People scattered. Chairs scraped. Glass clattered. The calm evening boardwalk turned into chaos under flashing neon lights.
Emma instinctively pulled the boy behind her.
“Stay close to me!” she shouted.
The boy shook.
“They found me…”
The men advanced fast.
Black suits. Cold faces. No hesitation.
Emma’s instincts kicked in. She wasn’t just a businesswoman anymore—something older, buried deep, took control.
She ran.
Hand still gripping the boy.
Through narrow alleys behind the cafés, past dripping pipes and flickering signs. Footsteps echoed behind them.
“Go left!” she yelled.
The boy stumbled but kept up.
“Why are they chasing you?” she asked breathlessly.
“I don’t know!” he cried. “My mom said if they find me, I should never talk to them!”
They burst out near a docked pier. Boats rocked gently in the water, lights reflecting like broken stars.
Emma scanned quickly.
No escape.
Then—
A voice behind them.
Calm. Close.
“You shouldn’t have taken him.”
Emma turned slowly.
One of the men stood there. No rush. No panic. Just certainty.
The boy stepped back, shaking harder.
Emma pulled him behind her again.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
The man looked at the boy first.
Then at Emma.
And smiled faintly.
“He’s not just a boy.”
Emma’s stomach dropped.
The man continued:
“He’s the only proof your sister is still alive.”
Silence.
The ocean sound felt distant now, like it belonged to another world.
Emma’s voice cracked.
“Where is Sophia?”
The man tilted his head slightly.
“That depends.”
He nodded toward the boy.
“If you want her back… you decide what you’re willing to lose.”
The boy squeezed Emma’s hand tighter.
And Emma realized something terrifying—
This wasn’t a reunion.
It was a trap.
The man stepped forward—
And the screen CUTS TO BLACK.
