Truth Behind the Avalanche

During the awards segment of the annual charity gala, the host suddenly walked onto the stage leading ten young children.

Tonight, we have a very special award recipient, the host announced, his voice echoing through the ballroom. She passed away in a tragic accident, but before she took her last breath, she donated all her organs, saving the lives of the ten children standing beside me today.

In the front row, Christian Collier kept his head down, staring at his phone. Hearing the hosts words, he did not even bother to look up. "Who would be stupid enough to chase fame even in death?"

Beside him, Gideon Harrison, a man known throughout the city for his philanthropy, let out a soft sneer. "To be buried with an incomplete body means the soul can never rest in peace. Her family must have been incredibly heartless to allow it." He turned to Christian, half-joking. "Christian, once you marry my sister, you better not let her lose a single hair, or I won't let you off easily."

Christian offered a faint, dry smile. He turned to his secretary, whispering quietly, "Find out which family this donor belonged to. Cancel all our current and future business contracts with them immediately."

On stage, the hosts voice rang out once more. "Now, let us invite the donors fianc to the stage to accept this honor on her behalf. Mr. Christian Collier, please."

The entire ballroom fell into a dead, suffocating silence.

Every guest froze, their eyes turning in absolute disbelief toward the front row.

The host, still smiling warmly, urged, "Mr. Collier, please come up to the stage. You are entirely deserving of this beautiful legacy of love."

As the shock wore off, hushed whispers began to ripple through the crowd.

"The donor was the Collier heirs fiance?"

"But isn't the Collier family engaged to the Harrisons? That would mean the donor is Gideons sister, the Harrison heiress."

"I thought Gideon was incredibly traditional. How could he possibly allow his sister's body to be harvested like that?"

Every single word drifted straight into Christians ears. The cold indifference on his face shattered, piece by piece. He snapped his head up, his gaze cutting toward the host like a blade.

"What absolute nonsense are you babbling?" His voice was cold, practically laced with ice. "My fiance is alive and well."

Gideon stood up as well, his face pale and furious. "No one in the Harrison family has passed away. Think carefully before you speak another word!"

Terrified by their reactions, the host took a step back, quickly looking down at his cue cards. He checked the document three or four times, cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

After what felt like an eternity, he spoke, his voice trembling. "Mr. Collier, according to the official records, the donor was indeed your fiance, the daughter of the Harrison family."

"Shut your mouth!" Gideons eyes were already rimmed with red. "My sister is currently in Europe on her graduation trip. She sent me photos just two days ago. How could she possibly..."

Christian turned to the host, his eyes dark. "I am giving you one last chance. Tell the truth."

Gideon, growing increasingly frantic, grabbed Christians arm. "Christian, call Vivian. Call her right now. What if something actually happened to her?"

Christian pulled out his phone and dialed Vivians number.

The line rang. Once, twice, three times.

No one answered.

His heart began to sink, heavy and cold. Gideon was also dialing frantically, over and over, only to be met with the same empty ringing.

Just as their faces began to drain of all color, the phone suddenly vibrated with an incoming call. Christian answered it instantly.

"Vivian!"

The screen lit up to reveal a young, pretty face. Vivian was rubbing her sleepy eyes, her hair a messy bird's nest, clearly having just been woken up. She mumbled sleepily, "Christian? Why are you calling me in the middle of the night? Did you forget the time difference?"

Gideon shoved his face into the cameras view, his voice thick with panic. "Vivian, are you okay? You scared me to death!"

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Vivian blinked, a soft laugh escaping her. "I told you guys not to worry. Its just a graduation trip!"

Gideon breathed a massive sigh of relief, murmuring a few sweet promises before hanging up the call.

Christian turned back to the host, his eyes devoid of any warmth. "Did you see that? My fiance is perfectly fine. You will provide a formal apology to both the Colliers and the Harrisons for this sick joke."

The atmosphere in the room turned incredibly hostile.

As the host stood frozen on stage, unsure of what to do, the oldest of the ten children, a young girl, timidly raised her hand. "It wasn't that lady."

Everyones attention snapped to her.

The girl bit her lip, whispering softly, "My dad showed me a photo of the lady who saved my life. Her name was Nora Harrison."

The whispers in the room erupted like a sudden storm.

"Nora? That name sounds familiar."

"Isn't she the sister Gideon adopted a year ago?"

"I heard a rumor that Nora and Vivian were switched at birth. Nora is actually the biological daughter."

"So Christians real fiance was actually Nora?"

