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.

A piercing red alarm instantly blared across the entire venue.

"Beep—Warning! Weak vital signs detected! Brainwave dissipation imminent!"

"Warning! Critical sectors unreadable! Immediate termination recommended!"

The cold mechanical voice was like a heavy hammer smashing into Kael's heart.

Looking at me lying motionless in the chair like a broken doll, Kael's sanity finally snapped.

"Stop! I said stop!" he roared, reaching out to slam the red emergency stop button.

No matter how important the truth was, he couldn't watch me die right in front of him.

However, just as his hand was about to touch the button...

*Snap*!

A hand with bright red fingernails beat him to it and yanked the power cord of the alarm!

Kael looked up at Seraphina in shock.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Seraphina's face wore a look of twisted, manic obsession. She blocked the console, speaking rapidly to manipulate him:

"Kael, don't let her fool you! She's self-hypnotizing!"

"Her subconscious is building a defense barrier. If we don't break through now, everything we've done will be for nothing!"

"She's feigning death to make you go soft and drop the investigation!"

Kael's hand froze in mid-air, his eyes filled with conflict and pain.

He looked at my blood-covered face, his voice terribly hoarse:

"But... she's dying..."

"What if she's actually..."

"Actually what?" Seraphina cut him off sharply. "Innocent?"

"Kael, have you forgotten how brutally Lily died? Have you forgotten the suffering you've endured for ten years?"

"Her pain isn't even a fraction of the despair you felt back then!"

"She's an expert at playing the victim to get sympathy. Are you going to let her fool you again?"

Kael's pupils constricted violently.

That's right.

Back then, she had looked at him with those same sincere eyes, only to turn around and betray him and Lily for money.

"You're right..."

Kael murmured as if his soul had been sucked out. The look he gave me shifted from heartache to a desperate ruthlessness:

"If you really loved me... why were you so heartless back then?"

Seeing Kael waver, a gleam of triumphant malice flashed in Seraphina's eyes.

"This is our only chance to get the truth."

With that, she cast aside all hesitation and continued my torture!

*Boom*—!

A massive electrical current instantly surged through my cerebral cortex. I thought I would be numbed by the pain, but those currents, like needle pricks, spread over every inch of my skin. It was ten thousand times more agonizing than when my cancer flared up.

Teetering on the brink of death, amidst the extreme agony, my consciousness began to scatter.

But I heard it.

I heard Daisy's heart-wrenching sobs from the real world.

"Mommy... I want Mommy..."

Her cries were so helpless; she sounded just like Lily did back then.

A wave of unprecedented gentleness surged from my subconscious.

Even in death, I wanted to comfort that poor child.

On the big screen, the chaotic static suddenly softened.

A gentle brainwave slowly flowed out through the interface.

In the image, there was no blood, no betrayal.

Only a sun-drenched nursery.

A younger version of me was carefully holding Daisy, who was still in swaddling clothes.

Lily stood nearby, smiling and teasing the baby.

I lowered my head and gently kissed the baby's forehead, humming that familiar lullaby:

"Sleep now, sleep now, my darling baby..."

The singing echoed through the deathly silent venue via the machine.

Daisy, who had been crying inconsolably, miraculously stopped sobbing when she heard the familiar melody, staring blankly at the screen.

Hearing that hum, Kael's tears burst forth instantly.

It was the melody he knew best.

Back when he was under immense pressure starting his business and couldn't sleep, I used to hum that same song to lull him to sleep.

"Elara..."

Kael clutched his chest, the pain nearly bringing him to his knees.

How could someone who loved a child even in her subconscious possibly be a murderer?

Just then.

The image on the screen trembled violently, and that warm memory shattered like a mirror.

The fog of memory finally lifted. Clarity of the memory came hand in hand with immense agony; I felt myself dying, this machine was draining the life out of me.

That suffocating rainy night was finally revealed to the world without reservation!

Rain poured down in sheets.

The image shook violently; it was the younger me, backing away in terror.

"Stay back... please, stay back!"

I fell into the muddy water, staring in horror at the dark figure approaching me.

Although the heavy rain and blurred vision obscured the person's face...

In my desperate gaze.

A blinding bolt of lightning tore through the night sky!

Under the ghastly white light, the killer's hand raised with the butcher knife was illuminated with crystal clarity.

Specifically, that unique, ancient ruby family ring on his ring finger glinted with an eerie, cold light in the rain!

The entire venue fell deathly silent.

The color drained from Kael's face instantly; he stood frozen as if struck by lightning.

That ring...

It was their family crest!

The only one of its kind in the world!

"No... that's impossible..."

Kael's lips trembled, his mind going blank.

Seraphina, standing at the console, panicked completely the moment she saw the ring.

She knew exactly what it meant!

If that face was revealed, it would all be over!

"Malfunction! The machine is malfunctioning!"

Seraphina screamed, lunging for the main power switch like a madwoman:

"I have to cut the power! Or it'll explode!"

She was trying to bury the truth!

"Get the hell away!!"

Just as her hand was about to pull the switch, a large hand clamped down on her wrist like a vice.

Kael's eyes were bloodshot, like a beast backed into a corner.

He violently flung Seraphina away, then used his own body to shield the console.

"Nobody moves!"

"I need to see!"

"I need to see exactly who that is!!"

His roar echoed to the heavens.

On the screen, stimulated by the electrical current, the memory jumped again.

This time, it wasn't the blurry rainy night.