Chapter 1

My daughter had been kidnapped, and the kidnappers demanded one million in cash for her release.

They sent me a video.

In the video, my daughter's hair was disheveled, and the princess dress I had helped her put on that morning was covered in bloodstains.

My daughter's face was filled with terror as she wailed heart-wrenchingly:

"Mommy! Mommy, save me! Bobbi is scared!"

My mother-in-law collapsed in my Sister Mary's arms, crying so hard she could barely breathe, almost fainting.

"Nat, hurry and get the money. If we delay any longer, they'll definitely hurt Bobbi. She's my only precious granddaughter. If anything happens to Bobbi, how can I go on living?"

Jimmy, who was usually composed and rarely shed tears, now looked at me with desperate, red-rimmed eyes:

"Honey, please save our daughter. I know our company just completed a five-million-yuan order. One million shouldn't be anything to you."

"Bobbi is our own flesh and blood. How can you bear to watch her suffer? Every second we delay is another second of torture for her!"

Mary was crying uncontrollably, tears and mucus streaming down her face as she grabbed my arm:

"Sister, please hurry and get the money. Bobbi is hurt. Look at how she's crying for her mother to save her. Doesn't it break your heart? Weren't you always the one who loved Bobbi the most?"

Bobbi's heart-wrenching cries still echoed in my ears.

Yes, she was my only daughter, my precious child.

My baby girl was born premature, and she had always been frail. I felt guilty about this and gave in to her every wish.

You could say I would give her the moon if she asked for the stars. I treated her like a delicate flower, afraid she might break at the slightest touch.

Usually, even if she just got a tiny scratch on her finger, I would cry from distress.

Bobbi was such a thoughtful child, not only excelling in her studies but also being very filial to me.

Though she was just a little girl herself, she would hug me and say she wanted to grow up quickly to protect her mommy.

She would even bring me water to wash my feet, and she would lay on my stomach, crying as she traced my stretch marks, saying how much it must have hurt me.

Seeing my expression soften, my husband anxiously took my hand and tried to lead me to the door.

"Honey, we only have two hours left. If we don't get the money now, our daughter will die!"

But I refused without hesitation:

"If she dies, she dies. I don't have any money."

As soon as the words left my mouth, my mother-in-law lunged at me in disbelief and started hitting me.

"You monster! Bobbi is your own flesh and blood! How can you say such things?"

"It's just one million, just one word from you is all it takes. Why won't you save Bobbi? Is money more important to you than your own daughter's life?!"

Mary held back my mother-in-law while looking at me tearfully:

"Sister! You've lost your mind! It's just one million! Your handbags alone are worth more than that!"

I clicked my tongue in annoyance and pushed my mother-in-law away in disgust.

"Can't you all stop being so annoying? You're blocking the TV!"

"If she's been kidnapped, go find the police. Why are you bothering me?"

"Because you're her mother!"

Jimmy lunged forward, his eyes bulging with rage. He grabbed my collar and shook me violently:

"This is our own daughter! Natalie, what nonsense are you spouting!"

Mary hastily pulled out her phone to call the police.

"Yes, yes, call the police, let them save Bobbi..."

Before she could finish speaking, the kidnapper called.

"I'm warning you, if anyone calls the police, I'll kill her immediately. Don't try any tricks with me!"

In the background, Bobbi's cries and pleas for help could be heard, heart-wrenching to everyone listening.

A moment later, the kidnapper sent a photo.

The photo showed two little pinky fingers. I recognized them - they had two small dark moles.

These were Bobbi's fingers.

I had held Bobbi in my arms countless times, stroking the moles on her pinky fingers while playfully telling her:

"Look, our baby has these special moles. If you ever get lost, Mommy can find you through these..."

But now these two fingers lay alone on a cutting board, a horrifying sight.

Because we had delayed, the kidnappers had cut off Bobbi's two fingers.

Chapter 2

If they discovered we'd called the police, Bobbi would surely die.

After seeing the photo, the whole family erupted in screams and wails.

