The rest of the relatives chimed in, murmuring their disgust.

I caught Jodie flashing me a smug smirk in Leroy's arms. It was the arrogant taunt of a winner.

Fine. She wanted to play it this way, huh?

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone.

I was going to call for backup right then and there, but after tapping the screen twice, it went completely black.

Damn it. I had worked so late the night before that I'd forgotten to charge it, and the battery was completely dead.

Frowning, I tossed the phone back onto the table.

Jodie's sharp eyes caught the movement instantly. Adopting her best innocent-act voice, she gasped, "Isabelle, what were you trying to do with your phone just now?

"Were you trying to prove your innocence? Why won't you let everyone see? Then again, if your father saw the chat logs in the group chat, he'd probably have a heart attack."

Upon hearing that, Leroy looked at me with pure loathing. "Isabelle, you make me sick."

Rage boiled in my chest, but I forced myself to suppress it.

I was a cop. Even out of uniform, I was a cop.

I was going to make sure these people lost so spectacularly that they wouldn't even know what hit them.

"Give me that!"

Desperate to play the hero in front of Jodie, Leroy lunged forward and snatched my phone off the table.

My instincts kicked in to grab it back, but he was too fast.

"Since you're too chicken to look, I'll look for you!"

He mashed the power button a few times. When nothing happened, he sneered. "Ha! Faking a dead battery? Nice try. I bet you did this on purpose."

With a sneer, Leroy carelessly chucked my phone back onto the table.

He threw it with so much force that it left several deep scratches across the screen.

That wasn't just any phone.

It was the token of love, given to me by Ian Lowe.

I slowly raised my head, my gaze turning ice-cold.

Leroy was startled by my gaze and instinctively took a step back, then immediately flew into a rage. "What are you staring at? It's just a few scratches. I'll buy you a new one! Just admit you're a whore!"

Seizing the perfect moment, Jodie reached into her bag and pulled out a stack of printed A4 papers. "Leroy, don't be mad. It's fine if the phone is broken. I actually printed out backups of the chat logs."

She began handing out the fabricated transcripts to the surrounding relatives.

"See for yourselves, everyone. I really hoped I was wrong, but look at the profile picture and the username…"

I glanced at the paper Uncle Jacob was holding.

The profile picture was an exact copy of my WhatsApp profile picture, and the nickname "Isa" matched perfectly.

The text, however, was vile enough to make anyone gag.

"Hey, handsome! 200 dollars for a quickie. 500 dollars for overnight. No protection needed… Isabelle Huff! What do you have to say for yourself now?"

Uncle Jacob's wife, Sidney Smith, screamed out the disgusting lines, spit flying from her mouth.

"Good heavens! How can anyone utter such filth! Have you no shame?"

The room erupted into absolute chaos.

The looks the relatives were giving me now were dripping with sheer revulsion.

"What a disgrace!"

Aunt Andrea turned her fury on my mother, Marie Beasley. She pointed a finger directly at her face. "Is this the stellar daughter you raised? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

"I bet you weren't any cleaner back in the day. Who knows what kind of cheap tricks you used to worm your way into our family!"

"You…"

The sheer shock and malice hit Mom like a physical blow. Gasping for air, she clutched her chest and collapsed limply onto the couch.

"Mom!"

I rushed over to support her and pressed firmly on her acupressure points to help her relax.

Her face was deathly pale, her breathing shallow and ragged, with tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.

I looked up, my glare locking onto Leroy and Jodie. My words were forced out through clenched teeth. "Defamation carries criminal liability."

Leroy let out a dismissive scoff, looking down his nose at me. "Still talking tough? Who do you think you're scaring with the law at a time like this? Jodie is a rich heiress. Her family owns a multi-million-dollar company! She has no reason to be jealous of you. Why would she frame you?

"Take a good look in the mirror. Everything you're wearing combined wouldn't even cross 20 bucks!"

