Just then, chaos erupted.

"Beat that accomplice to death!"

"A life for a life!"

Several burly men dressed in black and wearing masks suddenly rushed out of the crowd. Claiming to avenge the victim, they held banners and screamed as they broke through the security line, heading straight for the stage.

The leader held a clear glass bottle high. The cap was off, and an unidentified liquid sloshed inside.

"Go to hell, Elara!"

The man's face twisted ferociously as he flicked his wrist. Under the spotlight, the clear liquid traced a deadly arc, splashing straight toward my face.

"Ah—it's acid!" Seraphina screamed in terror.

In that instant, time seemed to stand still.

Almost out of pure instinct, the moment he heard the word "acid," Kael's tall, imposing figure threw himself at me without a second of hesitation.

Subconsciously, he spread his expensive custom suit jacket, intending to use his broad back to shield me from the fatal blow.

However, that long-lost warmth never reached me.

"Kael! Don't!" Seraphina, who had been standing nearby, screamed. Her exquisitely made-up face was filled with terror and calculation.

In the nick of time, she grabbed Kael's arm tightly and pulled him back with all her strength.

"That's acid! It'll disfigure you!"

*Splash*—

The cold liquid splashed onto me without obstruction.

There was no expected smell of burning flesh, nor the soul-searing pain.

There was only a bone-piercing chill that instantly soaked through my thin hospital gown.

It was ice water.

It was even mixed with unmelted ice cubes that smashed heavily onto my fresh surgical wounds. Although it wasn't acid, for someone as frail as I was in that moment, this bucket of ice water was nothing short of torture.

Furthermore, the violent shove Seraphina used to pull Kael away caused me and my wheelchair to lose balance.

"Ah!"

I let out a short cry as I fell heavily from the wheelchair.

The ground happened to be covered in shards from a champagne tower that had been smashed during the chaos.

Countless sharp pieces of glass, like tiny mouths thirsty for blood, ruthlessly pierced my knees, palms, and even my cheeks.

I convulsed in pain. My freshly sutured surgical wounds seemed to burst open, and warm fluid flowed out along the drainage tube, mixing with the ice water on the ground.

"Elara!"

Kael regained his balance and looked back to see me lying in a pool of blood, his pupils constricting violently.

He subconsciously reached out, wanting to help me up. Those hands, usually so cold, were actually trembling slightly.

"Sir! Are you alright?"

Seraphina threw herself into his arms at just the right moment, blocking his view. Feigning extreme shock, she cried out:

"That scared me to death... that was a maniac! What if it really had been acid? I won't let you risk your life for a woman like her!"

Kael's outstretched hand froze in mid-air.

Seraphina's words seemed to reawaken the hatred buried deep in his heart.

That's right.

I was the "murderer" who killed his sister, the "gold-digger" who betrayed him for money.

He shouldn't pity me; he should hate me.

When he looked up again, that trace of warmth in his eyes had vanished, replaced by an even more intense violence and disgust.

"Get those people out of here," he ordered the security guards coldly. Then, he strode over on his long legs, stopping right in front of me as I lay amidst the glass shards.

"Is this some kind of pity play, Elara?" Kael looked down at me condescendingly. "Did you actually hire people to stage this scene just to avoid the trial?"

I raised my head with difficulty. Blood flowed from my forehead into my eyes, blurring my vision.

His words felt like a knife twisting in my heart.

"No... I didn't..." I defended myself weakly.

"Enough!"

Kael suddenly exploded with rage. He squatted down abruptly and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look into his bloodshot eyes.

His grip was shockingly strong; I felt like my jawbone was about to shatter.

Yet, as he looked at my bleeding forehead, a trace of imperceptible painful struggle flashed deep in his eyes. But he immediately spoke coldly again, "Elara, I'm giving you one last warning."

He leaned close to my ear, his voice dropping very low:

"If you open your mouth now and give me the name of the murderer, I'll have you sent to the hospital immediately."

"But if you insist on guarding that secret to the death..."

His finger traced the wound on my face, picking up a smear of fresh blood, and his tone became chillingly terrified:

"I will force a neural connection."

"Do you know what that feels like?"

"It's not just pain. It's like death by a thousand cuts directly on your cerebral cortex. You'll feel every single nerve being snapped in two, your brain churned as if it were in a blender."

"The pain is equivalent to having your brain flayed alive."

"Even the toughest FBI agents can't last more than three seconds."

I began to tremble uncontrollably.

Not because I was afraid of the pain.

It was because I saw the utter destruction of trust in his eyes.

But I couldn't say it. The truth was too cruel; I couldn't bear to say the words.

I closed my eyes and shook my head in despair.

Seeing this, Seraphina squeezed her way over.

"Kael, just do it. She's beyond saving. After how good you and Lily were to her back then..."

