Chapter 7 Sabotaged Footage
“Aaaaaargh!!”
I broke.
I collapsed on the floor and sobbed.
So close.
One second more and I would’ve had her.
Why?
Why did he stop me?
I pounded the closed door with my fists until my knuckles bled.
Passengers scattered in panic.
“Calm down! I’ve already alerted the police at the station. Your sister won’t be lost!”
The Train Police officer dragged me away from the door with terrifying strength.
It had been him who pulled me back.
I tried to fight him again, but he held me tight.
“How much further are you going to take this? The doors were closing—it was dangerous!”
“Were you willing to risk every passenger on this train?”
His words hit like cold water.
He was right.
There were hundreds of people on board.
If I’d forced the doors or broken something…
The consequences didn’t bear thinking about.
Seeing me finally still, his expression softened.
“Come on. We’re heading to the front. The footage is ready.”
I dragged myself up, clinging to that thin thread of hope.
The moment I saw Miaomiao on the screen—happy, safe, just hours earlier—tears spilled again.
How had everything gone so wrong?
I stared at every frame.
09:10:56
We boarded.
09:15:39
I walked her toward the bathroom.
09:16:03
She went inside.
I waited, looking around, then down at my phone.
The critical moment was coming.
I leaned closer, eyes burning.
Everyone held their breath.
Then the screen flickered wildly—and froze.
“What’s going on? Why did it stop??”
I slammed my fist on the table.
My heart hollowed out.
“No way. The cameras broke?”
“They check every system carefully before departure—especially surveillance!”
The officer and conductor looked stunned.
After checks, they confirmed it.
All four cameras in our Carriage were dead.
What were the odds?
Why only our Carriage?
I rewound and watched obsessively.
Boarding. Sitting. Standing. Bathroom.
Every second before the failure—I studied them dozens of times.
Nothing suspicious.
“I don’t believe it. It’s impossible!”
My nails dug bloody crescents into my palms.
My sister couldn’t have just vanished.
I was one thread away from snapping completely when the Train Police officer shouted.
“Message from the station! They caught the fake attendant!”