chapter 5

Inside the interrogation room sat a disheveled woman. Her face matched perfectly with the killer from my memories.

I held my breath and started walking closer, wanting to ask her some questions, but a police officer stopped me.

"She's been having meltdowns for hours now. Her emotions are all over the place—you should stay back."

The woman looked up when she heard voices. The second she saw me, she got worked up again.

She raised her handcuffed hands and pointed right at me. "It's you! This is all your fault!"

"What did I do?"

She stared at me with pure hatred. "Don't act innocent. I know exactly what you did. You returned stuff you damaged, left bad reviews, got people to report my store. You destroyed my business."

If she hadn't said it herself, I never would have believed Barbara could be this ruthless in her scheme to frame me.

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but suddenly there was chaos at the door.

A frail, gray-haired old woman pushed past the officers and rushed straight at me.

Before I could react, she dropped to her knees in front of me with a loud thud.

"What are you doing?" I stepped back, startled, but the old woman grabbed onto my legs and wouldn't let go.

"Please don't arrest her! Don't send her to prison! She just made a mistake!"

I stood there completely confused by what was happening.

Meanwhile, the woman in the interrogation room got even more agitated, her eyes bloodshot with rage.

"Mom! Don't beg this person! She's the reason we're in this mess!"

The old woman snapped back harshly, "Shut your mouth! Haven't you caused enough trouble? Do you want to kill me with stress before you're satisfied?"

The whole scene turned into chaos. The police had to step in and separate both women, putting them in different rooms to cool down.

I learned that the woman's name was Sarah Quinn, and she was a livestream influencer who sold products online.

The older woman was her mother, who had just been diagnosed with liver cancer a few months ago.

Sarah had been working around the clock to pay for her mother's medical bills. The stress and exhaustion had finally broken her—both physically and mentally.

When Barbara pulled her latest scam, it was the last straw that pushed Sarah completely over the edge. She couldn't control herself anymore and came straight to my door.

I hadn't expected her to be such a tragic figure. Here was a woman whose mother was dying, getting scammed by people like Barbara, and now, she'd probably spend the rest of her life in prison.

I tried explaining the truth to her over and over, but nothing seemed to register. She just sat there, completely numb.

"My life's already ruined anyway," she whispered, like someone who'd given up completely. "Nothing matters anymore."

She sounded like she was already dead inside. But then I said something that changed everything.

"I know a really good internal medicine doctor. Maybe she could take another look at your mother's case and see if there are other options."

Sarah's head snapped up. For the first time, I saw a spark of hope flicker in her empty eyes.

I knew this incident would only be classified as harassment at most. Sarah wouldn't go to prison—maybe a few days in detention for education.

But to protect myself and make sure she couldn't come back to kill me later, I had to do this.

"Though I can't guarantee how well the treatment will work," I added.

Sarah got so emotional she tried to drop to her knees to thank me, but I caught her arm.

"Don't thank me yet. I have one condition—you and your mother move out of state and never come back."

"I promise! Whatever you want, I'll do it!"

I couldn't stop her this time. She dropped down and banged her head against the floor over and over until blood appeared on her forehead.

Her mother calmed down too, and the two of them held each other crying.

I couldn't stand watching this scene, so I turned to leave. But Sarah called out to me and pulled a bunch of stuff from her bag.

"Someone sent me all this anonymously after we had our fight. From what I know, I wasn't the only one who got it."

There were photos of me, pictures of my house number, even my daily route to and from work. They'd included my best friend's home address too.

Rage hit me like a tidal wave. I gathered up all the evidence and headed straight home. The moment I walked through the door, I slammed everything down in front of Barbara.

Seeing the evidence, Barbara couldn't keep up the act anymore.

I pointed at her accusingly, my voice shaking with anger. "Why? All these years, I never did anything to hurt you, but you tried to get me killed!"

Now that she was caught, she dropped the innocent act completely. Her true face came out.

"How can you say you never hurt me? Your whole family wronged me!" She was getting hysterical now. "I raised Jake so well, and how did your family repay me?"

She grabbed the fruit bowl from the table and hurled it straight at Matthew's urn. Her face twisted with rage.

"That dead bastard left everything to his son in his will! Not a single penny for me!"

Then she pointed at my belly, her eyes narrowing. "And you, you lying bitch. All that talk about never wanting marriage, but here you are trying to have a baby so it can get part of the inheritance!

"You disgusting people! Calling yourselves family—what a joke!"

I had never known that Matthew had actually written a will before he died. The will had left everything to my nephew Jake.

That explained why Barbara had stayed with our family all these years, never remarrying. She knew that if she left, she wouldn't get a dime.

That was the real reason she had played the grieving widow for so long.