Neil Jackson's true love steals highly radioactive materials, but I'm the one who's facing a jail sentence.

I find the thief, but Lorraine Larsen refuses to own up to her crimes. Even my longtime boyfriend refuses to act as a witness for me. All he wants to do is send me to jail.

It's too bad they don't know I'm a researcher at the nation's secret research center. They also have no idea that they've stolen highly radioactive materials—they can easily be killed by those.

I left some materials I was transporting for work at home, but they disappeared overnight.

Neil Jackson was out of town at the time. The only other person who had the keys to my house was Lorraine Larsen, who had a suspiciously close relationship with him.

Not daring to take this lightly, I reported the theft to the police.

Lorraine was called to the police station. She looked visibly shaken when she arrived. "I know you hate me, Sandra," she said tearfully, "but you can't just pin any crime on me."

Neil was agitated. "Lorraine has already lost her baby because of you. Why can't you just leave her alone?"

Because of me?

How could he even say that?

A few days ago, I returned from a business trip and found him lying on the bed with Lorraine as they browsed maternity products online.

I immediately broke up with Neil, but he refused to make it mutual.

Lorraine, on the other hand, disappeared for a couple of days. When she turned up again, her face was pale.

"I've aborted the baby, Sandra. Please stop being angry with Neil."

It was a cunning move—with that, she managed to worsen our already fragile relationship.

But now wasn't the time to dwell on personal grievances.

"The stolen item contains pure Iridium-192. It is a lethal radioactive material," I told the police.

The police officer I was talking to turned serious. "That is incredibly dangerous. We have to find it. If any of you took it, return it right now. Stealing something like this will land you in prison!"

His sharp gaze swept over us.

Hearing that, Lorraine began crying.

Neil also became anxious. "Lorraine is a public figure. She would never steal anything. We have surveillance footage to prove it."

Lorraine was a moderately popular live streamer. Public opinion was important to her livelihood.

For safety reasons, we had installed security cameras in the corridor outside our apartment. However, when I heard Neil's confident tone, I suddenly had a bad feeling.

The surveillance footage showed that I was the only one who had entered and exited the apartment. Lorraine was nowhere to be seen—in fact, there was nobody else in the corridor at all.

"This can't be!" I blurted out.

Lorraine and Neil looked as if they had been expecting this all along.

I suddenly realized that this was a trap.

They must have tampered with the evidence before this.

Sure enough, Neil raised his arm and pointed at me. "It's you! You stole it and cried wolf!" he accused with righteous conviction.

The arm that had once embraced me was now pointed at me, firm and unyielding.

I met his gaze. "Do you know what you're saying?"

If I were found guilty of stealing the Iridium, I would be facing prison time.

Did he really hate me that much?

"Sandra, you shouldn't have falsely accused Lorraine in the first place," Neil said, his eyes straying over to Lorraine's stomach. He looked pained. "You brought this on yourself. You'll have to live with the consequences of your actions."

He was blaming me for the loss of Lorraine's baby.

Did he really love children that much?

My heart ached.

We once had a child together too.

Back then, Neil had gone missing while hiking up a snow mountain. To find him, I had scaled the same mountain but ended up falling off a cliff and landing in a pool of my own blood, losing our child in the process.

He had probably forgotten how he had cried while holding me at the time.

Just as our standoff grew tense, a man wearing a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles entered the police station.

"Peter?" I said.

Peter Sutton nodded at me. "I've brought the detection equipment from the institute."

The police officer immediately made the call. "Good. We have the equipment now. This is a serious matter. Let's do a full-scale search!"

"What does that mean?" Lorraine asked, baffled.

The police officer ignored her. He swiftly headed out with Peter.

The police conducted a thorough search of the area around my house that very night, including Lorraine's house.

Neil inhaled sharply through his nose at the sight of this. He pulled me aside and asked, "What exactly do you do for a living? Why are they kicking up such a fuss over a lost item?"

I had never told him what I did at my job as it was classified.

"It's top secret. The thing I lost is lethal. If you don't want to die, give it back immediately."

"Don't try and scare us," Lorraine interrupted. "If it's really as dangerous as you say it is, then you'll get a heavier punishment for stealing it!"

At that, Neil's uncertainty disappeared from his expression, replaced with a look of determination. "Lorraine is right."

Even now, they still couldn't understand the gravity of the situation. They were too ignorant to believe what I said.

After searching all night, Peter finally packed up the equipment. "We didn't find anything. The iridium is likely still sealed in the lead container. Hopefully, no one tries to open it."

The police were exhausted too. "Well, I suppose that's the best news we can get for now."

Lorraine relaxed. "I don't think it was ever stolen. She probably lied to cover up her own theft."

Neil chimed in, "Yeah, the surveillance footage only showed one person. The evidence is all there."