She didn't finish her attempt to drive a wedge between us.

Kael's body suddenly went rigid.

He stared at me intently, seemingly trying to find a trace of remorse on my face, but all he saw was despairing resolve.

"Fine... have it your way."

He stood up and waved his hand to the technicians who were already on standby behind him.

Two bodyguards immediately stepped forward and dragged me out of the glass shards like a dead dog.

Ignoring the wounds covering my body, they roughly pinned me onto that cold iron chair.

With a *click*, the icy metal shackles locked around my wrists and ankles.

Seraphina stood to the side, her lips curling into a triumphant sneer.

"Enjoy this, Elara," she mouthed to me from an angle where no one else could see.

Seraphina marched straight to the console of the precision instrument.

"Mr.Simpson, it's been so long since the incident. Elara has undoubtedly buried the truth in the deepest recesses of her mind. Standard power levels won't breach her psychological defenses."

She announced this with feigned professionalism, though a cruel smirk played on her lips.

"We have to crank it up to the maximum threshold to force the extraction."

"It might be a little painful for her, but it won't kill her," she added. "For the sake of the truth, and to avenge Lily, it's our only option."

Kael's back stiffened slightly, but he didn't turn around, nor did he stop her.

Taking his silence as permission, Seraphina cast aside all restraint.

She slammed the dial all the way into the red zone!

"No—!"

My scream was torn to shreds by an even more violent agony before it could fully escape my throat.

Blood gushed frantically from my eyes, nose, ears, and even the corners of my mouth.

Yet, the blinded crowd below remained in a frenzy of righteous indignation.

They saw this as nothing more than karmic justice.

They splashed gasoline and paint onto the stage, their mouths spewing vicious curses at me.

"Stop faking it! This is what you owe Lily!"

"Let her die! How does someone like her have the nerve to keep living?"

Amidst the torrent of abuse, the massive holographic screen behind me finally lit up.

The static cleared, and clear memory visuals began to rewind, displayed before billions of people worldwide.

Everyone held their breath, waiting to see the ugly face of me squandering that massive hush money fee, living a life of debauchery.

Seraphina, acting like a commentator, couldn't wait to speak into the microphone:

"Look, everyone. This is what she did right after taking the money..."

However, the words caught in her throat.

What appeared on the big screen wasn't a luxury boutique or a sprawling mansion.

Instead, it was filled with swirling dust and a scorching construction site under the blazing sun.

In the footage, a younger version of me was dressed in tattered work clothes, carrying a load of red bricks heavier than my own body weight, struggling to move forward step by step.

My shoulders were ground into a bloody mess, leaving a bloody footprint with every step I took.

The scene shifted.

In a shady, illegal clinic late at night, I rolled up my sleeve to reveal an arm riddled with needle marks.

To exchange for a few hundred bucks, I drained my blood time and time again until I was pale as a ghost and passed out on the roadside, kicked out the door by the clinic owner like a piece of garbage.

A deathly silence fell over the entire venue.

This wasn't a wealthy woman living off hush money; this was a beggar living in hell!

I never spent a dime of that so-called "hush money." Instead, I donated it all directly to a charity foundation. That is why I had been so destitute for the past ten years.

To make ends meet, I took on every dirty, backbreaking job imaginable.

Years of exhaustion and erratic schedules eventually led to my cancer diagnosis. Life became even harder.

But right now, the excruciating pain made it impossible for me to open my mouth to explain.

"Th-this... how is this possible?"

Seraphina panicked for a second but immediately shrieked, "It's a sympathy ploy! She must have gambled all the money away, or maybe she was being chased by loan sharks! Yes, she's a degenerate gambler!"

The images continued to flow, rewinding to the third day after Lily's death.

That was the day everyone assumed I had taken the money and run.

On the screen, a dark alley in a torrential downpour appeared.

I wasn't counting money.

Instead, I was being dragged through the mud like a dead dog by several burly men in black suits and sunglasses.

"Sign it!"

The leader slammed a statement into my face, followed immediately by a barrage of punches and kicks.

"Someone has to take the fall for this!"

"Sign this non-disclosure agreement, and the money is yours. Otherwise, we'll make you disappear!"

In the footage, I was beaten black and blue, but I gritted my teeth and refused to yield.

"I didn't... I'm going to tell Kael the truth..."

"Still stubborn!"

A heavy punch from the man slammed into my abdomen. I curled up like a shrimp in agony, retching blood into the muddy water.

In reality, cold sweat broke out on Seraphina's forehead. She pointed at the screen and shouted her defense:

"See! This is definitely a deal gone wrong among thieves! They're fighting over the split!"

The next second, in the memory, the men stomped their heavy leather boots onto my hands to force my compliance.

The audience outside the screen could clearly hear the sickening *crack* of breaking bones.

Yet, I still didn't give in.

