After my crimes, I surrendered myself to the police.

My fiance rushed over and questioned me, “You didn’t steal anything, so why’re you admitting it?!”

I spread my hands. I decided to spend the rest of my life in prison.

In my previous life, my fiance’s childhood sweetheart, Selene, had caused trouble everywhere after she returned to her home country.

First, she stole things from a mall. Then, she dined and dashed.

Finally, she ran a red light and killed someone.

The mall manager, the restaurant owner, and the victim’s family all cornered me.

I was puzzled. Why did they come after me for the things Selene did?

Later, they accused me in front of the police of stealing, dining and dashing, and committing a hit-and-run. Apparently, they had mistaken me for Selene.

But Selene and I looked nothing alike.

I requested the surveillance footage as proof of their claims.

The footage somehow showed that I was the one who had stolen things, dined and dashed, and committed a hit-and-run.

My denial was useless without evidence. The footage, on the other hand, was foolproof.

The victim’s family stabbed me to death out of rage.

Even as I died, I could not understand why all the crimes Selene committed ended up becoming mine.

When I opened my eyes again, I returned to the very day Selene stole things from the mall.

“Lydia, what’re you doing? You clearly didn’t do anything wrong, so why are you surrendering yourself to the police?”

I looked up and saw a familiar face. My boyfriend, Gilbert, looked frustrated.

In the face of his questions, I looked at him innocently.

“Gilbert, what’re you talking about? I don’t understand what you mean.

“When we make a mistake, we should admit it. We should always take accountability and correct our wrongs. How can you tell me to go back on my confession?”

Inside the detention room, the police heard my words. He glared unhappily at Gilbert.

He knocked on the table. “Buddy, your way of thinking is wrong.

“The surveillance footage is proof that Lydia stole bread from the mall. Besides, she has confessed to her crimes. With both evidence and a confession in place, how can you attempt to persuade her to evade her crimes?”

Upon hearing the police’s righteous words, Gilbert burned with rage.

He stared at me in disbelief and pounded hysterically on the glass of the detention room.

“Lydia, are you mad?!

“You have millions in assets! Why would you ever steal bread that costs only $10? Are you out of your mind?!”

No matter what he said, I looked down and acted like I could not hear him.

Gilbert was practically seething at this point.

He raised his voice and asked me again, “Lydia, I’ll ask you one more time. Are you coming out with me or not?

“Let me tell you this, my parents definitely won’t allow me to marry a woman with a criminal record!”

Despite his threat, I shook my head with teary eyes.

“Gilbert, even then, I won’t leave.

“If your parents refuse to accept me as their daughter-in-law because I dared to admit my mistakes, then perhaps we aren’t meant to be together.”

Gilbert found my words disgusting. He did not want to say another word to me.

He glared at me before turning around and leaving grudgingly.

Watching his back as he left, I could not help but heave a sigh of relief.

In my previous life, Gilbert’s childhood sweetheart, Selene, had returned to the country.

Upon her return, Gilbert’s heart instantly turned to her.

I had known Gilbert for a decade, but Selene’s presence made me look like a fool.

Gilbert and I had reached the stage of thinking about our marriage. But when I saw how devoted Gilbert was to Selene, I decided to step aside and let him be with her. After all, I was not the kind of woman who would beg and pester a man to be with her.

Just then, it was revealed that Selene was a thief. She stole things from the mall, dined and dashed, and even committed a hit-and-run that ended up killing someone.

Out of good intentions, I told Gilbert that Selene should surrender herself to the police. That way, she might be able to get a lighter sentence.

But Gilbert stared at me as though I was mentally ill. “Lydia, what are you talking about? You’re the one who did it! What does any of that have to do with Selene?”

I was about to ask Gilbert what he meant when the mall manager, restaurant owner, and the deceased’s family came for me. They rebuked me for stealing, dining and dashing, and for a hit-and-run.

I thought they had mistaken me for someone else. After all, Selene and I did not look alike at all.

I patiently explained everything to them. They showed me the surveillance footage. The footage clearly showed that I had committed all those terrible things.

I had no way to defend myself. The deceased’s family broke down because they lost their only son. As a result, they stabbed me a dozen times on the spot.

Even as I died, I could not figure out how the surveillance footage from the mall, restaurant, and the street had captured me as the one committing those crimes.

They might have been able to falsify one video. But it was not easy to falsify all of them.

So, where did it all go wrong?

Since I was reborn, I was determined to uncover the truth this time.

I ended up being held at the police station for three days.

After three days, the police gave me a warning and a lecture. Then, they released me.

The moment I got my phone back, I instantly searched for the viral topics on social media, just as I had done in my previous life.

As expected, Selene was the one who did all those terrible things, like in the previous life.

This time, I was not as terrified as I had been in my previous life. I felt exceptionally calm when I saw the trending topics.