My mother-in-law collapsed on the floor in despair, tears streaming down her face helplessly.

Mary was shaking so violently she dropped her phone.

Jimmy was overcome with anguish, covering his face as he broke down sobbing.

He fell to his knees with a thud:

"Honey! Please, save our daughter! She's only ten years old, she's just a baby!"

"She's the child you carried for eight months and nearly died giving birth to!"

The kidnappers called again, saying they would let us hear our daughter's voice.

On the other end, our daughter was crying hysterically:

"Mommy! It hurts so much! Mommy, save me, Mommy!"

My mother-in-law, who loved her granddaughter more than life itself, could no longer hold back.

She knelt before me, repeatedly kowtowing.

"Nat! I'm begging you on my knees! Please save Bobbi! Save your daughter! She's your own flesh and blood, you can't just watch her die!"

Both my mother-in-law and husband kowtowed so hard their foreheads split open, blood running down their faces.

Mary was crying uncontrollably, clutching my arm desperately:

"Sister, please go save Bobbi now, we're running out of time, we're really running out of time!"

Annoyed at having my TV show interrupted repeatedly, I irritably shook off Mary's hand and shouted at them:

"Will you all just shut up?! You're so annoying, I can't even hear the TV!"

"I've already frozen all the company's money. Now I couldn't withdraw even 500 dollars, let alone one million."

"Besides, she's just a kid. If she dies, she dies. All this crying and fussing is getting on my nerves!"

I picked up my bag from the sofa and tried to leave, but Jimmy grabbed my legs tightly.

"Natalie! Are you doing this on purpose? How can you be so heartless? How can company funds be frozen just like that?!"

"I'm begging you, honey, please think of something, please find a way to get the one million!"

"Consider it a loan from me if you must. Once Bobbi is safely back, I'll sell the house to pay you back!"

Unable to break free, I tried to reason with them patiently:

"Everyone has their own fate. Bobbi being kidnapped is just her bad luck. What can I do about it?"

"Besides, there's no smoke without fire. Why did they kidnap her specifically and not some other child? Maybe Bobbi provoked them somehow, and they're just trying to teach her a lesson."

Jimmy was stunned by my unreasonable words. His mouth hung open, unable to utter a single word.

I took the opportunity to kick his shoulder and tried to leave.

As Jimmy tried to grab me again, my mother-in-law held him back by the arm.

The kidnappers were calling them.

I couldn't hear what was said on the other end, but I watched as my mother-in-law's face grew increasingly pale until she finally collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

Not bothering with them anymore, I drove back to the company.

I had work to finish. I couldn't let such a trivial matter interrupt it.

My mother-in-law and Tang Jimmy kept calling me, while Mary's messages wouldn't stop coming.

Annoyed by the noise, I blocked all three of them.

My world finally fell quiet, and I began to focus on my work.

Until my assistant anxiously knocked on my door.

"CEO! Something terrible has happened!"

"Your family is here at the company. They're crying downstairs."

"And..."

My assistant looked grief-stricken, biting her lip, unable to meet my eyes.

"And what?"

"And... your daughter... she's dead."

...

When I went downstairs, I found my mother-in-law kneeling on the ground wailing, while Mary and Jimmy were as pale as sheets.

My daughter lay on the ground, covered only by a white cloth.

My bright, lively, and filial daughter now looked like a broken doll, without a trace of life in her face.

"Natalie! How dare you show your face! Look! This is your own daughter, and you killed her!"

Jimmy's face was contorted with hatred. He strode forward, grabbed my hair, and dragged me to my daughter's body.

"Even tigers don't eat their cubs, Natalie. Bobbi was your own flesh and blood, and for just five million yuan, you decided your daughter's life was worth less than your money!"

I stood there stunned, staring blankly at my daughter's body.

Her body was covered in countless wounds, and her face had a gash running from her temple to the corner of her mouth. The dark red blood had stained the white cloth, creating a horrifying sight.

