The woman shrieked with rage and kicked me savagely in the stomach.
Behind her, a man stormed in, his eyes filled with venomous hatred.
“I’ll kill you, bitch!”
“Go to hell with my son!”
His palm struck my face with brutal force, slamming me into the wall. Darkness clouded my vision, and I almost fainted.
“What are you doing?!”
“Get them out!”
“Restrain those two immediately!”
Agony coursed through me as officers rushed in, prying them away and clamping handcuffs on their wrists.
I collapsed on the ground, gasping, every breath burning like fire.
“Mom, what’s happening to you?”
“Mom, are the bad people bullying you?”
My daughter’s fragile sobs spilled from the phone, each word piercing my heart.
I clenched my jaw, my mouth filled with the bitter taste of blood.
“Melanie, don’t cry. No one is bullying Mom. Mom doesn’t feel pain.”
“Be careful, sweetheart. Don’t let the bad man find you. Uncle will be there soon…”
I endured the pain and vomited a mouthful of blood.
“Miss, you must go to the hospital at once!”
The police froze in shock at my condition, quickly reaching for the phone to summon an ambulance.
I shook my head firmly, forcing out a few more words of comfort to my daughter before ending the call.
The phone watch could not hold long, and I feared that the lunatic would discover her.
Bowing my head, I hurried to redial my brother’s number.
Yet before the call connected, Aidan emerged with Cassidy by his side.
“Negotiator Aidan, how is it?!”
“Are our children safe?!”
“Please, my child is fine, right?!”
The parents rushed up, panic painted across their pale faces, their questions frantic.
Aidan’s face was dark, while Cassidy spoke softly in comfort, though her trembling legs betrayed her fear.
Their faltering composure was evident, and the parents seized on it at once.
“Let us in! We’ll deal with that lunatic ourselves!”
“My daughter!”
“… what will happen to my child?!”
The parents grew restless, emotions spilling over, when Cassidy suddenly cried out.
“It’s all Kendall’s fault! She made us miss the best chance for negotiation!”
“Now not only is my daughter beyond saving, but all thirty-six children in the kindergarten are doomed!”
Tears streaming, Cassidy collapsed weakly into Aidan’s arms.
He reached to hold her, murmuring comfort, while his eyes turned on me with raw disgust. His hand lashed across my face.
“Kendall, is this the result you wanted?”
“Delaying the negotiation, letting the rescue slip away!”
The force of the slap nearly sent me to the ground, but I forced myself to stay upright. Aidan’s gaze hardened with resolve.
“I will negotiate again. Please, give me a little more time. This time, I will use everything I know, every skill I have, to save these thirty-five children!”
After saying this, Aidan turned and prepared to re-enter.
Panic surged in my heart.
In my previous life, after Aidan’s first negotiation failed, he had immediately carried out a second.
It was in that second negotiation that he failed.
The madman detonated the explosives, killing my daughter and the other children.
“No!”
“I don’t agree to you going in!”
I grabbed Aidan’s hand tightly, shouting through clenched teeth.
“My brother will be here soon with mercenaries. He will save Melanie and those children!”
My fingers clung to him with all my strength, stalling for time.
Aidan’s face darkened, the corner of his mouth curling in a mocking smile.
“Kendall, how much longer are you going to keep this madness up?”
“You don’t have a brother at all!”
“If you keep blocking my negotiation and rescue, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
Aidan forced my fingers open one by one, pain stabbing through my hand until sweat beaded across my body.
At that moment, the deafening roar of helicopter blades shook the air above us.
“Look, a helicopter!”
“Someone’s jumping down!”
“There’s more than one!”
“Are they here for our children?”