I floated quietly behind Christian and Gideon, a bitter, hollow smile gracing my spectral lips.

They were right. I was the biological daughter of the Harrison family, and by all rights, I was Christians true fiance.

Years ago, Vivians parents had intentionally switched us in our cribs. Vivian became the pampered princess of the Harrison family, raised in absolute luxury, while I spent eighteen years living a nightmare. My foster parents were abusive gamblers. Every time they lost, they took their anger out on me, using belts, burning cigarettes, and whatever else was within arm's reach. I survived by digging through trash cans for scraps of food.

Eventually, my foster father trapped me in my room, trying to assault me. I defended myself with a pair of scissors, wounding him, but they turned around and accused me of seduction. They beat me so severely I was nearly dead by the time the neighbors called the police.

With the authorities involved, the truth of my birth was finally revealed, and I was brought back to the Harrison estate.

I thought my misery had ended. But shortly after my return, both of my biological parents fell ill and passed away. My older brother, Gideon, blamed me entirely, believing I was a curse that had brought death to our parents.

When Vivian packed her bags, weeping and saying she should leave now that the real daughter was back, Gideons resentment toward me reached its peak. He held her close, comforting her, before turning a cold, disgusted glare on me. "Vivian is my sister. Don't even think about driving her out."

Gideon even dropped the charges against my abusive foster parents, paying them a massive settlement to secure Vivian's legal status in the family. He never once asked how I had survived those eighteen years.

I still remembered the icy indifference in his voice when he made his decision. "Ive raised Vivian as my sister for nearly two decades. Revealing the truth now would destroy her. For now, we will tell the public that you are an adopted sister we took in."

Christian was the fianc my parents had chosen for me in their will. But the first time he met me, I was wearing one of Vivians ill-fitting hand-me-downs, trembling as I greeted him. The sheer disappointment in his eyes was impossible to hide.

I was consumed by insecurity, desperately throwing myself into learning etiquette, trying to become the perfect lady he wanted. But his gaze remained cool and detached.

One afternoon, I overheard him speaking with Gideon.

"I don't know what our parents were thinking, forcing you to marry Nora," Gideon had grumbled. "Everyone knows the only girl you love is Vivian."

Christians calm, level voice followed. "I will call off this engagement with Nora, no matter what it takes."

At that moment, my heart sank into a dark, bottomless ocean. Gideon didn't want me, and Christian didn't want me either.

Now, hearing my name spoken aloud at the gala, Christian remained silent for a long time before offering a cold, indifferent response. "You have the wrong person. Nora Harrison was never my fiance."

Gideons face went blank, followed quickly by a wave of deep disgust. "How could it possibly be her? Shed do anything to survive. Someone as selfish as her wouldn't have the courage to die."

I was already a ghost, but my hollow chest still flared with a sharp, ghostly pain.

Sensing the curiosity of the crowd, Gideon began to speak, exposing my supposed sins to the entire room. "On Vivians birthday, Nora threw a massive fit, demanding that Christian cancel his schedule to take her skiing. Christian had no choice but to go. While they were on the mountain, an avalanche hit. Christians leg was crushed, trapping him under the snow. And Nora..." He paused, his voice dripping with venom. "She ran away without looking back."

"If Vivian hadn't arrived with a rescue team in time, Christian wouldn't be standing here today." Gideons voice grew even colder. "Nora spent all her time at home bullying Vivian, even though Vivian was always kind to her. She knew Christian loved Vivian, yet she clung to him out of spite. When he rejected her, she abandoned him to die in the snow and vanished. A person like that doesn't deserve to be called my sister."

The host spoke up, hesitant. "So, you haven't seen Miss Harrison since that incident?"

Gideon let out a harsh, mocking laugh. "She probably fled the country out of guilt. She knows what she did, and shes too much of a coward to face us." He added with deep disgust, "That's just who she is: a coward who runs away when things get tough."

Christian said nothing. He leaned back in his chair, slowly closing his eyes.

He remembered the moment the avalanche struck. His first instinct had been to shield Nora with his own body before the world collapsed around them. But when he finally woke up, she was gone.

She had left him to die, exactly as Gideon said.

All her sweet words, her gentle affection: they were all a lie.

A sudden, sharp ache bloomed in Christians chest, and he clenched his fist, trying to push the feeling away.

When Vivian had finally arrived with the rescue team, throwing herself into his arms and weeping, "Christian, I finally found you," he had asked her, "Did you find the rescue team?"

