Cindy Chase always claims that we're the best of friends, but she lies and says she's out shopping with me when she's actually on a date with someone.

She takes her husband's money to help her family but tells him she's lending me the money so I can buy luxury items.

She cheats on her husband with her first love because she can't resist him and contracts an STD. Then, she throws me under the bus and says that she only got it because I made her wear clothes that carried the infection.

Later, her in-laws come knocking on my door. They break my ribs and watch as I die from the pain!

Cindy Chase was my best friend and my college roommate.

She claimed to be my closest friend but often threw me under the bus for things that were her own fault.

When I got a call from her husband, Shaun Cross, my first instinct was to touch my ribs—I was still alive!

What a blessing.

"Rainey, where's Cindy? She said she was going shopping with you today, but she's still not back yet at this hour," Shaun said. He sounded furious, his disdain for me apparent. "Don't you have friends of your own? Why do you keep bothering her? She's pregnant, you know!"

I thought back. Cindy should be with her lover at this hour.

Smiling, I told Shaun, "She's probably at the café right now. You know, the one below my place."

"Wait right there!"

I would wait. I would wait for him to make a scene and drag his entire family down to hell!

I ensured that all the security cameras in the house were working. I'd even installed one at the front door.

Just as I finished setting up everything, someone pounded on the door.

"Rainey, come out right now!"

I pulled open the door. Shaun and his family were standing outside.

"Rainey, where are you hiding Cindy? She's not at the café!" Shaun roared, stomping into the house and kicking at a vase, breaking it.

I shrugged. "Maybe I misheard her. She told me that she was going to the café."

"You're messing with me on purpose!" Shaun yelled. "If anything happens to Cindy, I'll make you pay!"

His mother, Elizabeth Simmons, interjected loudly, "Why waste time on her? This woman is sly. She's just jealous of you. If she doesn't tell you where Cindy is, call the police!"

"Sure, call them. Call the reporters while you're at it too. I'd like all of them to know how a full-grown adult can just disappear," I said. Then, I pointed at Shaun. "And you—you broke into my home. We'll have to settle that today!"

Shaun was furious. "Stubborn woman! I'll make you eat your words!"

He lunged at me, slapping me hard across the face. My head jerked to the side by the force of it. My ears were ringing.

By then, the neighbors had heard the commotion and gathered outside the door.

"What's happening?"

"Why is he hitting her?"

Elizabeth started telling them an embellished story. "This woman lured my daughter-in-law out. She's three months pregnant and still not home at this time. She hid her and refused to let us take her home!

"Besides, she also borrowed 300,000 dollars from my daughter-in-law and never paid her back. She used the money to buy luxury goods for herself. Isn't that despicable?"

The neighbors exchanged glances.

"Who would've thought she would be such a person?"

"Exactly. She's pretty but rotten to the core!"

"She must be vain. I don't think she's a good person."

I scoffed silently. "Slander is a crime, Shaun. Do you dare to say all that in front of a camera?"

"Slander?" Shaun was furious. " You're still being stubborn, Rainey!"

He raised his hand to hit me again, but I rushed into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. "Don't you dare!" I warned him. "Take another step, and I won't hold back!"

"She's bluffing, son. Slap her!"

Elizabeth egged Shaun on. I did not hesitate—I slashed at her with the knife. She raised her hand to block it, but the knife went straight through her palm. The pain made her scream.

I pulled the knife back and growled, "Let's see who's bold enough to face death here!"

My crazed look probably scared Shaun. "Just you wait!" he said.

Just then, the police arrived. Seeing this, they were shocked, and quickly took us all into custody.

I wanted to see how Shaun would get himself out of this mess.

As for Cindy, I'd also called the police on her anonymously. She would be taken into custody soon too.

At the police station, a police officer, Rory Huffman, began questioning us about what happened. Shaun fumed, "It's all her fault! She kept asking my wife to hang out with her all the time. She asked her out again today, and now my wife's still not home at this hour! She's not even answering my phone. How am I supposed to stay calm like this?

"So I went to ask her about it, and she told me my wife was at the café below her apartment. I went there, but my wife was nowhere to be seen. I went to her house to ask her, and she refused to tell me. How can I not be furious?"

Rory turned to me. I spread my hands. "I thought he was playing a joke on me. His wife told me that she was going to the café downstairs for some coffee. How would I know where she actually went?"

I showed Rory my chat history with Cindy. Her message was clear.

"Rainey, if my husband asks, just say I went to get some coffee. He's so controlling. He doesn't even let me go grab something nice to eat. I can't stand him. I'm heading out on my own today. Don't tell him!"

Shaun's expression soured when he saw his. He looked at me in disbelief. Rory was looking at him.

"That's impossible," Shaun said. "You must have faked this!"

I laughed and scrolled up further, showing them the entire chat history.

There had been several times when Cindy had asked me to lie for her, but I hadn't agreed.

But she'd complained extensively about how she wasn't allowed to do anything or go anywhere after getting pregnant and that she was bored out of her mind. Out of pity, I agreed to help her this time.

Little did I know she'd badmouth me behind my back.

In my previous life, I'd also shown the world my chat history, but Cindy had hired Internet trolls to accuse me of forgery.

