Her footsteps quickened, the weight of exhaustion pressing heavily on her. She hated walking home alone at night. For years, her mother had been by her side, a source of comfort and protection. But everything changed because of her brother, Jake Wayne, a gambler who had lost everything. Desperate to pay off his debts, Jake had tried to sell Sarah.

When she was just 20 years old, her mother had urged her to flee their hometown and never look back. "Don’t contact me," her mother had said, ...