Seven days after my daughter disappeared, I took the entire preschool hostage. All 27 students and two teachers were locked inside a classroom. I announced to the police that if my daughter wasn’t found, I would kill one child every thirty minutes. Ms. Albright, the preschool principal, wailed hysterically, pleading on her knees before me. “Your daughter went missing, it wasn’t my doing! Why drag other children into this?” I just glanced at my watch. “Twenty-nine minutes left. Find my daughter, fast.” I knew she was somewhere in this very preschool. 0 Five minutes ago, Ms. Albright’s attitude had been entirely different—arrogant, even. I leaned against the door. Inside, the children were still playing, oblivious, only the two female teachers staring at me with terrified eyes. Outside, Ms. Albright was still pounding on the door, asking irritably, “What the hell do you want?! How is your daughter going missing my problem?! Open the door! It’s almost time for dismissal!” I frowned, pulled a makeshift gun from my pocket, and without a word, fired a shot behind me. Ms. Albright instantly fell silent, trembling as she stumbled back a couple of steps. “You, you’re serious? I’m telling you, this is a crime! I’ll call the police, and holding this many kids hostage will get you shot!” I scoffed, caressing the gun in my hand. “Go ahead and call them. You’re not qualified to talk to me.” Five minutes later, siren wails filled the air outside. A gentle male voice spoke from beyond the door. I knew him: Officer Miller from the local precinct. He spoke calmly, trying to persuade me logically and emotionally. “Sarah, don’t get agitated. We’re doing everything we can to investigate your daughter’s disappearance. Just release the children, and we can talk, okay?” I gripped the gun, fighting the urge to laugh. My daughter, Lily, had been missing for seven whole days, without a trace. What was there to talk about now? Talk about how many years I’d spend in prison? I shouted, “I just want to see my daughter! If I don’t see her in thirty minutes, you’ll start seeing other children’s bodies!” The yard was already cordoned off with police tape. Parents who’d heard the news were crying their eyes out beyond the line. Worried my gun might harm the hostages, the police not only had to be wary of me but also had to hold back the surging crowd. Sweat poured down Officer Miller’s face. This was already beyond his pay grade. Detectives and the SWAT team would arrive soon. Until then, he needed to keep me calm. “Ms. Lee,” he pleaded, “we understand how you feel, but these children are innocent. You’re their teacher. How can you bear to hurt them?” The biggest regret of my life was becoming a teacher at this preschool. If I hadn’t come here, my daughter wouldn’t have disappeared. I checked the time, speaking coldly. “Twenty-eight minutes left. You don’t want anyone to get hurt, do you?” Officer Miller said nervously, “We’re doing our best to find her, but it’s not something we can do in a flash.” I roared, “I told you, she never left this preschool! Search HERE!” 0
Rainbow Haven was a private preschool, not very large. It consisted of three two-story buildings, with two small playgrounds in the front and back for the children to play freely. The day Lily disappeared, I searched every inch of that preschool, inside and out. But there was no sign of her. I asked Ms. Albright to check the surveillance footage, but she claimed the cameras were broken. What a coincidence. I suspected the principal was involved in my daughter’s disappearance. Later, I secretly snuck into the monitoring room myself. I watched the footage several times, meticulously, and finally confirmed it: Lily had never left the preschool. But where could she be within the preschool? I racked my brain, completely baffled. Officer Miller tried to pacify me from outside. “We’ve already sent people to search. You have to trust the police.” But I knew he didn’t believe a word I said. The police had searched the preschool several times initially, but they hadn’t found even a shadow of my daughter. Outside, the parents’ uncontrollable shouts and pleas merged into a chaotic din, making me uncontrollably agitated. “What does your kid going missing have to do with us? If you’re so tough, kidnap the principal! What good is kidnapping kids?” “W-w-w, please release my daughter. She’s so timid and not well. I’m begging you on my knees…” A mother knelt outside the police tape, covering her face, looking utterly pitiful. The crowd’s anger surged, demanding the police shoot me. I picked up the megaphone, ensuring everyone could hear my voice. “I don’t want to kill anyone. I just want to know where my daughter is.” I checked the time. Twenty-five minutes left. Detectives and SWAT had arrived. Snipers might already be in position. I took a deep breath. “Ms. Albright, you know, don’t you? Where’s my daughter?” All eyes turned to Ms. Albright, huddled in a corner. She gritted her teeth, retorting, “How could I possibly know?! Ms. Lee, stop snapping at everyone like a mad dog!” “Your daughter might have just run away from home. Maybe she went to find her dad…” Then, as if a thought struck her, she blurted, “Her ex-con dad must be out of prison by now, right? I bet he’s the one who took your girl!” 0