My hand bones were shattered; I would never play the piano again.

Seeing this, Kael felt a heart-wrenching pain that nearly knocked him off his feet.

He, too, had once reminisced about the melodies I used to play for him.

In the footage, the large man pulled something from his pocket.

It was a crumpled envelope—Kael's university acceptance letter.

"Elara, you don't want to see Kael give up on his dream school, do you?"

"Sign this statement, and we'll leave Kael alone. Otherwise, we'll ruin his entire life."

In the video, the look in my eyes changed instantly.

Staring at the paper that held Kael's dreams, I lunged forward like a madwoman to cradle it in my arms.

"Don't tear it! Please don't tear it!"

"I'll sign! I'll sign it! I'll do whatever you want."

"...I will absolutely never reveal the truth!"

In utter despair, I agreed to their demands and accepted the check.

Kael jerked his head up to look at me, bound to the chair and tortured to the brink of death. He stumbled.

"Stop... shut it down for a second!"

His voice trembled as he instinctively made a move to rush onto the stage.

"Kael! Get a grip!"

Seraphina grabbed his arm tightly, her shrill voice cutting through the air and halting his movement.

"Are you actually moved by this? Do you think she sacrificed herself for your future?"

"That's ridiculous! Think about who you were back then! You were a genius accepted into MIT! At nineteen, you wrote code worth a billion dollars. Apple, Microsoft, and ByteDance were all fighting to acquire your company."

"What university would reject you? How could your future possibly be in jeopardy?"

"This is nothing but a meaningless act of 'self-sacrifice' to make herself feel good!"

Seraphina's words were like poisonous vines, rapidly strangling Kael's wavering resolve.

"She knows your personality too well. That's why she staged this sob story—to make you feel indebted to her!"

"If she really cared about you, why didn't she just call the police? Why engage with those thugs?"

"Kael, don't forget Lily's death! Don't be fooled by this woman's acting!"

The step Kael had just taken froze in place.

He looked at the girl on the big screen fighting for him, but the pity in his eyes was gradually replaced by cold rationality.

It was true.

He was the chosen one; no one had ever truly been able to threaten his future.

In this moment, my sacrifice seemed to him not only stupid but reeked of calculation.

"You're right."

Kael took a deep breath, restoring his air of superior detachment, looking even more disgusted than before.

"I don't need this kind of worthless sacrifice."

"She really went to great lengths just to make me feel guilty."

He turned his back, refusing to look at me again, and spat out a single word:

"Proceed."

In that moment, amidst Kael's suspicion and the crowd's chatter, my heart went completely cold—colder than the freezing rain that soaked me to the bone.

Just as my heart turned to ash, the static on the big screen cleared, and a bright, blinding memory popped up.

It was from our university days—the three of us.

Lily, wearing a white dress, ran toward me laughing like an angel.

Around her neck hung a dazzling sapphire necklace. It was her coming-of-age gift for her eighteenth birthday, worth a fortune.

"Elara! Look!"

Excitedly, Lily took the necklace off and clasped it around my neck without taking no for an answer.

"I had this custom-made. It’s the Gemini necklace—one for each of us! You have to wear it forever, just like we’ll be together forever!"

In the footage, I stroked the necklace, smiling so happily, my eyes filled with emotion.

Seeing this scene, Kael's eyes went unfocused for a moment back in the present.

We really were that happy back then.

But a split second later, the tone shifted drastically.

The girl who swore to "wear it forever" was now standing at a counter, hurriedly slamming that sapphire necklace—the symbol of our friendship—onto the table.

"Boss, I’m selling it outright. No redemption."

"I need cash, fast."

The owner lowballed me, but I didn't even haggle. I grabbed the thick stack of cash and ran headfirst into the rain without looking back.

The crowd instantly exploded.

"Oh my god! That was Lily's keepsake!"

"She turned around and sold it? Was this woman insane for money?"

Seraphina let out a scoff, walked up to Kael, and spoke into the microphone:

"Kael, did you see that? This is her so-called sisterhood."

"If she could sell a precious heirloom from her best friend without blinking, is it really surprising that she hid the truth about Lily's death for a hush money fee?"

Kael's face turned ashen instantly.

He stared deathly hard at the screen.

"Elara... you actually sold that..."

However, the memory went deeper.

The camera followed my running figure through the streets and alleys.

Finally, I stopped in front of a dilapidated apartment.

That was ten years ago, the place where Kael, after a failed startup and burdened with massive debt, had nearly committed suicide.

In the footage, a young and hot-headed Kael sat dejectedly among scattered wine bottles, a handful of sleeping pills poised at his mouth.

"Kael! Don't do it!"

I kicked the door open, rushed in, and knocked the pills out of his hand.

Then, with trembling hands, I shoved the black bag filled with the cash from the necklace into his arms.