Jodie stepped forward, sighing with a grand display of magnanimity.

She reached down to grab my arm, but I violently slapped her hand away.

She didn't get angry. Instead, she adopted the look of a merciful saint. "Isabelle, I get it. We all do what we have to do to survive. How about this? As long as you promise to quit this line of work, get down on your knees in front of everyone, and apologize to me, I'll let it go."

Jodie continued, "I can pay to help you clean your slate, and I can even give you a sum of money to leave this city and start over. What do you say? I'm only doing this for Leroy and to protect the Huff family name."

She stood there on her moral high ground, practically radiating the halo of a saint.

My relatives nodded in unison, singing her praises.

"Look at Jodie. She's so mature and generous! Isabelle, you'd better get down on your knees right now! An offer like this won't come twice!"

I gently propped Mom up against the couch cushions, then slowly drew myself up to my full height.

Instead of getting angry, I let out a cold laugh. "Get down on my knees? Start over? Jodie, do you have any idea that intentionally fabricating and spreading defamatory claims carries a sentence of up to three years in prison?"

Seeing that I was not only ungrateful but also dared to bite back, the relatives completely lost it.

Desperate to suck up to Jodie, the "heiress", they wanted nothing more than to grind me into the dirt.

Uncle Jacob slammed his cup onto the table with a heavy thud. "Isabelle Huff! Don't you dare push it! You are going to write a confession letter and apologize to Jodie today for the sake of our family's reputation! Otherwise, I will kick you out of the family!"

Aunt Andrea's eyes lit up, the wheels in her greedy mind turning at warp speed.

"Exactly! An apology isn't enough. We need compensation! We've suffered so much humiliation because of you. You owe us for emotional distress!"

"Hand over all that dirty money you've made these past few years and split it among us! Consider it penance!"

Looking at their greedy faces, I found it almost comical.

These were my so-called family.

The moment money was on the table, they threw every shred of decency out the window.

Noticing that I remained unfazed, Leroy grew bolder. He pulled out his phone and opened a livestreaming app.

"Since you refuse to repent, I'll let the internet judge you! Everyone, look! This is my high-class escort cousin! She was caught red-handed with solid proof, and she still won't admit it. She's throwing a tantrum right here in our living room!"

He shoved the camera right into my face.

The viewer count instantly skyrocketed, and the chat began scrolling at breakneck speed.

"Holy crap! She looks so innocent. Can't believe she does that for a living."

"200 bucks? Where's the link? Sign me up!"

"Women like this have no shame. Absolutely disgraceful!"

Jodie chose that exact moment to lean into the frame. Her eyes were red, the picture of a deeply wronged victim.

"Please don't attack Isabelle, guys. She just made a mistake. I only wanted to help her find her way back, but she… she wants to hit me…"

Her flawless performance instantly set the chat ablaze.

"You're such an angel! Why are you even trying to help a whore like that?"

"Dox her! Make her lose her job!"

Leroy stared at the screen, his mouth twitching into a distorted grin as digital gifts flooded the screen.

Seeing the chat's furious reaction, he figured he'd turn the heat up a notch to boost his followers.

"Alright, chat! Let's make her kneel and apologize to everyone live on stream!"

I took a deep breath to force the fury back down into my chest.

My fingernails dug into my palms. I was right on the edge.

But I had to remember I was a police officer. I couldn't just use force on civilians without cause.

Seeing that I remained unmoved, Leroy flicked his hand.

"Damn it. Didn't you hear me tell you to get on your knees? Do you really have to make me do this the hard way?"

He raised his palm, swinging it aimed directly at my face.

The split second before his hand made contact, I moved. My left hand shot out like lightning, locking onto his wrist with pinpoint accuracy.

I twisted his arm against the joint, hard.

"Ah!"

Leroy let out a squeal like a slaughtered pig. His entire body was forced to bend forward from the pain.

Seizing the momentum, I stepped into his space, slammed my right hand onto the back of his neck, and forced him downward.

