"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."