Chapter 1

"Brother, did Mommy abandon us?" A scrawny little boy tugged at the sleeve of his slightly older brother, his voice trembling.

The two boys, dressed in patched clothes, stood before a tightly shut door. It had been two days since they'd last seen their mother. During that time, they'd had to beg for meals at their grandparents' house, only to be mocked by their cousins as "beggars."

The older boy bit his lip, mustered his courage, and tiptoed to the door. He gave it a timid knock before darting back to the corner, torn between hope and fear that the door might suddenly swing open.

"Mommy... Mommy..." the younger boy whimpered, rubbing his growling stomach.

Emily Johnson stirred in her sleep, faintly registering the knocking and the children's voices. She frowned, annoyed. She'd worked late into the night and had planned to sleep in on her day off.

"What time is it...?" she mumbled, groping blindly for her phone. Instead, her fingers brushed against something hard. Her eyes flew open, and she bolted upright in shock.

"Where am I?"

The room before her was unfamiliar—peeling walls, an old wooden chest, and a stiff plank bed beneath her. Where was her spacious apartment? Her smart home system?

"This must be a dream..." She pinched herself, hissing at the sharp pain.

Outside, the childish voices called again: "Mommy..."

Emily froze. Mommy? She didn’t even have a boyfriend, let alone children. Unless...

A terrifying thought struck her—had she been kidnapped?

She tried to get up, but her legs felt weak, and a sharp ache twisted her stomach. Spotting an old-fashioned phone on the bedside table, she grabbed it frantically, intending to call the police—only to find it couldn’t even locate her position.

"What the hell is going on...?" she muttered, just as a wave of dizziness hit her. Fragments of last night—leaving work—flashed through her mind...