to send me to my death. A burning hatred filled me. A tearing pain ripped through my lungs as I choked on water. Just as I was about to lose consciousness, my body sinking into the cold darkness, a blinding light shot out from the distance. It was followed by a man’s furious, booming voice. “What the hell?! Who’s over there? Crew! Where the hell is the crew?!” “Is that someone in the water?! Get them out, now!” I heard the panicked shrieks of my parents and sister from the shore. “Someone’s here! Let’s go!” In the chaos, I heard a loud splash. I felt strong arms pulling me up, breaking the surface. The last thing I saw was the face of a young man in a black t-shirt, his features etched with frantic concern. 2 When I woke up, I was in a modified van, the kind celebrities use. A dry jacket that smelled faintly of tobacco was draped over me. A beautiful woman with flawless makeup and a chic haircut was gently toweling my hair dry. “You’re awake. How are you feeling?” I tried to speak, but my throat was on fire. No words came out. The beautiful woman handed me a glass of warm water. “Slowly now. You swallowed a lot of water; your throat is raw.” I took small sips, my eyes taking in my surroundings. Besides the beautiful woman, there was a man with silver hair leaning against the window, scrolling through his phone. He was more handsome than any movie star I’d ever seen. A burly man with a buzz cut sat in the driver’s seat, his brow furrowed in a deep scowl. I remembered him. He was the one who jumped in to save me. The van door slid open, and a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard and a wrinkled director’s vest poked his head in. “She’s awake?” His voice was the same gruff one I’d heard before I passed out. He looked me up and down, his tone impatient. “Hey, kid, where are your parents? What are you doing out by the reservoir in the middle of the night? If you’re looking to end it all, don’t do it next to our film set. Damn bad luck.” The beautiful woman shot him a glare. “Director! She’s just a child!” The man, the director, clicked his tongue. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, but after a glance at me, he shoved them back in his pocket with an annoyed sigh. “Alright, alright. Faye, get her parents’ number. Let’s get them to pick her up so we can get back to filming.” My parents’ number… My body started to shake uncontrollably. I couldn’t go home. If I went back, they’d just push me into the water again. Or find some other way to kill me. Seeing me tremble, the woman, Faye, thought I was cold. She wrapped the jacket tighter around me and asked in a gentle voice, “Anna, right? We found your student ID in your pocket. Can you tell me your parents’ phone number, sweetie?” I bit my lip, hard, and shook my head violently. Tears streamed down my face. “I… I don’t want to go home…” The director’s scowl deepened. “Oh, great. So now you’re our problem? You think we can just feed you? Let me tell you, this production is running on fumes. We can’t afford any freeloaders!” The silver-haired man put down his phone, his voice a lazy drawl. “Come on, Mark. Don’t take it out on a kid.” He walked over and knelt in front of me, bringing himself to my eye level. “Hey, little one. Did you have a fight with your folks? Running away won’t solve anything. How about I take you home?” I shrank back, sobbing, and buried my face in Faye’s side. “I didn’t run away… I just… I fell in by accident…” “My parents… they don’t know I’m here…” I couldn’t tell them the truth. They were strangers. Why would they believe that my own parents had tried to murder me? If they sent me back, it was a death sentence. I had to lie. 3 The director, Mark, looked at me skeptically. “You fell in by yourself? Then where are your parents?” I clutched the hem of the jacket, my head bowed. “They… they work a lot. I’m usually home by myself.” “So what were you doing at a remote reservoir like this?” “I… I heard it was beautiful, so I wanted to see it…” My lies were full of holes. A teenage girl, alone, at a deserted reservoir in the middle of the night? It made no sense. The silver-haired man, Evan, just smiled faintly and said nothing. From the driver’s seat, the burly man, Dex, glanced back at me, his voice a low rumble. “Director, maybe we should just call the police. Let them find her family.” The police! They would definitely contact my parents! A jolt of terror shot through me. I grabbed Faye’s arm, my voice a desperate plea. “No! Please, don’t call the police! I’m begging you!” My reaction was so extreme that it startled the three men. They all stared at me. Faye rubbed my back soothingly. “Okay, okay, we won’t call the police. Calm down.” She looked up at the