Chapter 1 - The Missing Pieces
I woke up to the sterile smell of bleach and the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor.
My left leg was wrapped in a heavy, suffocating plaster cast.
The hospital room was completely empty.
There were no balloons, no flowers, and absolutely no sign of my father or Olivia.
A kind-looking nurse walked into the room to check my vitals.
I asked her how long I had been unconscious.
She told me I had been in a medically induced coma for three entire days.
Panic instantly gripped my chest as I remembered the bank envelope in my backpack.
I frantically asked the nurse where my personal belongings were stored.
She handed me a clear plastic bag containing my bloody clothes and my shattered cell phone.
My backpack was completely missing.
I asked if my father had taken it when he visited.
The nurse looked at me with deep pity and said my father had not visited me once.
He had only come to the hospital to discharge Olivia and collect my backpack from the police.
My heart shattered into a million jagged pieces.
He knew exactly what was inside that envelope.
He had stolen my apartment deposit and my acceptance letter to Boston University.
I was completely trapped with no money and a broken leg.
The nurse suddenly pulled a small, heavy metal object from her pocket.
She said one of the paramedics found it wedged beneath the passenger seat of our crashed car.
She thought it might be an important piece of my jewelry.
I stared at the object in absolute horror.
It was not a piece of jewelry at all.
It was a cleanly severed brake line clamped with a specialized mechanic's tool.
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My father did not just crash the car by accident.
He had actively tried to murder me.
