A familiar voice came from behind me.

"Nevaeh, I never thought you could be this cruel."

I turned. Wesley was striding toward me, his face full of anger.

Right behind him was Lily, her head lowered, her expression shy and soft.

My pupils tightened as I watched the two of them approach.

Wesley looked regretful as he spoke to the crowd.

"The real killer is my wife. Yesterday was supposed to be our wedding anniversary.

"I begged her to stay home, but she insisted on going out."

He shook his head helplessly. "She killed someone. I share the blame.

"If I hadn't let her leave, none of this would have happened."

His performance worked. The crowd instantly leaned toward him.

"Nevaeh, I just finished giving my statement," he said, looking at me. "You should confess."

I let out an icy laugh. My sharp gaze shifted past him and landed on Lily.

"I didn't kill anyone. Why would I confess?

"The real murderer is Lily. What does this have to do with me?

"Last night, I was on a business trip..."

"You're lying!" A sharp female voice cut me off. Lily glared at me, anger flashing in her eyes.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Nevaeh, you're lying!

"Yesterday, I saw you getting cozy with another man. When I caught you, you didn't even feel ashamed!

"And now, in front of the police and the victims' family, you're trying to frame me?"

She pulled out her phone and held it up.

There was a photo on the screen. A picture of me kissing a man.

"You all see this, right? I'm not lying!

"I have proof!"

I could not help but sneer. If she could fake dashcam footage, forging a photo like that would be nothing.

The crowd stirred again.

"Unbelievable. Not only is she vicious, but she's shameless, too."

"She has a husband and still cheats? That's disgusting."

Then, my husband joined them. His face was full of pain as he leaned weakly against Lily's shoulder.

"Nevaeh, I never thought you could do something like this.

"You cheated on me. Do you even have a conscience?"

Then he grabbed the officer's hand tightly. "Officer, you have to stand up for me!

"The reason Nevaeh stole the baby is that she can't have children!"

My heart skipped. I looked at Wesley, a mocking glint in my eyes.

Under the crowd's questioning stares, he hesitated for a moment, then continued.

"When we got married, I already knew Nevaeh couldn't get pregnant because of a medical condition."

As soon as he finished speaking, a wave of murmurs spread through the crowd.

"Man, you knew she couldn't have kids and still married her? That's dedication."

"Officer, isn't that a motive? You already have evidence. Arrest her now!"

Even though I had lived through this once before, facing it again still made panic rise in my chest.

"I have witnesses and evidence that prove I didn't commit the murder!"

My voice rang out, loud and firm. The noisy crowd fell silent. Even the officers frowned as they looked at me.

"We've already checked your flight records," one of them said. "They show you went to Avalon City early yesterday morning.

"The crime happened at nine last night.

"How do you plan to rule out your involvement?"

The moment those words fell, the crowd exploded again.

"You're still trying to talk your way out of this? Dream on!"

"Yeah, if it wasn't you, then why is your face in the dashcam footage?"

"Unbelievable. You killed someone and still calmly headed to the airport as if nothing had happened!"

I slowly scanned the crowd, then caught sight of Wesley and Lily not far away, watching me with open mockery in their eyes.

If they could swap my face into that footage without leaving a trace, then changing my flight records would be just as easy.

I had expected that.

That was why, the day before our anniversary, I had asked Joseph to go and sign the contract with me. A witness was always the strongest proof.

After hesitating for a while, the police finally made a video call to Joseph.

The moment the call connected, he looked completely shocked by the scene in front of me.

"Nevaeh, aren't we supposed to finalize the contract this afternoon? Where are you?"

I did not have time to explain.

"Mr. Brooks, can you confirm that we were together yesterday?"

Joseph blinked, still dazed, then nodded. "Yes. Yes, we were. Nevaeh, what's going on?"

Once I got his answer, the officer took my phone and asked Joseph several more questions before ending the call.

At the same time, the investigation team pulled up real-time surveillance footage from the location where I signed the contract.

In the footage, I was clearly there, sitting with them, signing documents.

Then, even the police were stunned.

"The two of you?"

The entire scene fell into silence.

A shadow flickered through Wesley's eyes. Lily, however, refused to back down. She stepped forward.

"And what does that prove?

"It just proves that you're sleeping with your supervisor!"

I could not help laughing. "What did you just say?"

"You and your supervisor are together. Of course, he would lie for you. That's easy."

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, surveillance footage can't be faked.

"Just like the dashcam footage. It's evidence."

I thought Lily would hesitate, maybe slip up. Instead, she grew even more arrogant.

"Nevaeh, I think you've lost your mind.

"That footage is blurry. Even zoomed in, it only shows your outline.

"You could easily have your supervisor find a woman with a similar build.

"Then, have him lie for you and create a time gap. That's how you pulled this off!"

She crossed her arms and lifted her chin at me, smug and confident.

"And I can say all this because the man you cheated with is your supervisor!

"I didn't catch his face in the photo, but when you made that video call just now, I saw him.

"Your supervisor and the man in that photo are the same person!"

Her words stirred the crowd again.

"So calculating. Using a man to cover your crimes!"

"What are the police doing? Arrest her already!"

"You owe us an explanation!"

Even the officers looked at me with doubt.

"The figure in the surveillance footage is indeed blurry," one of them said.

I blinked.

At that moment, my phone buzzed with a new message.

[Nevaeh, is what she said true?]

I shook my head, my voice firm as I repeated myself.

"Lily is the real killer. Wesley is her accomplice."

I took a deep breath. "You all want to know where the baby is, right?

"Well, here he is."

I tilted my chin toward the back of the crowd. A figure in deep blue stepped forward.

"I'm here to testify for Nevaeh."