He grabbed my chin and turned my face to the crowd, "Look! Everyone, just look! If she didn't take it, then why does she look so guilty?"

Neighbors and passersby started criticizing me, "These days, bride prices are always in the tens of thousands. For an average family, that's their life savings!"

"Young lady, it's better to part amicably and return the money."

"Stop defending her. Who knows, maybe this is her regular scheme."

Standing at the doorway, my mother listened to everyone's accusations. Like a protective lioness, she pulled me away from Thomas and shielded me behind her.

I stared at her back, red-eyed, as she faced the mob alone for my sake, "What exorbitant bride price! It was clearly just 18,800 dollars. If even that is too much for Thomas's family, how could I dare let my daughter marry into such poverty?"

The clenching of Thomas's fists told me his patience was hanging by a thread. When we were together, there had been a bond of mutual understanding.

We both came from single-parent families. Life hadn't been easy for our mothers, so our engagement was just a simple family meal and a brief ceremony. But I never expected him to use the bride price as leverage against me.

"Mrs. Reed, I truly admire you for raising Olivia on your own. It's not easy, but …" Thomas covered his face, "I need to say this, my mother has it tough too. If I'd known back then that the deal was for 18.800 dollars, this marriage wouldn't have happened!"

Seeing my mother on the verge of erupting, I quickly patted her chest to calm her down. While comforting her, I searched her pocket for her emergency heart medication.

Thomas noticed my flustered behavior and his expression faltered briefly.

Just as my mother swallowed the pill, we heard Mrs. Royce rushing over, crying, with his childhood friend, Tara Dissick, in tow. As they ran, Mrs. Royce shouted loudly, "This is a fraud! A fraud!"

I felt a surge of relief, thank goodness my mother had taken her medicine. In my previous life, Mrs. Royce had been relentless and aggressive.

Her sudden appearance this time couldn't mean anything good. As expected…

"Officers, look here! I have evidence," Mrs. Royce proclaimed.

Tara, ever so dutiful, handed her tissues while helping her open her phone to show the police.

Hearing the mention of evidence, my mother grasped my arm tightly. Our eyes met, both filled with confusion.

The police officer looked at the video and asked me seriously, "Miss Reed, please review this footage. Do you have any objections to its authenticity?"

I glanced at the video. The beginning showed Mrs. Royce preparing the bride price alone, none of us were present. The later footage showed our happy engagement meal, with everyone cheerful as we finalized the ceremony.

In the video, it was clear the cash Mrs. Royce placed in the gift box exceeded 18,800 dollars. Until the moment we took the gift box away, no one had touched it.

My brows furrowed. In my previous life, they had never produced such a video.

Before I could react, Mrs. Royce sat down on the ground, wailing, "I worked so hard to send Thomas to school by myself. Life has been tough enough! Originally, we agreed on 18,800 dollars, but the night before the engagement, the family raised the price! I thought Thomas really liked this woman, so I gave up all my savings."

"I assumed Thomas and Olivia had come to an agreement. Everything was so rushed that I didn't ask too many questions. But who knew even Thomas didn't know about this? Now that we've come to claim the money, they're pretending it never happened! My hard-earned savings!" she whined.

The onlookers were curious about the so-called evidence.

Tara, helping Mrs. Royce wipe her tears, took the opportunity to share the video link with everyone, "Everyone, take a look! Mrs. Royce is such a kind and honest woman. Thomas's engagement should've been a joyful event, but the more they thought about it, the more suspicious they felt. Imagine, raising the price on the bride price and even Thomas didn't know about it!"

"So ... so it feels like a scam!" Tara glanced at me timidly, as if she were scared.

Her gentle explanation, coupled with her fragile and innocent demeanor, quickly earned the trust of many.

Thomas pointed at me, giving his final ultimatum, "Olivia, give the money back to my mom and we'll drop this matter."

I sneered and slapped his hand away, "Even if we go to court, I'll say the same thing. We only received 18,800 dollars as the bride price and I've already transferred it back to your account. Whether you accept it or not is up to you!"

I turned to the police, "Officer, I request a thorough check of the video's integrity. If there's a missing segment before we took the gift box, the video cannot be used as evidence."

I glanced at Mrs. Royce, my tone calm, "After all, the missing footage might be when someone took part of the bride price. As for who that might be? Only someone aware of the raised price would know when to take the money."

Mrs. Royce jumped up from the ground upon hearing my words, "What are you implying? The one who raised the price was your mother!"

My mom, struggling to contain her anger, defended herself firmly, "I, Lilian Reed, have always been honest and straightforward. I never asked for the bride price twice!"

Mrs. Royce looked furious. Thomas grabbed a bottle of water and hurled it at me.

Before I could dodge, a sharp pain shot through my eye. "Ah!" I cried out, my mother's worried voice echoing beside me.

Before I could recover, Thomas shoved his mom's phone into my face. The cold and sharp edge of the phone hit the same spot, causing another stab of pain. "Look! Look at this message from your oh-so-good mother!" he shouted.