My mother-in-law collapsed beside my daughter, wailing endlessly:

"My poor granddaughter! My precious child! How can grandmother go on living without you! My darling granddaughter!"

"Bobbi, take grandmother with you! Without you, I don't want to live anymore!"

Chapter 3

A crowd of onlookers gathered around us, forming a tight circle.

Seeing these three people's desperate breakdown, I couldn't help but laugh.

Jimmy was so angry the veins on his forehead bulged. He swung his hand and slapped me hard across the face:

"How can you still laugh? Natalie, you inhuman beast! You don't deserve to be called a mother!"

"In all our years of marriage, I've never wronged you. I did all the housework, never let you suffer any hardship."

"Whenever you had conflicts with my mother, I always took your side. Knowing you were busy with work, my mother cooked three meals a day for you with different dishes each time, never letting you step into the kitchen."

"When you were in postpartum confinement, my sister even quit her job to take care of you and Bobbi. She treated you like her own sister, always buying you a share of whatever she bought for herself."

"And our daughter Bobbi, she was such a thoughtful child! She excelled in her studies, always ranking in the top three of her class. All her teachers praised her intelligence."

"Just last night she was bringing you water to wash your feet. She always said her mother was the person she loved most. How could you do this to someone who loved you so much?"

As Jimmy spoke, he suddenly collapsed to his knees, covering his face as he broke down sobbing.

This man, nearly six feet tall, was now curled up like a ball, crying like a child.

His voice trembling, he questioned me word by word:

"What did our family ever do to wrong you? What did Bobbi ever do to displease you?"

"Why wouldn't you save Bobbi? Why wouldn't you save your own daughter?"

My face was numb with pain, my hair disheveled, looking completely wretched.

But I just steadied myself and stared at him coldly, saying nothing.

The surrounding crowd pieced together the truth from Jimmy's words.

My guilt in choosing money over my daughter's life was undeniable.

Everyone began pointing fingers at me.

"Even tigers don't eat their cubs, what kind of mother is this? She's worse than an animal!"

"Look how much this poor child suffered, covered in wounds. It breaks my heart just looking at her.

How could a mother bear to not save her?!"

"Such a big company, and they couldn't come up with one million? I bet this woman has another man outside, that's why she didn't want to save her daughter, afraid the child would be a burden in her second marriage..."

"Oh my god, that's possible! I say her husband and mother-in-law should beat her to death!"

Hearing this, Jimmy's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at me:

"Natalie? Do you really have someone else?"

"No wonder... no wonder you wouldn't save Bobbi, you worthless woman!"

Jimmy kicked me in the stomach.

I fell to the ground, the pain in my stomach leaving me speechless.

But I still managed to twist my face into a grin, looking at him provocatively.

Jimmy was triggered by my expression. He kicked me again and again, as if wanting to kill me on the spot.

"Kill her! This kind of worthless woman deserves to be beaten to death!"

"Yeah, and she runs a company too! I say we should make her company go bankrupt!"

Hearing the crowd's condemnation, my smile grew even brighter.

"So what? If you have the guts, call the police and arrest me. Is there a law that says I must pay ransom when my daughter is kidnapped?"

"What can you do besides standing here cursing me?"

"Besides, Jimmy, you useless piece of trash, you didn't save your daughter either, doesn't that make you a murderer too?!"

Jimmy laughed bitterly at my words. He grabbed my hair to pull me up from the ground while taking out his phone.

"Natalie, don't think I can't do anything to you!"

"I'll destroy your reputation, make sure your company fails. I'll make you public enemy number one, make everyone hate you like a rat in the street!"

Soon after, several well-known internet celebrities arrived.

They excitedly started their livestreams, beginning to tell their followers what had happened.

"Everyone, something incredibly tragic has happened. This woman you see here let her own daughter die because she wouldn't part with five million yuan..."

In front of the livestream audience, Jimmy played the video of our daughter crying and begging for help after being kidnapped.

Our daughter's heart-wrenching cries moved the online viewers to tears, and even some of the onlookers began wiping their eyes.