He had desperately hoped for a different answer. But Vivian had nodded, and the final spark of light in his eyes had gone out. "Never mind," he had murmured. "It doesn't matter." He had looked at her with gentle affection. "Vivian, will you marry me?"

The hosts voice broke his train of thought. "But have you ever considered that Miss Harrison didn't run away? What if she died in that very avalanche?"

The ballroom fell into a tense silence.

The host continued, "Perhaps she didn't abandon you. She might have realized that with your crushed leg, staying by your side meant you would both freeze to death. So she went out into the blizzard to find help, but met with an accident before she could return. Mr. Harrison, did you ever bother to investigate?"

"What absolute garbage!" Gideon slammed his hand on the table, interrupting him in a fury. Christian merely stared at the host, his eyes cold.

Floating above them, I could only manage a bitter laugh. Even a stranger could deduce the truth of my death, yet my own brother and fianc refused to believe it.

Before that ski trip, Christian had demanded to end our engagement. I had agreed, but on one condition: he had to spend Vivians birthday skiing with me. They all thought I was being unreasonable. But none of them remembered that Vivian's birthday was also my birthday.

I just wanted to be chosen, just once.

When the avalanche buried him, I had clawed at the snow with my bare hands, digging until my fingers were shredded and frozen, completely losing all feeling, before I finally managed to pull him out. He was unconscious.

I wrapped him in my coat and all my warm gear, leaving myself in nothing but a thin sweater, and walked out into the freezing storm.

I walked for an entire day, collapsing and dragging myself up again and again, until I finally stumbled upon a rescue team. I gave them his coordinates. They told me to wait by the road while they went up.

But less than ten minutes after they left, an out-of-control truck plowed into me.

By the time I reached the hospital, it was too late. Before I took my last breath, I begged the doctors to harvest my organs, hoping that a piece of me could go on to see the spring I would never experience.

The guests in the ballroom looked back and forth between Gideon and Christian, their belief wavering. If the host was right, then they had completely misjudged Nora.

Gideons lips began to tremble, his confidence slipping.

But Christian spoke up, his voice incredibly calm. "She isn't dead."

Everyone turned to him.

Christian raised his chin, his voice steady. "I have proof that Nora is alive."

Gideon turned to him, startled.

Christian lowered his gaze, his voice dropping. "After she vanished, I received a letter from her."

"In that letter, Nora explicitly stated she didn't regret running away," Christian continued, his voice dripping with cold mockery. "But she knew neither I nor the Harrison family would ever forgive her, so she planned to disappear forever. She promised never to bother me again, on one condition: I had to transfer five million dollars to her account. I sent the money."

Gideons face flushed with renewed rage. "We should have never brought her back to our family! She was a parasitic disgrace from start to finish!"

Hearing this, the guests immediately turned their sympathy back to Christian, whispering insults about my memory.

"This Nora was truly heartless!"

"Five million dollars? She didn't have a shred of shame!"

"Honestly, she belongs in prison!"

A barrage of ugly words rained down on my spirit.

But on stage, the young girl spoke up once more, her voice trembling but fierce. "Don't you dare speak about Nora like that!" Her eyes were red, her small body shaking with anger. She pointed to her own eyes. "My dad told me my corneas came from Nora. I can see this beautiful world because of her!"

The other children began to step forward, their small voices rising in unison.

"She gave me her kidney!"

"She gave me her liver!"

"Nora's heart is beating right here, in my chest," a young boy said, placing his small hand over his heart. "The doctor told me this heart belonged to a very, very kind girl. She was not a bad person!"

Watching those ten children, seeing them healthy, alive, and full of hope because of my sacrifice, a soft, warm light seemed to wrap around my cold, spectral body.

The crowd wavered once more, the children's testimonies carrying far too much weight.

Gideon clenched his fists, his lips shaking. Christian felt a sudden, suffocating pressure in his chest, as if a heavy stone were pressing down on his lungs. He forced himself to dismiss the feeling, his mind racing.

Suddenly, a realization struck him.

A confident, triumphant smile returned to Christians face. "Fine. If you all insist she is dead, then where is her body?" He scanned the room, his voice booming. "She only donated her organs. Her remains must be somewhere, right?"

The children on stage looked at one another, their young faces blank with confusion. They didn't know the answer.

Christian let out a cold sneer. "There is no body. This entire story is a fabricated lie."

The room fell quiet, the tension stretching thin.

Just then, the hosts phone buzzed with an incoming document. He tapped it open, his eyes widening in horror, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

He held up his phone, his voice shaking violently. "Wait... I know where Noras body is."