I struggled to open my teary, blurred eyes. The WhatsApp message read: [In-law, the bride price is 188,800 dollars. Otherwise, don't expect to see Olivia tomorrow!]

Tara added fuel to the fire, "Mrs. Royce stayed up all night trying to gather the money. It caused her chronic headaches to flare up for days!"

I stared at the message. Its assertive tone didn't seem like something my mom would say. But the account in the chat window was indeed hers.

Before the police could step in, Tara turned to my mom, her voice gentle, "Mrs. Reed, may I see your phone to confirm your chat history with Mrs. Royce?"

My mom's visible panic made my heart sink.

Seeing this, Mrs. Royce immediately pressed further, "Take it out! Lilian!"

Fidgeting with her clothes, my mom stammered after a long pause, "I ... I deleted the chats."

Mrs. Royce keeps berating, "Feeling guilty, are you, Lilian? Why are you delete the chat history? Show us your phone! Let's see if you only deleted mine or everyone else's as well! If it's just mine, you're clearly guilty!"

***

"Exactly! Let's have a look!" Once again, the crowd's words became daggers aimed at us.

"She seemed honest, but who knew?"

"Unbelievable. She wouldn't even take small advantages while buying groceries."

"You don't get it. Petty gains are nothing!"

"Plenty of people like to act virtuous while doing shady things."

My mom's chest rose and fell rapidly. Her face turned pale as she muttered intermittently, "I ... I didn't ..."

I panicked, utterly at a loss. Had my rebirth been for nothing? Was I doomed to repeat the same fate?

Eyes rimmed red, I looked at Thomas and pleaded in a low voice, "Can we not talk about this for now? My mom has a heart condition. Regardless of who took the money, this is too much for her to bear today."

Thomas hesitated briefly, but Tara interrupted him effortlessly. "Thomas, this message was personally sent by Mrs. Reed. That money is your mother's hard-earned savings. It can't just disappear like that. Even if you love Olivia deeply, you can't wrong your own mother, right?"

Tara glanced at Mrs. Royce. Right on cue, Mrs. Royce feigned frailty and said shakily, "Forget it ... forget it, Thomas. As long as you're happy."

Their coordinated performance inflamed the crowd. Garbage bags and vegetable scraps started flying toward my mom and me.

"Having neighbors like this is disgraceful!"

"No wonder their quality of life is so high, big meals every day. Turns out this is their 'business.'"

"You don't say. They probably have other 'sources of income' too!"

Thomas turned to me, his expression dawning with a mix of suspicion and contempt, "Huh, I've always wondered how you can dress so well all the time. Now it makes sense."

"Same single-parent household, but what an 'outstanding' example you've set. This has to end today." Thomas's resolute stance and Tara's and his mother's smug expressions pushed me to rapidly piece together the situation.

A spark of clarity hit me. After steadying my mom, I approached the officer, "Officer, I'd like to report a theft, she stole the money!" I pointed directly at Tara, my gaze unwavering.

A flicker of panic crossed Tara's face before she plastered on an innocent look, "Olivia, you may have freedom of speech, but you need evidence to back your accusations! I was just trying to help Mrs. Royce and Thomas. Pointing fingers at me out of nowhere, don't you think that's unfair?"

I leaned closer, smiling faintly, "My mom's phone went missing the day before our engagement. You're the one who returned it."

Tara grabbed Thomas's sleeve anxiously, "Thomas, you were there that day. Shouldn't I return a lost phone to its owner?"

Murmurs rippled through the crowd, "She even returned the phone and is now being accused? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. It's hard to be a good person nowadays!"

Thomas's eyes bore into mine with disappointment, "Haven't you had enough of this nonsense? Can't you just return the money? I never said I wouldn't marry you!" His words stunned me.

"You seriously think I'd still marry you?" I asked back. Thomas was visibly flustered, his face turning crimson.

Mrs. Royce jabbed her finger at me, one hand on her hip, "Olivia, you've always acted so well-behaved! Who knew this was your true self? Tara only wanted to help us and you drag her down with your baseless accusations! Thomas gave you an out, are you really not going to take it?"

"I'm telling you, Tara has already told me, if Thomas is willing, she doesn't even need a bride price!" She smugly looked me over, "Be a good woman and return the money so we can end this. Let Thomas focus on marrying Tara. College girls these days, worse than high schoolers when it comes to understanding decency!"

"Oh?" I smirked, calm and unshaken, "Then allow me to congratulate you both in advance."

Their attempts to humiliate me didn't faze me. I didn't feel any loss at all about the broken engagement.

I said, "I'll say it again, I only received 18,800 dollars, which has already been returned. And I stand by my accusation against Tara. I have three reasons, first, she has the motive, she wants to marry Thomas and break off our engagement."

"Second, as a hotel employee, she likely used her position to obtain and manipulate the video footage."

"Third, when my mom's phone went missing, Tara was the one who returned it. At that time, I had barely met her and my mom didn't even know her. How did she manage to locate my mom so precisely? It's hard not to question her intentions."