My Cousin Could See Through Every Lie We Told Chapter 04

My Cousin Could See Through Every Lie We Told Chapter 04

Tessa shoved me, snapping me out of my trance.

The worry in her eyes looked so real.

But it began to bleed into the memory of that smug, triumphant look she’d given me before I died.

I exhaled slowly, trying to steady my pulse.

A cop clearing the scene spotted us and waved us over.

He looked at me, a grim expression on his face.

“We couldn’t have cracked this so fast without your cousin’s help.”

“Minutes before you even texted me, she’d already sent the photos over to match against our wanted posters for the ringleaders.”

“That’s how we knew Bryce was their son and accomplice.”

I was still trying to process it when Tessa turned and scoffed.

“Emma didn’t even believe me yesterday. She actually threatened to cut me off!”

The detective looked at me, his gaze unreadable.

“Tessa’s gut has never been wrong. She’s helped us close so many cases.”

“You shouldn’t doubt her.”

My stomach dropped. I felt completely unmoored.

In this life, she seemed to be looking out for me.

But my past life wasn’t a dream. The memory of my own death was burned into my brain.

This time, I wasn’t trusting anyone. Not even myself.

My parents were supposed to head out for their vacation in three days. That’s when the ransom call would come.

In my past life, I hadn’t been able to reach them for two days. When the call hit, I lost it.

But Tessa had been adamant—it was just a scam.

She told me they hadn’t been kidnapped, just that the scammers had swiped their phones to panic me into paying up.

I’d believed her immediately.

I’d screamed at the kidnappers, telling them off, convinced it was a bluff.

But they had been kidnapped.

When they finally escaped, the first thing they did was kick me to the curb.

Tessa became their golden child, the daughter they adored, while I died on the pavement without a soul to claim my body.

This time, I forced them to cancel the trip.

But three days later, they vanished anyway.

The phone rang in the living room, a shrill, piercing sound that set my teeth on edge.

I saw the familiar number and my blood turned to ice.

I answered. The voice on the other end was exactly as I remembered.

“We have your parents. You have until today to get $5 million in cash.”

“Drop it at Oakridge Reserve by 6:00 AM tomorrow. I’ll send you the exact coordinates.”

The line went dead.

My hand was shaking so hard the phone nearly slipped from my grip.

I’d canceled their trip. Why were they still gone?

Going by the last two incidents, this was supposed to be another bluff. Another scam.

But the risk… I couldn’t gamble on it.