“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?”

Upon hearing Sergeant William’s words, the crowd fell silent.

When I saw Sergeant William, a shadow flickered in my eyes. I noticed Gilbert’s panicked look, so I deliberately raised my voice and said, “Sergeant William, since you’re here, I would like you to be my witness.”

Sergeant William looked doubtful. “Witness to what?”

Under the crowd’s accusing gaze, I lowered my head. My shoulders trembled slightly. Tears welled up in my eyes.

My voice was full of sorrow. “Right after I walked out of the police station, the crowd surrounded me. They accused me of doing all kinds of terrible things and demanded that I take responsibility.

“I told them it wasn’t me, but they showed me the surveillance footage. The person in it looks exactly like me.

“While others might not know about this, both you and the other officers are fully aware that I was locked up in the detention center for three days. How could I have been spotted outside the detention center?”

Sergeant William was surprised. Then, he followed my lead.

“You’re right. You behaved well in the detention center for the past three days. You never caused trouble even once. In fact, you were rated as a model inmate.”

When Sergeant William said that, the mall manager, the restaurant owner, and the deceased’s family were stunned. Even the livestream viewers were shocked.

[After all that searching, they’ve gone after the wrong person!]

[These people are too cruel! How can they gang up on her before even getting the facts straight? Some of them even hit her! Look, that poor girl’s forehead is bleeding!]

I turned to the mall manager, the restaurant owner, and the deceased’s family. “Do you believe me now? I’ve never done all the terrible things you accused me of! I’ve been locked up at the police station this whole time.”

They looked hesitant. They looked at the surveillance footage before turning to me again.

“But the person in the footage looks exactly like you! The surveillance footage can’t be wrong, can it?”

One of the bystanders spoke up. “This footage must be a mistake. Since she said she was at the police station when the incidents happened, the surveillance footage inside the police station can prove it!”

Upon the crowd’s request, the police brought over the necessary equipment and checked the surveillance footage on the spot.

Upon seeing the results from the footage, everyone froze. Sergeant William’s eyes narrowed when he saw it.

The surveillance footage the victims had was also real. There was no trace of any editing at all.

The livestream viewers blew up.

[What exactly is going on? The police must get to the bottom of this! You can’t accuse an innocent person, and you mustn’t let the culprit walk free either!]

Meanwhile, Gilbert regained his composure. After they confirmed that the surveillance footage was real, he exchanged glances with Selene. Then, he stepped forward boldly.

He shouted, “Lydia is the culprit! She’s rotten to the core! Even though she was locked up at the police station, she might’ve snuck out and committed the crimes!

“We all saw it! There’s a small path behind the police station that isn’t covered by surveillance. Lydia must have slipped out through that blind spot!

“Lydia’s father made his living as a locksmith. Maybe she secretly picked up her father’s skills. Maybe she snuck out to commit crimes when the guards were asleep!”

The crowd’s gaze fell on me. They looked doubtful.

Sergeant William began to suspect me, too.

Meanwhile, Gilbert smiled triumphantly. “Sergeant, you need to arrest her! She killed someone with her car! She must pay!”

The deceased’s family was agitated again. They played right into Gilbert’s hands. “That’s right! She needs to pay with her life in exchange for my son’s!”

The crowd grew noisy again.

Their gazes were filled with scrutiny, disdain, doubt, and hatred.

Feeling the weight of all these things, I looked down and trembled.

I was not scared. Instead, I was overwhelmed with excitement.

I had long anticipated this very moment.

The moment I was reborn, I had the police lock me up.

Then, the next thing I did was…

I took out my phone and called a mysterious number.

Outside the tightly packed crowd, a sharp ringtone sounded.

At that moment, a man ended the call. He pushed his way through the crowd and walked into it.

“I can prove that Lydia isn’t the culprit. I have the evidence!”