After my sister was violated and jumped from the building, I not only covered for the culprit but also climbed into her boyfriend’s bed.

My mother stood on the rooftop, threatening to end her life if I didn’t expose the murderer.

I let out a cold laugh. “If you want to die, then jump. At least you’ll be with my sister.”

Thirty years later, after a car accident left me paralyzed, my husband Owen Simmons ordered his men to drag me out of the house and tie me to the gallows meant for criminals.

“Juliette, you’re worse than an animal! Your sister treated you so well since childhood, yet you covered for the man who ruined her! And the day after she died, you climbed into my bed!”

“If it weren’t for finding out who killed your sister, I never would have pretended to love you all these years!”

“Luckily, with today’s technology, we can extract memories. I’ll send both you and the murderer to the gallows today!”

When the truth was revealed in front of everyone, the crowd was stunned, their voices caught in disbelief. Owen and my mother were frozen in hopeless despair.

——

In the year 3025, the Research Bureau’s new Memory Extractor had uncovered many long-buried cases. Once connected to a person’s mind, it replayed the events of that day with striking clarity.

As soon as I was tied to the gallows, my mother’s rage exploded, and her hand struck my face.

“Juliette! You monster! You saw everything! You were right there! Why did you tell the police you knew nothing?”

Each slap landed hard as the people watching looked on with grim satisfaction. My mother’s tears mixed with anger, releasing thirty years of grief and hate.

I couldn’t move and could only take the blows in silence as darkness crept into my vision and hot saliva dripped from my mouth.

Owen stopped her in a cold voice. “Mom, don’t kill her.”

“Today, the truth that’s been hidden for thirty years will finally come out.”

Beside the gallows, my crimes were listed. “Hiding the man who assaulted her sister; forcing her sister’s boyfriend to take drugs and marry her.”

In this time, everyone was equal, and no woman’s dignity could be ignored.

When the crowd saw my crimes, they spat and shouted curses. “Your sister went through all that, and you still protected the criminal? You should die!”

Owen’s brows drew together, his bloodshot eyes full of hate as he glared at me. Facing his look of disgust, I forced a faint, bitter smile.

Back then, Owen and I truly loved each other, but my sister, who was battling depression, threatened to end her life. Helpless, I lied to him and said I loved someone else.

Later, when Zara Barnes went through that nightmare and jumped from the building in despair, I chose to protect the culprit, just to stay by Owen’s side.

When my mother saw my smile, she broke down again, rushing toward me and grabbing my throat. “You animal! You’re still smiling!”

“Zara died in pain!”

“What right do you have to keep living?”

Owen’s cold voice cut through the noise. “Mom, once the memory extraction succeeds and the truth is shown to everyone. If more than half vote for Juliette to die, she’ll go join Zara right away.”

My face turned pale, not from the fear of dying, but from the thought of my secrets being exposed.

“No! Owen, don’t do this! You can’t extract my memory! You’ll regret it!”

Owen let out a cold sneer, raising his hand as he pressed the Memory Extractor onto my head.

At once, it felt like someone was tearing my mind apart. The burning pain shot through my body, making me shake uncontrollably.

Below the gallows, the crowd watched with cruel satisfaction, enjoying every moment of my agony.

“The Memory Extractor had three levels of pain, the faster the process, the worse it felt. Seeing Juliette like this, Owen must have chosen the highest level!”

“Someone who protects a criminal deserves the harshest pain!”

“When the extraction ends, Juliette will be nothing but a fool!”

The mocking voices echoed endlessly in my ears, but scenes from thirty-eight years ago began to flood my mind.

A large, crystal-clear screen appeared before me. It showed the time eight years before the case, the day Zara confessed her feelings to Owen.

When her gentle face appeared, my mother clutched her chest and cried uncontrollably.

“My poor Zara! You had just found love and barely tasted happiness, and now you’re gone with regrets. How can I ever accept this?”

On the screen, Zara blushed as she handed Owen a love letter, her expression shy and warm.

But my eyes stayed fixed on Owen standing before her, my heart filled with longing and unwillingness.

The crowd burst into shouts and curses as the footage played. “I knew that woman Juliette had been after Owen all along!”

“She must have driven Zara to her death on purpose, that’s why she protected the murderer!”

“Just because she liked Owen, she let innocent Zara die?”

The memory was being torn from me, the pain so fierce that even my tongue felt numb, yet I still looked at Owen with a trace of affection. They weren’t wrong, the person I had truly loved was always him.

People began picking up stones and clumps of dirt, some even kicked off their shoes and threw them at me. I was hit again and again until blood ran down my face, humiliation washing over me completely.