“Absolutely impossible!” The words burst out of me almost instinctively. Officer Miller quickly interjected, “We’ve already tried to contact Lily’s father, David, but we haven’t reached him yet.” “Sarah, we *will* find your daughter. Please, let the children in the room go. I promise you, we will spare no effort to find her.” “Look at you now. Even if we find your daughter, how could you face her? Do you want her to know both her parents are criminals?” My resolve wavered for a moment, a flicker of doubt. A small red ball rolled slowly towards me. A little girl called out, “Ms. Lee, can you kick it back for me?” I steadied myself, gently tossing the ball back. These children had no idea what was happening, still so innocent and lively. But would my child ever be able to play happily like this again? I couldn’t bear to think. I glanced at the time, calmly shouting outside, “Eighteen minutes left! Have you found any clues?” 0
The negotiation failed. Officer Miller sighed. His colleagues were in position, and a specialized negotiator from the state police was ready. The case had exploded across the city. Reporters and social media influencers swarmed like flies to blood. Command had issued orders: no child was to be harmed. If necessary, I could be taken out. But Officer Miller still clung to a sliver of hope. He didn’t think things had escalated to that point yet. Based on his years of experience, the woman didn’t seem like a hardened criminal, but rather a desperate mother driven to extremes by her missing daughter. “Have they pulled up the surveillance footage? Did that child really not leave the preschool?” A tech team colleague replied, “We’ve recovered the deleted footage. It shows no sign of Lily leaving the preschool.” Officer Miller fell into deep thought. Could Lily really still be in the preschool? But where could she be hidden? There were no hiding spots in the classrooms. Offices, the principal’s room, the kitchen—they’d all been searched. What place could they have forgotten? His colleagues searched inside and out again, but found nothing. Officer Stevens said exasperatedly, “Did the kid sprout wings and fly away? Otherwise, it makes no sense! Every inch here is covered by cameras, there are no blind spots!” A light bulb went off in Officer Miller’s head. “Are there cameras in the bathrooms? Search the bathrooms!” The preschool bathrooms were indoors, and Lily was last seen in the pre-kindergarten class. But that was exactly where Sarah was holding hostages. At that moment, my voice rang out again. “Fifteen minutes left! Are you all incompetent idiots?! You can’t even find one child!” 0
I leaned against the wall, my voice laced with sarcasm. “If some VIP loses a watch, you’d tear apart the whole city to find it. But a living, breathing child, for seven whole days, and not a single clue?” Officer Miller fell silent at my accusation. “Ms. Lee, maybe your daughter is closer than you think?” I froze for a moment, unable to immediately grasp his meaning. My daughter’s last known location was here, but I’d scoured every closet, every bathroom, every corner. There was no trace of her. “The entire area is covered by surveillance, except for the bathrooms. We suspect your daughter might have been taken through a bathroom.” “Ms. Lee, surrender! The police will uncover the truth.” Bathroom, bathroom. I carefully thought about the bathroom’s layout. The preschool bathrooms were unisex, with only two small stalls and a tiny exhaust fan. I looked in the direction of the bathrooms, feeling a strange sense of unease. But I just couldn’t pinpoint what felt odd. I licked my dry lips. “Ten minutes left. I just want results. If you don’t find my daughter, they’ll all die with her.” Officer Miller’s eyes were squeezed shut. A detective gave a subtle signal to the sniper behind them, indicating that if an opportunity arose, they should take the shot. “If my daughter disappeared in the bathroom, then there must be a secret passage connecting the bathroom to the outside, right, officers? I hope you find it soon. Even if you arrest me, it’ll be worth it.” I had also suspected that my daughter was taken from the bathroom. But that would require a secret passage, and it would leave clues. But I was just an ordinary woman. What I couldn’t find, I naturally had to leave to the professionals. I lowered my gaze. Now, everything was going according to plan. The second hand on my watch spun relentlessly. I beckoned a small girl over. I smiled. “Chloe, want to play a game with Ms. Lee?” 0 Five minutes remained. The police were still making futile pleas. Officer Miller’s throat was raw. “Ms. Lee, please don’t rush! Police forces from across the city are deployed, all helping to find your child!”
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