Leroy's face was slammed violently against the solid wood dining table, making the plates and silverware rattle.

The side of his face instantly contorted under the pressure, and his stream of curses dissolved into muffled whimpers.

Dead silence fell over the room.

The cup in Uncle Jacob's hand slipped, shattering into pieces on the floor.

Aunt Andrea's jaw dropped.

No one had expected that Isabelle—the quiet young lady who did nothing but study and work—could move with such lethal precision.

Leroy was pinned flat against the table. His face was distorted, but he still thrashed around.

"Let me go! Isabelle Huff, you psycho! I'm calling the cops! I'm suing you for assault!"

Seeing that I was actually using force, the relatives instinctively shrank back, though their mouths didn't stop running.

"She's lost it! She's getting violent!"

"High-class escort? She looks more like a mob enforcer!"

"She knows she's ruined, so she's just going crazy!"

Right then, the front door was kicked open from the outside.

With a deafening crash, the security door slammed against the wall, making everyone jump.

A tall, imposing figure stepped into the house.

He wore a long black trench coat over a gray tailored suit.

He was strikingly handsome, his brows and gaze exuding the authority of someone in charge.

It was Ian.

What was he doing here?

My heart skipped a beat. Then, I remembered my broken phone. The sudden disappearance of my GPS signal must have worried him.

The moment Ian walked in, his eyes swept over the chaotic living room before locking onto me.

When he saw that I was unharmed, the tension in his rigid shoulders eased ever so slightly.

But when his gaze shifted to Leroy pinned under my hand, and then to the relatives pointing and whispering, a violent storm erupted in his eyes.

The relatives had no idea they were looking at the richest heir of the city.

All they saw was an incredibly handsome, well-dressed man bursting through the door.

Jodie's eyes darted back and forth before she suddenly pointed at Ian and shrieked, "I remember now! I've seen this man's photo in the group chat! He's her top customer! The sugar daddy who keeps Isabelle! Oh my god, he actually tracked her down here? Is he here for another transaction?"

With one shout, she neatly labeled Ian.

Despite having his face glued to the table, Leroy managed to spit out a mouthful of bloody saliva and sneered. "Isabelle, you sure are busy, huh? Clients knocking down your door?

"Buddy, you look like a gentleman, but it turns out you're just a john. With skin that fair, you look like a pretty-boy parasite living off women. Are you being kept too?"

Ian froze dead in his tracks.

He slowly turned his head. The way he looked at Leroy was the way one looks at a dead man.

I knew that look all too well. It was the warning sign that he was ready to kill.

Ian stepped up to Leroy without a single word and raised his fist. That punch carried a terrifying force.

If it connected, Leroy would be lucky to escape with a severe disability, let alone permanent brain damage.

I immediately let go of Leroy and threw myself in front of Ian.

Reaching up, I grabbed his raised arm with everything I had. "Ian! Stop! Catching an assault charge over a piece of trash like him isn't worth it."

The raw violence in Ian's eyes finally began to recede under my gentle voice.

He flipped his hand to catch mine. His gaze fell on the red friction burns left on my wrist from the scuffle.

The sheer agony in his eyes made it look like he was the one bleeding.

"Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine. It's just a scratch."

I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, then reached directly into his trench coat pocket and pulled out his phone.

Mine was broken, so his would have to do.

I deftly unlocked it, dialed a number, and hit speakerphone.

In the dead silence of the room, a gruff male voice rang out from the speaker. "Hello? Mr. Lowe? What are your orders?"

Since I was calling from Ian's phone, the man naturally assumed it was him.

I took a deep breath, instantly switching my voice back into official mode—cold, commanding, and absolute.

"This is Isabelle Huff. Declan, get everyone from Squad Two. Full tactical gear. I want you at my coordinates within five minutes. We're making an arrest on a Class-A wanted suspect for running a prostitution ring and large-scale fraud."