My cousin, Tiffany Wilkinson, brought her new boyfriend, Isaac Lloyd, home for the first time. The dinner was going great, chatting and laughing like everything was perfect.

Out of nowhere, Isaac locked eyes on me, his face lighting up with fake surprise as he practically shouted, "Wait, don't I know you from somewhere? Aren't you in that 'Elite Escort Group'?"

He added, "I swear I saw your rate card in the group photos... It was only 200 dollars or something?"

He slapped a hand over his mouth afterward, putting on this innocent act like he had just let something slip.

The lively dining room went dead silent in an instant. My relatives' looks turned cold and judgmental, making me utterly uncomfortable all over.

"He looks so decent on the outside, but he's actually doing that kind of thing behind closed doors."

"You're such a disgrace to the Wilkinson family. Don't even tell people you're related to us from now on."

Dad was so furious he slammed his wine glass down, and Mom sat there wiping away tears.

I calmly dabbed my mouth with my napkin, then looked at Isaac with a knowing smirk. "Makes sense that I look familiar. I'm with the Vice Squad, and I just busted you in a sting operation last month!"

The second those words came out of my mouth, the whole room went dead silent for a good three seconds.

Suddenly, Isaac Lloyd's fork hit the plate with a loud clang. His bright, handsome face went ghostly white in an instant.

I let out a silent scoff in my head. Was that all it took to scare him?

Before I could even pull out my badge, my airheaded cousin, Tiffany Wilkinson, exploded first. She snatched up her fork and slammed it back down on the table.

Then, jabbing her finger right at my nose, she screamed, "Shawn Wilkinson, are you out of your mind? Are you making up lies like this just to cover yourself? If you're really with the Vice Squad, then I'm the Queen!"

My aunt, Patricia Wilkinson, caught on and chimed in with her snide tone.

"Oh my, I've always said Shawn's been full of hot air since he was little. He gets caught doing something shameful by Isaac, so now he's pretending to be a police officer? That's a crime, you know... George, aren't you going to do something about your son?"

My father, George Wilkinson's face turned beet red with anger. He was about to slam his fist on the table when my uncle, Richard Wilkinson, grabbed his arm to stop him. Meanwhile, Isaac had already recovered his composure.

I had to hand it to him. He had incredible nerves, and he could definitely consider a career in acting.

Isaac's eyes instantly rimmed with red, tears threatening to spill over at any second. His body went limp as he slumped against Tiffany's shoulder, trembling all over.

"Tiffany... Did I get the wrong person? T-that photo with the two-hundred-dollar rate card really looked just like Shawn..."

He choked up while fumbling frantically for his phone.

"Let me pull it up and show you... Maybe I really did get it mixed up."

He opened his photo gallery and shoved the screen right in front of my relatives' faces. It was a blurry side profile shot of a shirtless man, posing in an explicit position. Aside from the hairstyle being somewhat similar to mine, the facial features were clearly photoshopped composites.

However, did any of my relatives care about the truth?

All they cared about was whether there was drama to gossip about and whether they had a chance to step all over my family.

The phone got passed around among the relatives, and the living room erupted into chaos.

"Oh my goodness, you really can't judge a book by its cover!"

"Shawn looks so proper on the outside, but he's actually doing this behind the scenes?"

"He's only charging two hundred dollars? That cheap? How desperate for money can he be?"

"The Wilkinson family name is going straight into the gutter with this disgrace!"

All those contemptuous stares landed squarely on me.

I pointed at the figure in the photo and zoomed in with two fingers.

"Are you sure about that? This image is obviously edited. The muscle definition has clear splicing marks, but more importantly... Everyone, please look... This man's hand in the back has six fingers."

I had previously worked on fraud cases involving doctored images, so I had plenty of experience spotting those things.

Clearly, Isaac had no idea about that. His face went pale, then he put on a pitiful expression again.

"Fine, if you say it's not you, then it's not. Just stop looking at me like that. You're scaring me..."

He buried his face into Tiffany's shoulder as he spoke.

