Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man)

It wasn’t Millie who was texting Vera—Mother and Father have found Millie’s burner phone. They barge into the room where they’re keeping Millie without food and water and demand to know what she told Vera about Thomas. Mother calls Millie a “bitch,” and Father shakes Millie so hard she feels her neck will break. Father says Millie has messed up. He and Mother will now have to clear the mess by dealing with Vera. Petrified for Vera, Millie grabs Mother’s feet in apology. Father then grabs Millie by her hair and throws her against the wall. As Mother and Father leave, Mother threatens that she will “fix” Millie unless she changes her behavior. Millie knows what fixing means: That is what happened to her elder sister Yara, who disappeared after trying to escape Mother and Father.

Millie hears someone call out to her from the adjoining room. It is Millie’s 11-year-old sister Mina, who has been trafficked from Cambodia. Mina’s real name is Channary. When Millie hears the despair in Channary’s voice, she gathers her courage and writes a letter to Vera that explains her background. Millie’s real name is Lin Penxi. When Penxi was 12 and auditioning for reality TV shows in China, she met a man called Uncle Yang who told her America was the place for her if she wanted to be a star.