I had been locked up in the police station for three days. I knew that there was no way the person in the surveillance footage could somehow be me.

Little did I expect that while I was buying food at a stall in front of the police station entrance, a furious group would come for me.

The leader of the group raised his hand and was about to slap me.

“Lydia, we finally found you!

“You ran a red light and killed my son with your car. I want you to pay with your life!”

The rest of the group members chimed in, “You stole luxury goods from the mall and damaged public property. You need to pay us $100,000, or we won’t let this slide!”

“You dined in our restaurant and skipped out on the bill. The total bill was $8,888. Settle it now!”

The victims were worried that I would deny everything. They even set up camera stands and livestreamed everything.

“Everyone, look here! Lydia is the deadbeat who owes us money and a life!”

As accusations were thrown around, a shadow of doubt crossed my mind.

Why were they looking for me even after I had been locked up in police custody for three days?

Unlike in my previous life, when I panicked and fell apart, I faced the victims with unnerving calm after my rebirth.

I said in a steady voice, “You’ve got the wrong person. Selene is the one who did all those terrible things. It was not me. If you don’t believe me, check the surveillance footage.”

“Hah! We knew you’d say that! We were worried that you would deny everything once we handed you over to the police. We came prepared!” The group sneered and took out the surveillance footage they had prepared.

The footage still showed me doing all those terrible things.

“I’ve seen many kinds of people in this world. But I’ve never seen anyone so brazenly cry ‘thief’ while they themselves are the thief.

“Not only are you shamelessly denying your crimes, but you’re also pinning the crime on somebody else. Why don’t you just drop dead?!”

My heart sank.

Before I ended up in the detention center, I suspected Gilbert and Selene would try to frame me and would not give up.

I did not expect the worst-case scenario to come to pass.

I lowered my head in silence. The crowd believed I was guilty because they had already exposed my lies.

They practically shoved the shop’s receipt in my face. “You thief, you came to my restaurant and dined in without footing the bill. You even smashed the plates and bowls. How can you be this shameless?!

“The food was $8,888, $200 for the broken plates, and more for lost wages. You owe me a total of $10,888!”

The mall manager and his staff from the luxury boutique frowned. “You’ve stolen a luxurious and trendy bag from the counter. The bag alone is worth $100,000. Together with other matching merchandise, the total cost is $300,000. On top of that, you damaged public property. That brings it to a total of $400,000. Pay up!”

The family whose only son was hit and killed got even more agitated. They pointed at me and shouted, “The police station is right across the street. If you don’t give us an explanation, I’ll have the police immediately arrest you and sentence you to death!”

I sucked in a deep breath. “I really have done none of these. The culprit who did all this is called Selene. I know her. She’s my ex-boyfriend’s childhood friend. If you don’t trust me, I can bring her here to confront you. Also, I’ve been locked up at the police station for the past three days. I—”

Before I finished my sentence, Gilbert and Selene rushed over and cut me off.

As soon as he saw me, Gilbert slapped me hard across the face.

“Lydia, I’m breaking off our engagement!

“Selene knew you were released today, and she was kind enough to come with me to pick you up. How dare you slander her like this?!

“You’ve done something wrong, but you still refuse to admit it. I don’t want a fiancee like you! You don’t deserve to be part of my family!”

Selene looked at me with teary eyes.

She sobbed as she said, “Lydia, I know you never liked me because I’m Gilbert’s childhood friend.

“At home, you accused me of breaking a plate when you were the one who broke it. You accused me of hitting our neighbor’s children when you were the one who did it. For the sake of not ruining your relationship with Gilbert, I always bit my tongue and took the blame.

“But you can’t accuse me of something so serious that it involves someone’s life and death!”

After Selene was done, she gave Gilbert a nudge. She then took a few steps back to put some distance between them.

“Gilbert, if I have to be slandered and defamed just because I’m your childhood friend, then maybe we shouldn’t be friends anymore!

“I really can’t stand people accusing and judging me anymore! I didn’t do any of it, yet I’m the one who has to apologize to them! Sometimes, I even have to take their beatings! I’ve had enough of such humiliation!”

The situation would have been better had Selene not said that. The moment she did, the crowd instantly grew restless.

The way they looked at me was filled with blame and hatred. Some of them even picked up stones and hurled them at me.

I was not able to dodge in time. A stone scraped my cheek. It split my skin and drew blood.

The crowd froze for a second. Even the livestream comments came to a halt.

After a moment of silence, they swung their fists at me and yelled that I needed to give them an explanation.

Just then, the police noticed the commotion. They sent a squad of officers over to check it out.

When they saw me, the head of the squad, Sergeant William, stopped short in surprise.

“Lydia, you’ve just been released from detention. Why’re you here instead of heading home?”