Tiffany jabbed her finger at my nose and cursed, "You did something like this yourself, and now you won't even let people talk about it? If you have the guts, show us your proof!"

The other relatives chimed in with their agreement.

I watched coldly as Isaac flashed a smug smile while nestled against Tiffany's shoulder.

It was the taunt of a victor.

Fine. If that was the game he wanted to play, I would gladly play along.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I had planned to call for backup right away, but after pressing the button twice, the screen stayed pitch black.

I silently cursed at my luck. I had worked overtime too late last night and forgot to charge it, so it had died.

I frowned and set the phone back on the table.

Isaac caught that detail immediately with his sharp eyes. He gasped with fake concern, his voice dripping with insinuation.

"Oh, what were you trying to do with your phone? Were you going to prove your innocence? Why aren't you showing everyone? Oh, right, if your father saw those group chat messages, he'd probably have a heart attack, wouldn't he?"

When Tiffany heard that, the look she gave me was filled with pure disgust. "Shawn, you make me sick."

At that moment, rage churned in my chest, but I had to hold it in.

I was a cop, badge or no badge. I was going to make these people lose so thoroughly that they had no choice but to accept it and understand exactly how they had been played.

"Give me that phone!"

To show off in front of Isaac, Tiffany suddenly lunged forward and snatched the phone off the table.

I instinctively tried to grab it back, but she was too fast. "If you're too scared to look, then I'll do it for you!"

She pressed the power button several times, but nothing happened.

"No battery? I bet you planned this."

Tiffany let out a chuckle and carelessly tossed my phone back onto the table.

She used too much force, leaving several scratches across the screen.

That was not just any ordinary phone. It was a token of love that Elena Monroe had given me. I slowly raised my head, and my gaze turned ice cold.

Tiffany flinched at my expression and took a step back, but her embarrassment turned into anger.

"What are you staring at? It's just a few scratches. I'll pay you back for it, as long as you admit you're selling yourself!"

Isaac seized the opportunity and pulled out a stack of print-outs from his bag.

"Tiffany, don't get upset. If the phone's broken, it's fine, I've got backup copies of the chat logs."

He distributed those forged records to all the relatives present. "Everyone, take a look! I'm hoping I got it wrong too, but this profile picture, this username..."

I glanced at the paper in my Uncle Richard's hand. The profile picture was definitely stolen from my social media, and even the username 'Northwind' was identical.

The content was even more explicit and nauseating.

[Hey, gorgeous. It's 200 dollars for tonight, and 500 dollars for the whole night. Full service guaranteed.]

"Shawn, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Uncle Richard's wife, Barbara Jefferson, shrieked as she read out several of the vulgar lines, spittle flying everywhere.

"Oh my goodness! How can anyone say things like this? Have you no shame left?!"

The whole room erupted in outrage. The way those relatives looked at me was filled with utter revulsion.

"What a disgrace!"

Aunt Patricia pointed right at my mother, Ariel Manson, and scolded her.

"Is this the fine son you raised? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree! I bet you're no better. What kind of parenting is this?!"

"You..."

My mother's chest heaved with anger, her breath catching as she clutched her chest and slumped onto the couch.

"Mom!"

I rushed over to support her.

Her face was deathly pale, her breathing rapid, with tear tracks still visible at the corners of her eyes.

I looked up and stared daggers at Tiffany and Isaac, my voice squeezing out through gritted teeth.

"Spreading false accusations carries criminal liability."

Tiffany scoffed dismissively and looked down at me from her high horse.

"Still running your mouth? At a time like this, you're trying to scare people with legal threats? Isaac comes from money. His family owns a company worth tens of millions!

"You think he'd be jealous of you and that he'd frame you? Get real and take a good look at yourself. Everything you're wearing adds up to less than two hundred dollars of cheap knockoffs!"

Isaac walked over and sighed like he was trying to be the bigger person. He reached out to grab my arm, but I shook him off hard.

He did not get upset. Instead, he put on a pitiful expression.

