Chapter 3 - The Secret Text
Lucy weakly reached into the pocket of her yellow sweater and pulled out a small, cracked smartphone. She handed it to Marianne, her eyes fluttering shut as the severe exhaustion and infection began to take over her tiny body.
Marianne wheeled Lucy straight through the double doors and directly into a private trauma bay, completely bypassing the waiting line.
While a team of doctors rushed in to start an IV and administer emergency fever reducers, Marianne stepped back against the wall. She tapped the screen of Lucy's phone. There was no passcode.
She immediately opened the text messages, looking for an emergency contact. The most recent conversation was with a contact saved as "Vanessa (Stepmom)."
Marianne opened the thread. When her eyes scanned the most recent message, her compassionate expression instantly hardened into pure, cinematic horror.
“I dropped you off," the text from Vanessa read. “Don't tell anyone you're alone or the doctors will call child services and lock you in an orphanage. Just sit in the chairs until you feel better. I'm going to the airport. Drink water.”
Marianne’s blood turned to absolute ice.
This wasn't a case of a lost parent. This was intentional, calculated abandonment. The wicked stepmother had deliberately dumped a critically ill eight-year-old in a massive, dangerous public emergency room just so she wouldn't miss a flight.
And she had psychologically terrorized the little girl into staying silent.
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Marianne gripped the phone so tightly her knuckles turned white. She looked up at the heart monitor. Lucy’s heart rate was skyrocketing.
👉 What will the furious nurse do when she calls the cruel stepmother?
