Amber’s Pov
Jason’s face was a mask of fury. He stepped into the room and his voice cut the air. “Where is my son?” he demanded.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I snapped.
He laughed, hard and ugly. “Don’t lie to me. There is evidence on the CCTV cameras showing that you took him out of the house. You hated Chloe for your dead son. You wanted to kill hers too. You took him.”
“I didn’t touch him, Jason. I swear—”
Jane moaned and opened her eyes. She looked at me with fear. Her mouth trembled, but her words were a whisper. “Amber… what’s going on…”
But before I could answer, Jason stalked forward and grabbed her chin roughly.
“If you don’t tell me where my son is, I will make you regret it.” His voice was cold.
“Jason, let my sister go, I didn't touch your son,” my voice trembled as I stared at Jane’s terrified face.
Jane started crying. “Amber, help me, please… he's hurting me…”
Her voice sounded so small. My whole body wanted to jump between them and fight.
At that second Chloe burst through the door, acting like a woman about to faint. She fell to her knees and clutched at my hand, tears flooding her face.
“Please,” she sobbed loudly. “Amber, please… give Julius back. I’ll die if you don’t. Kill me instead. Take my life, just bring my son back.”
Chloe’s tears made my skin crawl. I wanted to slap her senseless and tell her to cut the act especially when I saw the smug grin on her face but I held back because Jason had my sister.
Jason’s eyes flared. He turned to his men. “Take her sister out. Make her talk.”
My hands flew to Jane. “What are you doing?” I screamed.
The men moved in. Two of them grabbed my arms and pinned me down. I thrashed and kicked, but there were too many of them.
Jason stepped close and leaned into my face. “Since you won’t confess, maybe seeing her suffer will loosen your tongue,” he said softly. “Maybe then you’ll tell me where my son is.”
They dragged Jane out by her hair. I screamed and pulled, but the men were strong. Jane’s legs scraped the floor. Her sobs echoed in the room.
Then the men started hitting her. Blows, kicks, and her cries mingled together. It was horrifying watching the blood on her body and hearing the sound, I almost went crazy.
“Stop! Stop!” I yelled. “Please, please don’t… Jason I don't know where your son is! How can you be this heartless? She's just a child. Please stop!”
“Jason, please! Don’t hurt her. It won’t bring Julius back. It won’t help,” Chloe suddenly begged even though her eyes still had that victorious smirk.
Jason didn’t listen. “Not until Amber tells me where my son is!”
The blows kept coming. I could hear Jane’s voice break, small sounds turning into nothing. I clawed at the men holding me.
“Let me go!” I screamed.
Finally there was a sickening silence. Then a heavy thud. I heard a faint gurgle. Jane’s moans slowed. I felt my world tilt.
They released her and I saw her clearly. Her face was swollen and purple. Blood pooled at the corner of her mouth. She could not focus. Her eyes were glassy. She whispered something and then slumped. Her breathing grew shallow. She was barely with us.
“No!” I lunged. I tried to catch her head, but my wrists were tied. One of Jason’s men shoved me back.
Jason turned away, angry and cold. “You’re wasting my time,” he said, “Why won’t you confess, Amber? Do you like seeing your sister suffer?”
“I don't know where Julius is, please stop, you'll kill her,” I sobbed.
He turned to Chloe. “You wanted corneas for your experiment, right?”
My blood froze. I felt the ground disappear.
“No,” I croaked. “You can’t. She's just a child —”
He cut me off. “I’m not a monster, Amber, I won’t touch your sister, it’s your mother. That old cow has lived long enough, don't you think? Or will you tell me where my son is now so I can spare her?”
“I didn't take your son, Jason, stop this madness!” I screamed.
“You won’t confess? Fine,” He pulled out his phone and barked an order. “Doctor, prepare the OR. Take her corneas. Start now.”
His men pushed me down a chair and shoved a phone into my face. They showed me a live video feed from the hospital OR.
My mother lay on the table, tubes in her nose, her hand pale under the light. Doctors were preparing instruments. The sound of a monitor beep raced in my ears.
“No! Stop that camera—” I screamed.
I scrubbed at my eyes and pounded on the table. “You can’t do this. Please. She’s sick. You’ll kill her.”
Jason yanked my hair, “Just watch, Amber. Watch what happens when you refuse to cooperate.”
I begged. I shouted. I clawed at their arms. I tried to break free. But my body was weak and the room closed in.
Then a man burst in and yelled, “We found Julius! He’s in one of Amber’s cars. He was locked inside. He’s alive but barely, he almost suffocated.”
Jason spun on him, “Where is he? Bring him here now. Doctor, do everything! Save my son!” Jason roared.
All at once the men and the doctors obeyed him. Nurses rushed away from my phone feed. The live image of my mother’s surgery was cut off. The room emptied. They ran out to save his son.
“Wait!” I cried. “My mother—she—” but my voice was swallowed by the rush of shoes on the floor.
The monitor on my mother’s feed started to falter. I realized in my chest that they had left the surgery mid-cut. The sound went flat in the feed. I watched with bare horror as the line on the monitor slowed.
“No—” I whispered.
I staggered to my feet, banging at the door. “Please! Someone! Come back!”
They did not. The paramedics ran past with Julius. Jason followed them like a shadow.
The live feed showed the operating room in frozen detail. The monitor’s beeps slowed, then paused. The screen went empty.
My mother’s heart stopped. I heard a sound then the flatline. It felt like a punch to the ribs. My legs gave out.
I sank to the floor and could only stare at the lifeless body of my mother on the live feed and the unconscious bruised battered body of my sister before me.
My face went numb. It felt like someone rewired me to nothing. I could not move. I could not breathe. The world had narrowed to one point: my dead mother and my bloody sister.
My phone buzzed. A simple message lit the screen. It was the lawyer. Divorce papers sent. Found a loophole.