director. “Mark, look how terrified she is… Maybe we could just let her stay here for tonight? We can figure it out in the morning.” Mark’s brow was so furrowed it could have crushed a fly. “This is a film set, not an orphanage!” But despite his words, he waved a dismissive hand and got out of the van. “Fine! One night! But she’s out of here tomorrow, you hear me?” The door slid shut, blocking out the cold wind. Faye found me a set of clean, dry clothes and poured me a bowl of hot porridge from a rice cooker. “Here, eat this. It’ll warm you up.” The millet porridge was fragrant and creamy. I held the warm bowl, and fresh tears welled up in my eyes. No one had made me hot porridge since my grandma passed away. My mother always said cooking was a waste of time that she could be using to build her career. Our meals were always prepared by a part-time cleaner who only knew how to make two dishes: stir-fried cabbage and boiled cabbage. Because my sister Karen needed to watch her figure, and my mother said cabbage was the best for that. And I had to eat what they ate. Faye saw me just drinking the porridge, not saying a word, and thought I didn't like it. She rummaged in her bag and pulled out a packet of teddy bear cookies. “Not to your liking? How about some cookies?” I quickly shook my head and finished every last drop of the porridge, even licking the bowl clean. “It was delicious! Thank you, pretty lady!” Faye smiled and stroked my hair. “Silly girl.” That night, I slept on the long bench in the van. It was cramped, but I felt safer than I had in years. But that sense of security was shattered the next morning. I was woken by a commotion outside. I opened my eyes to see my parents and my sister, Karen, standing right outside the van. My mother was clutching the director’s arm, her face a mask of frantic worry, her voice choked with sobs. “Director, thank you so much for saving our Anna! We’ve been looking for her all night!” My father stood beside her, his eyes red-rimmed, thanking them profusely. Karen, seeing that I was awake, rushed to the van door. “Anna! How could you be so selfish?” she cried out for all to hear. “Just because you don’t want me to go abroad, you’d resort to threatening our parents by jumping in the water? Do you have any idea how worried we were?” 4 My sister’s words were like a thunderclap, exploding among the film crew. Everyone turned to look at me with strange, judging eyes. So, I was the evil sister, so jealous of my sibling that I’d fake a suicide attempt to manipulate my parents. Director Mark’s face instantly darkened. Even Faye’s brow furrowed, a flicker of disappointment in her eyes. I felt a chill spread through me, rendering me speechless. My mother climbed into the van and threw her arms around me. But her hand, hidden from view, pinched the flesh of my lower back, hard. “Anna, you scared me to death! Let’s go home. Whatever it is, we can talk about it at home. Don’t bother these nice people.” The sharp pain made me gasp, and tears sprang to my eyes. To any outsider, it looked like a touching mother-daughter reunion. Karen followed her in, linking her arm through mine in a show of affection, but her nails dug into my skin. She leaned in, whispering so only I could hear. “You got lucky, Anna. But don’t worry. We’ll have plenty of ways to deal with you at home.” “You’d better behave. Because next time, it won’t be as simple as a little push into a reservoir.” I froze, paralyzed with fear. My legs wouldn’t move. My father came over, a “kindly” smile on his face. “I’m so sorry about all this,” he said to the director. “She’s just a child, so thoughtless. We’ll take her home now.” He reached out to grab my arm. I flinched back with a terrified scream. “No! I’m not going with you!” My mother’s face hardened, her voice laced with a threat. “Anna! Stop making a scene! Do you want me to hit you in front of all these people?” My father lost his patience. He grabbed me roughly and started to drag me out of the van. “Let’s go! We’ll see how we deal with a thankless brat like you at home!” The crew just watched, no one stepping in to help. To them, this was just a family squabble, parents disciplining a disobedient child. Despair washed over me. I was going to die. Just as my feet hit the ground, just as I was about to be shoved into my family’s car, a cool, calm voice cut through the air. “Wait.” It was the silver-haired man, Evan. He was leaning against the van door, casually dangling something from his fingers, a smirk playing on his lips as he looked at my father. “Sir, before you go, perhaps you could explain this?” My father followed his gaze, and the color drained from his face.
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