But the mountain road was too damn remote—an ambulance from the county would take at least two or three hours to get here.
A few of us got dragged back inside, but before long, everyone else rushed out to the backyard, freaking out.
By the time Jethro ran back there for the fifth time, something finally clicked in his head.
“Why is it just a few of us feeling like this? How come no one else is sick?”
His eyes darkened as he stared at me for a long moment. Then he turned to Gracie.
“Watch him. Don’t let him run!”
Gracie didn’t get what was going on, but she just nodded.
The next second, I pulled out the knife hidden in my suit and pressed it against her throat.
“If you don’t want her dead, let me go!”
I snapped, my voice sharp with fury. Jethro and Melinda went pale.
The townsfolk, caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, started asking what the hell was happening.
I raised my voice, yelling that I’d been kidnapped and brought here 10 years ago. The crowd fell into stunned silence.
Jethro and Melinda scrambled to cover their asses.
“He’s lying!” Melinda sobbed. “If he was really trafficked, why didn’t he say anything all these years?”
“Don’t let him fool you! He’s just throwing a tantrum because he doesn’t want to marry Gracie! We had no idea he’d be so mad like this!”
She just shed some tears, and the townfolks bought it.
They turned on me, pissed that I was making a scene. “If you didn’t want to get married, why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“And now you’re throwing accusations at Jethro’s family? What an ungrateful bastard!”
I hadn’t said anything before because I couldn’t risk my brother getting suspicious.
Everything had to play out the same way it did in my last life.
Only then would my brother stay clueless. Only then could we switch bodies back.
And sure enough, a police siren blared from the town entrance.
‘I knew it! Mom and Dad had brought the cops to find me!’
At that moment, I turned the knife toward Tavian and Faron, who were stumbling back from the backyard, clutching their stomachs.
“They’ve got trafficked women locked up in their houses! Go check if you don’t believe me!”
The townfolks erupted in chaos.
Someone muttered that nine years ago, Tavian had suddenly shown up with a baby, claiming he found it while herding sheep.
Someone else said they’d heard Faron beating a woman in the middle of the night. When asked, he’d just laughed it off as the TV.
The more they thought about it, the more my words started making sense.
One after another, they rushed toward their houses.
Realizing they were about to be exposed, Tavian and Faron lost it. They didn’t give a damn about Gracie anymore—they came straight for me, fists flying.
I never actually planned to hurt her, so I let them knock the knife from my hands.
They kicked me to the ground. Tavian grabbed a shovel nearby and brought it down on me with full force.
“No!”
Gracie screamed, but Jethro and Melinda held her back.
I felt something warm trickle down my forehead, and my ears rang.
‘These bastards are really gonna kill me!’
I curled up, shielding my head as Tavian and Faron stomped and punched me.
Then, a sharp, commanding voice rang out from the doorway.
“Police! Drop your weapons!”
I finally exhaled in relief, but then everything faded to black.
When I opened my eyes again, two days had passed.
Just like in my last life, I was lying in a hospital bed.
My head was wrapped in thick bandages, an IV drip in my hand.
Mom and Dad sat beside me, their eyes red and teary. Behind them, my brother stood, smirking.
As soon as I woke up, Mom threw herself onto me, sobbing.
“My baby, you’ve suffered so much! We searched for you for years, and we finally found you!”
Dad’s voice was thick with emotion. “We’re gonna make this right. We swear.”
My brother, standing behind them, curled his lips into a slow, twisted smile.
Then, his voice echoed in my mind.
‘System, use the last chance. Switch me and Deacon back!’
Everything went black, and I passed out again.
The pain vanished, and in a blink, my surroundings shifted.
I was back in my own body.
On the hospital bed, my little brother was clinging to Mom, sobbing.
“Mom! Dad! It was my brother’s fault I got kidnapped!”
His voice suddenly sharpened, and he pointed at me, his eyes full of hatred.
“What?!”
My parents spun around, their voices filled with rage. “Deacon! What the hell is going on?!”
Panic shot through me. I shook my head frantically, my face pale with fear, tears already spilling over.
“How could I ever hurt him? Mom! Dad! You have to believe me!”
In the middle of the chaos, the hospital door swung open.
A uniformed officer walked in, his face serious as he addressed my parents.
“Ma’am, Sir, we’ve uncovered the truth about Jorren’s kidnapping all those years ago.
“He’s being investigated for human trafficking and attempted poisoning. We need him to come and cooperate with us.”
The smug look on Jorren’s face disappeared in an instant. His eyes went wide, and he let out a sharp scream.
“No way! What the hell are you talking about?!