"I got the money! It's all here!"

"This is enough to pay off your debts and restart the project!"

"Kael, you're a genius. You can't end it here!"

On the screen, Kael hugged the money and cried like a child. He held me tight and swore:

"Elara, when I make my comeback, I promise to give you the best life. I will never let you down!"

In reality, a deathly silence fell over the venue.

Kael stumbled back two steps, looking at the scene in disbelief.

I had never told him the source of those "mysterious funds" that saved his life.

He never imagined that money came from trading Lily's necklace!

That was Lily's most treasured possession, yet I had used it to save his life.

Kael felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing his heart, the pain making it impossible to breathe.

Anger, guilt, and sorrow intertwined. He had almost forgotten how pathetic he had been in that moment.

It turned out the Elara from back then was truly that good.

She had once borne the infamy of selling her best friend's gift just to save him.

"Why..."

Kael looked at me with red-rimmed eyes, his voice hoarse:

"Since you loved me so much, since you were so kind... why did you turn into that person later?"

Before his question could land, the memory shifted again.

This time, the warmth was gone, replaced by a cold, corporate atmosphere.

It was the year Kael's company faced its biggest crisis.

Inside a dimly lit café.

Wearing a baseball cap, I slid a black USB drive across the table to a rival—a commercial spy with a fleshy face.

"This is the source code for Kael's latest algorithm."

My voice sounded unnaturally calm in the footage, almost cold:

"Wire the money to this account. I'll send the password after."

"With this, Kael's company is finished."

*Boom*—!

Kael, who had just begun to waver, felt like he had been plunged into an ice cave the moment he saw this.

That was the project he had poured his heart and soul into!

That was the leak that nearly bankrupted his company and ruined his reputation!

He had spent three whole months investigating but never found the mole.

It turned out to be you!

"Elara!!!"

Kael let out a furious roar, veins bulging on his neck. The pity in his eyes instantly transformed into monstrous hatred.

"It was you who sold me out!"

"I trusted you with everything, and you stabbed me in the back!"

The audience was filled with righteous indignation:

"I knew she was faking it! The good deeds earlier were just the long con!"

"Corporate spy! Shameless traitor!"

"Mr.Simpson, this woman isn't worth pitying! Kill her!"

Only I knew the truth.

The perspective of the memory was limited. The crowd only saw me handing over the USB drive.

They didn't see that under the table, the spy was holding a detonator.

No one knew that at that moment, Kael was being held hostage in an abandoned factory. If I didn't hand over the code, Kael would have been blown to pieces.

And no one knew that the USB drive didn't contain the core code at all, but a virus program I had written overnight, powerful enough to destroy the enemy's system.

But I had no strength left to explain, and even if I did, no one would believe me.

Just as the crowd's emotions were whipped into a frenzy, the memory screen shook violently again.

Time rewound to that suffocating rainy night.

The night Lily died.

Rain poured down like a waterfall, and lightning tore through the night sky.

In the footage, I was soaked to the bone, kneeling on the muddy riverbank.

In front of me lay Lily's pale, breathless body.

"Lily! Wake up! Please, don't leave me!"

I even took off my jacket, desperately trying to warm her stiffening hands, calling her name in vain over and over again.

That despair, that heart-wrenching pain, made everyone present feel suffocated, even through the screen.

"Mommy..."

Just then, in reality, Daisy, who had been hiding behind Kael, suddenly burst into loud sobs.

The child pointed at her mother's body on the big screen, her small frame trembling violently:

"That's Mommy... Why won't Mommy get up..."

Daisy's crying awakened Kael's rationality.

He looked at the screen, where I was crying to the point of fainting.

If I were to betray Lily for the sake of money, why would I cry more despairingly than her own family?

Kael's eyes turned red.

He rushed over to me in a few steps, gripping the arms of the chair tightly, his voice trembling uncontrollably:

"Elara, tell me..."

"Since you're in so much pain, since you cared about Lily so much... why won't you name the killer?!"

"What are you hiding?!"

I couldn't see his expression because my vision was blurred by blood and tears.

But I could feel his hesitation.

Seraphina acutely sensed the change in Kael's emotions.

"Kael! Don't let her fool you!"

Seraphina screamed and lunged at the control console:

"She's resisting the critical memory! She's trying to alter the footage!"

"The killer's face is about to appear, and she's fighting it with everything she has!"

"If we don't increase the current to break her defense, we'll never know the truth!"

Without giving Kael a chance to react, she twisted the dial to lethal levels with a ferocious expression!

"Die!"

Zzzzt—!

A terrifying current instantly surged through my entire body.

"Ugh, ahhh—!!!"

I let out a scream that didn't sound human. My body went rigid, then slumped heavily into the chair like a kite with its string cut.

My heart almost stopped.