Chapter 1

On my third day working as a rideshare driver, I picked up a dead-drunk female passenger.

The very next morning, the police were banging on my front door.

At the precinct, that same passenger pointed right at my face and screamed bloody murder.

"It was this driver! He took advantage of me being wasted in the car and assaulted me! I am still bleeding down there!"

Her boyfriend lunged forward to beat the hell out of me, but the officers held him back with all their might.

Bystanders in the lobby pulled out their phones to record, hurling insults at me like "scumbag" and "sick freak."

The officer scowled and asked me, "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

I calmly took off my baseball cap and reached down, ready to unhook my chest binder.

"Officer, I am just a little curious."

"I am a biological woman. What weapon could I possibly have to make her bleed down there?"

1

The young officer taking notes froze, his eyes scanning my flat chest and lack of an Adam's apple.

To stay safe while driving the late-night shifts, I had deliberately cropped my hair into a buzz cut.

I wore a chest binder and purposely pitched my voice lower.

Coupled with my five-foot-nine height, it was indeed easy to mistake me for a guy.

The officer cleared his throat. "Let me see your ID."

I pulled out my driver's license and slapped it onto the desk.

Under the gender column, it clearly read: Female.

After checking the database, the officer's expression softened considerably as he turned to Candice Little.

"Take a good look. The driver is a woman. How could she possibly assault you like that?"

"This has got to be a misunderstanding. Did you have too much to drink and mix things up?"

Candice stared at my license, her eyes nearly popping out of her skull.

Her face was filled with utter disbelief.

"Impossible! That ID is a fake!"

She shrieked and lunged forward, grabbing my collar.

"He is a man! I felt it! The brute force he had in the car was definitely a man's!"

"Officers, do not let him fool you! He must have had surgery, or he is some sick crossdresser!"

I slapped her hands away and said coldly, "Lady, do you want me to drop my pants right here so you can inspect the merchandise?"

Candice was about to throw another tantrum, but the officer sternly cut her off.

"This is a police precinct! Keep making a scene and we will lock you up for disorderly conduct!"

"Our system confirms the driver is biologically female with no record of gender reassignment."

The officer's words settled the matter once and for all.

Her boyfriend Chad Miller turned beet red, staring at Candice with growing suspicion.

"Candice... didn't you say he was the one who made you bleed?"

"If she is a woman, then what the hell happened to you down there?"

Candice panicked.

She suddenly clutched her stomach, dropped to the floor, and began wailing.

"I don't know! All I know is I fell asleep in that car and woke up like that!"

"Chad, are you even a real man? I went through hell and you are doubting me?!"

The crowd that had begun dispersing crowded back around upon hearing this.

Someone whispered, "That makes sense. Maybe she got a fake ID just to touch female passengers."

"There are so many creeps in the world these days."

The officer was clearly fed up with the woman's irrational drama.

"Enough! We need hard evidence."

"Do you have a dashcam recording in your car?" the officer asked me.

I nodded. "Yes, but the memory card got full last night. I don't know if it overwrote the footage. I need to take it home and extract the files."

"Leave the device with us for now, and both parties can head home to wait for updates."

I signed the paperwork, put my cap back on, and prepared to leave.

The moment I stepped out of the precinct, Candice rushed out after me.

She grabbed my sleeve with venom in her eyes.

"Do not think you can get away with this!"

"You made Chad fight with me. This is far from over!"

I yanked my arm away. "You are completely psycho. Go get your head checked."

I thought this was just a ridiculous circus.

As soon as the dashcam footage was retrieved, my name would be cleared.

But I severely underestimated how truly evil this woman could be.