Chapter 2

2

Caleb rushed to the officers, pointing at his bleeding lip.

"Officer, I want to report him! He's framing Maisie!"

"I tried to help her, and he attacked me. Everyone here saw it! You have to arrest him!"

I ignored him and handed the broken phone to the officer.

"He snatched my phone and smashed it. Everyone saw that, too."

The guys who had been pushing me started yelling again. "He framed her! He deserved to have his phone smashed. If it were me, I would have beaten him up!"

"Yeah, college kids these days are sick. If they can't have a girl, they try to ruin her."

I looked at them coldly before turning my gaze to the victim.

The man was middle-aged and wore a heavy gold chain. He had been watching the drama with interest, saying nothing.

When he caught my eye, he finally stood up from the sofa. He had his assistant hand a phone to the police.

"I had the manager pull the security footage. This girl intentionally spilled a drink on me so she could lift my wallet."

The room went dead silent.

In my last life, I refused to believe Maisie was a thief. I fought for her until this man showed the video.

The footage was high-definition. There was no room for lies.

The officer walked over to Maisie. "Young lady, come with us."

Caleb tried to argue, but the officer cut him off. "You too."

The man with the gold chain and I followed them to the station.

Shortly after we arrived, our professor, Maisie's mother, and Caleb's father all showed up.

When Caleb's father heard he had to pay fifteen hundred dollars for my phone, he slapped his son hard.

"I had to borrow money for your tuition, and now you're causing this kind of trouble? I should kill you!"

Caleb glared at me. "I broke your phone, but you punched me. We're even!"

I couldn't help but laugh.

"The punch I gave you didn't even cause a real injury. I'll pay your twenty-dollar medical bill, but you're paying the full price for my phone."

On the other side of the room, Maisie's mother heard her daughter might be detained. She knelt on the floor, sobbing and begging the man with the gold chain.

"Please don't press charges. She worked so hard to get into college. A criminal record will ruin her life!"

Looking at her, I felt a pang of guilt.

I knew Maisie's family was struggling. Her mother used to sell snacks on the street just to pay for her books.

I used to secretly give her mother money. I even took her to the hospital and paid her bills when she was sick.

In my twenty years of cold marriage, Maisie's mother was the only one who ever showed me any warmth.

But it wasn't my fault she had a daughter like Maisie.