"I know you're just doing this because life's been tough. Here's what we'll do... As long as you quit this line of work and get on your knees right here in front of everyone to apologize and admit you were wrong."

"I can pay to help you clean up your reputation. I'll even give you a payout to leave this city and start over.

"Well, what do you say? I'm only doing this for Tiffany's sake, and to protect the Wilkinson family name."

Isaac stood on his moral high ground, practically glowing with self-righteousness.

My relatives nodded and showered him with praise.

"Look at Isaac! He's so mature and generous!"

"Shawn, what are you waiting for? Get on your knees! You won't get another chance like this!"

I settled my mother against the couch cushions and slowly straightened up. Instead of getting angry, I laughed.

"Get on my knees? Start fresh? Isaac, do you have any idea that forging evidence and attempting to frame an active-duty officer is a felony? You're looking at doing serious hard time."

When my relatives saw that I was not grateful and was even talking back, they completely lost it. To curry favor with Isaac, the so-called 'rich kid', they were ready to grind me into the dirt.

Uncle Richard slammed his cup down hard.

"Shawn, don't push your luck! For the sake of the family's reputation, you're going to apologize and beg for Isaac's forgiveness! Otherwise, I'm cutting you out of the family!"

Aunt Patricia's eyes lit up even more, her mental calculator working overtime.

"That's right! Not only do you need to apologize, but you also need to pay damages! We're all relatives who've been humiliated because of you. Shouldn't we get compensation for emotional distress?

"Hand over all that 'dirty money' you've made these past few years and split it among everyone. Consider it your way of making amends!"

I looked at those greedy faces and found it laughable. They were supposed to be family, yet when it came to personal gain, they had thrown away even the pretense of decency.

When Tiffany saw I was not budging, she got even more fired up. She pulled out her phone and opened a live streaming app.

"Since you refuse to admit your mistakes, I'll let the internet judge you!

"Hey everyone, come watch! This is my cousin Shawn, who works as a 'male escort'! The evidence is rock solid, but he still won't admit it, and now he's throwing a tantrum at home!"

She shoved the camera right in my face.

The viewer count skyrocketed instantly, and comments flew by at lightning speed.

[Holy crap, he's actually pretty hot. I can't believe he does that for a living!]

[Only two hundred bucks? Where's the address? I want in!]

[What a shameless guy!]

Isaac leaned into the frame at just the right moment. His eyes rimmed with red, looking like he had suffered the greatest injustice.

"Everyone, please don't attack Shawn. He probably just made a mistake... I only wanted to help him see the error of his ways, but he... He even tried to hit me..."

That performance instantly set the livestream ablaze with emotion.

[This guy's too kind! Why is he still helping someone like that?]

[Expose him! Let's run his life!]

Tiffany watched the screen fill with virtual gifts and twisted her mouth into a wide grin. Seeing the rising excitement, she decided to push things even further to boost her popularity.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's make him get on his knees and apologize to everyone watching!"

I took a deep breath, forcing down the rage building inside me. My fingers dug into my palms, and I was barely holding back my anger anymore.

Nonetheless, I knew I was a police officer and could not just lash out at people.

When Tiffany saw that I was not reacting, she flexed her fingers.

"Damn it. I told you to kneel. Didn't you hear me? Do I really have to do it myself?"

She raised her palm, about to slap me across the face. The instant her hand was about to come down, I moved.

My left hand shot out like lightning and locked precisely around Tiffany's wrist. I twisted it against the joint and applied pressure.

Tiffany squealed in pain, her whole body forced to bend forward.

I stepped in smoothly, my right hand pressing down on the back of her neck as I shoved hard. Her face hit the solid wooden dining table hard, rattling the plates and utensils. Half her face was instantly distorted from the impact, and her curses turned into muffled cries of pain.

The entire room went deathly silent.

Uncle Richard's cup fell from his hand and shattered on the floor, while Aunt Patricia's jaw dropped open.

No one had expected that I, who had always seemed quiet and bookish, would move with such speed and precision.