I hadn't even had the chance to get the police to prove that they were real when she was found to have STD.

Once again, she pushed me under the bus, leading to my tragic end.

But now, I was at the police station. Rory verified that my chat history was untampered with and could be used as evidence.

At that, Shaun began to waver.

I looked over at him. "We were classmates back in school too, Shaun. You know I don't drink coffee. So, let's see. You stormed into my house and attacked me. Let's calculate the damages."

"You attacked me too!" Elizabeth raised her bandaged hand. "See! You slashed at me with a knife!"

"You brought that on to yourself. I was acting in self-defense. Besides, you guys were slandering me; you'll have to face legal consequences for that too!"

Rory nodded. "You're right. You two were too rash. How could you resort to violence so casually? Besides, isn't this your wife's fault? Why was she lying?"

Shaun had nothing to say to that. He glared at me. I folded my arms and looked back at him calmly.

"I will be taking legal action on this," I told him. "If you can't give me a satisfactory explanation, I will see you at court. I will not settle for anything less!"

I had surveillance footage backing me up. Besides, the neighbors were witnesses; Shaun had no defense.

Hearing my firm tone, he realized that I was serious. "Even… even so, then what about the previous times? Rainey, you're manipulative. You just got lucky today!"

I looked at Rory. "He's being terribly uncooperative. I will not be settling with him. I'm filing a report against them for unlawful breaking and entering, attacking me, and causing property damage. Here's the damages that were incurred; I will be speaking to a lawyer."

I had called my lawyer on the way to the police station. I would not let any of them off easily this time.

Hearing this, Shaun gritted his teeth and snarled, "Fine. You win. I'm sorry. Is that enough?"

"No. I do not accept your apology," I rejected him outright.

His apology didn't account for the attack I'd suffered.

Shaun was stunned. "What exactly do you want?"

"Like I said, compensation," I said, taking out the receipts I'd prepared in advance. "I bought this vase last month from an art exhibition. Here's the official receipt. Also, I am seeking reparation for the damage to my reputation caused by your assault and defamation. That will amount to 350,000 dollars."

"What? 350,000 dollars?"

Before Shaun could say anything, Elizabeth jumped up. "Are you out of your mind? That piece of junk is worth 350,000? It's not even worth 35 dollars!"

I smiled. "This is a piece of art; I wouldn't expect you to understand. Besides, I didn't forge the receipt. I even have a certificate of authenticity here. I'm not extorting you.

"Also, you spread rumors that I was fooling around with other men, damaging my reputation. That's also proven. I have the surveillance footage and the witnesses to back me up. I think my lawyer's here. If you've got an issue, talk to him."

"You stabbed me with a knife!" Elizabeth insisted.

I looked at Rory, who said gravely, "If we consider the circumstances, it was self-defense. They will be remanded."

Shaun and Elizabeth immediately panicked at that. I looked around at the rest of their accomplices. "They are just as responsible."

The accomplices were Shaun's relatives. When they heard that, they panicked as well. "No! I've got nothing to do with him. He's the one who brought us here!"

"We were just there to see what was going on! We didn't do anything!"

"Yeah, we don't have any problem with you."

They quickly backed away, trying to distance themselves from Shaun. I scoffed and looked at him. "Why don't you call Cindy and see what she has to say? After all, it would be detrimental to your child's future if their father ends up with a criminal record."

Shaun gritted his teeth. "You're doing this on purpose!"

"How can you say that? I'm the one getting defamed. How am I supposed to hold my head up in public after all you've said about me? I'm just asking you to call your wife. This is perfectly reasonable," I said.

My lawyer, Carmen Caldwell, filled everyone in on the legal implications. With the police on my side, Shaun could only clench his fists and say darkly, "I don't have that much money right now."

"You don't, but your wife does."

"That's nonsense! You owe my wife 300,000 dollars that you haven't paid back, and now you want me to compensate you 350,000? Why don't you return that money first!"

I was waiting for him to bring that up. Crossing my arms, I said, "You say that I borrowed money from your wife. Do you have any proof? Bank transfer records? Chat history? If not, that's just another false accusation!"

"Just you wait!"

Shaun pulled out his phone and called Cindy. Unfortunately for him, she did not answer.

I laughed as he tried repeatedly with no success. Of course she wouldn't pick up—Cindy was probably already in custody.

She had taken money from Shaun under the pretense of lending it to me, saying that I was materialistic and wanted to buy myself some luxury items. In reality, she was funneling it to her brother.

The only luxury bag I owned was a reward I bought for myself after four years of work.

Even that had been used against me.

I raised my eyebrow and glanced outside. It was almost time.

"I'm curious, Shaun," I said. "Why did your wife lie to you? Where did she go, and why did she lie to you and me? Could she be seeing someone else?"

Upon hearing that, Shaun's anger boiled over. "Stop trying to stir things up! She's pregnant. Where can she go?"

I scoffed but said nothing more. After a while, a scuffle sounded outside, with familiar voices weaved amongst the commotion.

Then, Cindy was brought inside the police station. When she saw me, she froze.

Shaun was equally dumbfounded. "Honey, what are you doing here?"