Owen’s bloodshot eyes locked on me before turning toward the screen.

In the footage, I had sighed and taken Zara’s love letter. She spun around, her face glowing with joy as she said she had baked an egg cake and would go home to bring it.

But the moment she left, I wrapped my arms around Owen.

The crowd exploded. “My God! Is that even human!”

“Her sister just left, and she hugs her sister’s boyfriend! How shameless can she be!”

“What a heartless woman, are there no men left in the world? She even steals her sister’s boyfriend!”

In the footage, Owen also raised his arms to hug me, but anger crossed his face, and he quickly pushed me away.

“When I confessed to you, you said you already loved someone else. Now that I’ve accepted your sister’s feelings, what is this supposed to mean?”

“Are you really trying to take your sister’s boyfriend?”

He lashed out at me, but lost in love, I could only give him a faint smile. “I’m the one who hurt you…”

Tears gathered in my eyes, and just as I was about to speak, Zara came running back, holding the egg cake with a bright smile.

“Sister! Owen! Come try the egg cake I made!”

But I couldn’t hear her at all, my eyes stayed fixed on Owen. I mouthed silently to him. “If it weren’t for my sister, I would be with you.”

The crowd burst into furious shouts. “No wonder she covered for the killer! She wanted Zara dead all along!”

“Maybe Zara’s rape case is tied to her, she must have planned it!”

Owen’s eyes trembled with disbelief as he looked at me, his voice heavy with shock.

“Could it be that you really wanted your sister dead?”

“Have you forgotten that when you were bullied in school, it was your sister who risked herself to protect you. She almost ruined her own face for it?”

I nodded, my eyes red. “Of course I haven’t forgotten. But that doesn’t mean I have to give up the man I love for her. When I said that, I truly believed that if my sister didn’t exist, we could be happy for a lifetime. But I….”

….never wanted her to actually die.

Before I could finish, my mother, consumed by grief, rushed at me, grabbing my throat and shaking me hard.

“You could have competed fairly if you loved Owen! Why did you have to let her die!”

“Who killed Zara?! Tell me right now!”

Voices of anger and accusations filled my ears, but I clenched my teeth and refused to break.

“I won’t say it. Knowing the truth won’t help any of you!”

Owen slapped me hard across the face. “Even now, you still protect the criminal!”

“Fine. If that’s how it is, then I’ll show no mercy.”

“Everyone knows the Memory Extractor has three levels, but in reality, there’s a fourth, Special Level! The pain feels like being crushed and forced back together again.”

“Will you speak, or not?!”

Blood flowed from my mouth and nose, but I still shook my head stubbornly. The crowd’s faces softened with faint pity, yet when Owen turned the dial to its highest level, all sympathy disappeared.

The next scene showed the day Zara jumped from the building. She wore a white dress, standing on the rooftop, shouting toward me. “Owen, I truly love you, but I’m no longer pure. I don’t deserve to be with you.”

“After you saw me like that, how can I keep living?”

Zara looked at me as if I were her last hope. “Juliette, if you tell the truth and name the man who hurt me, I won’t jump.”

I smiled coldly and said, “Even if you die right in front of me, I’ll never say it.”

My young mother fell to her knees before Zara, slamming her head to the ground again and again.

“Zara, Mom begs you not to jump! Please, Mom can’t live without you!”

Her cries were full of pain, but Zara didn’t move at all.

Bang. In an instant, that once-living soul disappeared before everyone’s eyes.

My mother spat blood as she let out a broken scream, crawling forward on shaking arms to hold her daughter’s cold body.

“Ah! My Zara!”

Even after thirty years, the memory still felt painfully clear.

Tears slid down Owen’s face. When he turned and saw mine, his eyes filled with anger. “Don’t act like you care! Your sister died because of you!”

“If you really feel guilty, then tell us who killed her!”

I bit my lips and shook my head with pain in my eyes. Seeing that I wouldn’t speak, his gaze turned cold. “Then go die.”

Owen tapped the control panel, switching the footage to the day Zara was attacked.

The sound of tearing fabric echoed through the hall, making everyone’s chest tighten.

“Let me go…”

“Please, I’m begging you, let me go…”

In the darkness, Zara’s desperate cries rang out, sending chills through the crowd.

Owen stared at the screen, his body shaking.

All eyes were fixed on the display, but it showed nothing but complete darkness.

“What’s going on?”

“Why can’t we see anything? Did the machine break?”

“That’s impossible! The Memory Extractor shows exactly what the person saw!”