Silence filled the room.

Peter patted me on the shoulder. "The research institute will be investigating this matter fully, but I believe you'll be fine."

I gave him a grateful look.

The police officially declared this as an open case. As the person responsible for losing the iridium and endangering public health, coupled with the surveillance evidence against me, I was named the sole suspect in the case.

Neil and Lorraine exchanged a smile when the decision was made to detain me.

"Are you two happy now?" I asked.

Lorraine raised her head arrogantly. "The murderer of my child is going to jail. Of course, I'm happy."

"And you? Is that how you feel too?" I turned to Neil, the man I had spent so many years with.

"Does it matter how I feel? Did you care about my feelings when you forced Lorraine to abort our child?" he spat. The look he gave me wasn't one of love—it was one of hatred and vindication.

I met his eyes. Even though I kept telling myself that the man who once stood up for me and risked his life to defend me from street thugs had ceased to exist, my heart still clenched painfully.

I lowered my eyes. When I looked back up, the last trace of affection I had for him vanished.

Now that I saw how gleeful they were about my impending imprisonment, I wouldn't hold back anymore.

Before handing over my phone to the police, I made some quick postings.

Peter glanced at my phone. "Getting ready to fight back?"

"Of course. If I don't, they'll think I'm a doormat for them to stomp on."

It didn't take long for me to list out the entire timeline of my relationship and Neil's cheating in chronological order. Then, I posted all of it on social media.

The whole story was structured like a thesis, complete with precise wording and a catchy title. It soon garnered a lot of attention.

Neil and Lorraine remained completely oblivious about this, still basking in the thrill of their success.

Before being taken away, I smiled at them. "Don't celebrate too soon. Remember how smug you both feel now, because soon, you'll pay for this with your own lives and prove my innocence."

They clearly had a death wish, since they were bold enough to steal Iridium-192.

In that case, I would just sit back and wait for them to reap what they had sown.

Neil and Lorraine thought I was just bluffing. Cheerfully, they left hand-in-hand.

Barely a night had passed before Neil urgently requested to visit me in jail.

I was told that he was frantic, but still, I declined all of his requests to meet me.

Three days later, Peter posted bail for me. I was released temporarily to await trial.

When I walked out of jail, the situation had turned completely upside down.

Neil was standing outside the police station, holding a bouquet of roses. When he saw me, he rushed forward and tried to grab my hand.

Peter stopped him.

He gave me a questioning glance. I smiled lightly. "It's fine. Let me talk to him."

We sat down at a cafe to talk.

Neil shoved the roses at me, showing no awkwardness at all despite the sudden change of attitude. "Sandra, our relationship is about to go long-distance. We should make up and get along while we can still see each other."

I laughed, unable to believe the audacity. Did he just equate my potential imprisonment to a long-distance relationship?

I pushed away the flowers. "If you have nothing nice to say, I'm leaving."

Neil quickly got to the point after that. "The article you posted that day has caused a lot of trouble for Lorraine."

I took out my phone and quickly checked my social media.

The Internet was in an uproar, condemning Lorraine for knowingly becoming a homewrecker and dating a known cheater. She was buried under an avalanche of negative press.

Clearly, life had been rough for her lately.

"So?" I folded my arms and looked around.

There was a woman sitting at the table beside us. Her face was covered with a mask and a cap, but I could tell from the figure that it was Lorraine.

The hands resting on her lap were covered in red rashes.

I looked back at Neil. He was coughing every now and then.

I was shocked.

These were symptoms of radiation sickness.

It looked like they had opened the container containing Iridium-192.

Neil spoke again. "I want you to publicly apologize to Lorraine. You have to admit in writing that I have been with her for years and that you, out of jealousy, had fabricated all those lies about her."

I thought I had misheard him at first. "You want me to admit that I'm the homewrecker and that I tried to slander Lorraine, who is your actual girlfriend?"

"It's just on paper," Neil tried to reassure me. "It doesn't matter as long as we truly love each other. Besides, you'll be in prison soon. By the time you get out, no one will even remember this.

"It's different for Lorraine. She is a public figure, so she still needs to maintain her reputation."

Before he even finished his sentence, I slapped him hard across the face. "Shameless wench!"

The crisp sound echoed around the cafe, drawing curious looks from the other patrons.

Neil, caught off guard by the slap, immediately became angry. "Sandra! How dare you assault me while on bail? Do you know that I just need to call the police, and you'll go right back to jail?"

I picked up my hot coffee and splashed it all over him. "Instead of threatening me, you should get yourself to a hospital. I doubt you'll survive the winter!"

Neil was furious. "You're always harboring ill will toward us! That's all you know!"

He tried to grab me by the collar, but Peter quickly intervened. He lifted Neil up and tossed him aside effortlessly.