I Slept When My Sister Was Lost At Sea

With the call on speaker, every word came through loud and clear.

When my father hung up, his eyes were bloodshot as he stared at me. His voice was hoarse. “Victoria, you heard that, didn’t you? This isn’t just about saving your sister anymore. It’s also about executing Noah’s rescue plan. This is an order!”

I responded with a deliberate yawn and ignored him.

Just then, a commotion rose from outside the detention center.

Somehow, several parents of the missing students had gotten word of where I was being held and found their way here.

The moment they saw me, they all dropped to their knees with heavy thuds.

“Ms. Victoria, please! Please save our kids!”

“Please, Ms. Victoria, she’s our only daughter. She can’t die down there!”

Their sobbing and pleading blended into one overwhelming chorus.

I looked down at them from behind the bars. My expression was detached and unmoved.

“Whether they live or die, what does that have to do with me?”

As soon as I said that, the crying stopped instantly.

They stared at me in disbelief, as though I were a monster.

One mother snapped out of her shock first. She fumbled for her phone, opened a screenshot of a bank transfer, and held it up to the bars.

“How can you say that?! Look! This is the ‘research funding’ my daughter sent you! She told us you demanded that 50,000 dollars be sent to this account every month, or you wouldn’t let her join your project or even graduate!”

“Our children’s futures were in your hands. How can you just stand by and let them die?”

The others hurried to take out their phones as well. One transfer record after another appeared, each one slamming down like a heavy blow.

“Yes! We paid for it too!”

“All of us did! For two whole years!”

When my father saw the transfer records, he shook with rage. He jabbed a trembling finger at my face. His voice was quivering.

“Y-You wretched disgrace! Not only are you cold-blooded and heartless, but you’ve actually stooped to extorting your students. You were embezzling and abusing your position. This is disgusting! You have shamed our family’s name beyond repair!”

He roared at me as if I had really committed some unforgivable crime.

Yet both he and I knew the truth.

The name on that receiving account was not mine.

It belonged to his favorite precious daughter, Cindy.

No matter how the parents pleaded, cursed, or threatened to kill themselves, I did not react.

I stood there like a spectator, detached and untouched, watching the farce play out.

Time ticked by, minute after minute. The golden window for rescuing the Deep Dweller was slipping away fast.

Online, the storm had reached a fever pitch.

[ChiefEngineerVictoriaArcherRefusesRescue]

[VictoriaArcherDetainedForLeakingClassifiedData]

[VictoriaArcherExtortedHerStudents]

One flashing hashtag after another shot to the top of the trending list. Within just a few hours, my name had become synonymous with cruelty, greed, and disgrace.

Right then, in the rescue livestream, a faint, broken burst of static came through.

It was Cindy.

“Vic… Vic… Can you hear me?”

She sounded like she was using the last of her strength. Her voice seemed to be trembling with terror at the thought of death and a desperate will to live.

“Vic… I trust you… I know you can save me… You’ve always been… the person I admired most… You won’t give up on me… Will you?”