Chapter 4

Just as my heart turned to ash, the static on the big screen cleared, and a bright, blinding memory popped up.

It was from our university days—the three of us.

Lily, wearing a white dress, ran toward me laughing like an angel.

Around her neck hung a dazzling sapphire necklace. It was her coming-of-age gift for her eighteenth birthday, worth a fortune.

"Elara! Look!"

Excitedly, Lily took the necklace off and clasped it around my neck without taking no for an answer.

"I had this custom-made. It’s the Gemini necklace—one for each of us! You have to wear it forever, just like we’ll be together forever!"

In the footage, I stroked the necklace, smiling so happily, my eyes filled with emotion.

Seeing this scene, Kael's eyes went unfocused for a moment back in the present.

We really were that happy back then.

But a split second later, the tone shifted drastically.

The girl who swore to "wear it forever" was now standing at a counter, hurriedly slamming that sapphire necklace—the symbol of our friendship—onto the table.

"Boss, I’m selling it outright. No redemption."

"I need cash, fast."

The owner lowballed me, but I didn't even haggle. I grabbed the thick stack of cash and ran headfirst into the rain without looking back.

The crowd instantly exploded.

"Oh my god! That was Lily's keepsake!"

"She turned around and sold it? Was this woman insane for money?"

Seraphina let out a scoff, walked up to Kael, and spoke into the microphone:

"Kael, did you see that? This is her so-called sisterhood."

"If she could sell a precious heirloom from her best friend without blinking, is it really surprising that she hid the truth about Lily's death for a hush money fee?"

Kael's face turned ashen instantly.

He stared deathly hard at the screen.

"Elara... you actually sold that..."

However, the memory went deeper.

The camera followed my running figure through the streets and alleys.

Finally, I stopped in front of a dilapidated apartment.

That was ten years ago, the place where Kael, after a failed startup and burdened with massive debt, had nearly committed suicide.

In the footage, a young and hot-headed Kael sat dejectedly among scattered wine bottles, a handful of sleeping pills poised at his mouth.

"Kael! Don't do it!"

I kicked the door open, rushed in, and knocked the pills out of his hand.

Then, with trembling hands, I shoved the black bag filled with the cash from the necklace into his arms.

"I got the money! It's all here!"

"This is enough to pay off your debts and restart the project!"

"Kael, you're a genius. You can't end it here!"

On the screen, Kael hugged the money and cried like a child. He held me tight and swore:

"Elara, when I make my comeback, I promise to give you the best life. I will never let you down!"

In reality, a deathly silence fell over the venue.

Kael stumbled back two steps, looking at the scene in disbelief.

I had never told him the source of those "mysterious funds" that saved his life.

He never imagined that money came from trading Lily's necklace!

That was Lily's most treasured possession, yet I had used it to save his life.

Kael felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing his heart, the pain making it impossible to breathe.

Anger, guilt, and sorrow intertwined. He had almost forgotten how pathetic he had been in that moment.

It turned out the Elara from back then was truly that good.

She had once borne the infamy of selling her best friend's gift just to save him.

"Why..."

Kael looked at me with red-rimmed eyes, his voice hoarse:

"Since you loved me so much, since you were so kind... why did you turn into that person later?"

Before his question could land, the memory shifted again.

This time, the warmth was gone, replaced by a cold, corporate atmosphere.

It was the year Kael's company faced its biggest crisis.

Inside a dimly lit café.

Wearing a baseball cap, I slid a black USB drive across the table to a rival—a commercial spy with a fleshy face.

"This is the source code for Kael's latest algorithm."

My voice sounded unnaturally calm in the footage, almost cold:

"Wire the money to this account. I'll send the password after."

"With this, Kael's company is finished."

*Boom*—!

Kael, who had just begun to waver, felt like he had been plunged into an ice cave the moment he saw this.

That was the project he had poured his heart and soul into!

That was the leak that nearly bankrupted his company and ruined his reputation!

He had spent three whole months investigating but never found the mole.

It turned out to be you!

"Elara!!!"

Kael let out a furious roar, veins bulging on his neck. The pity in his eyes instantly transformed into monstrous hatred.

"It was you who sold me out!"

"I trusted you with everything, and you stabbed me in the back!"

The audience was filled with righteous indignation:

"I knew she was faking it! The good deeds earlier were just the long con!"

"Corporate spy! Shameless traitor!"

"Mr.Simpson, this woman isn't worth pitying! Kill her!"

Only I knew the truth.

The perspective of the memory was limited. The crowd only saw me handing over the USB drive.

They didn't see that under the table, the spy was holding a detonator.

No one knew that at that moment, Kael was being held hostage in an abandoned factory. If I didn't hand over the code, Kael would have been blown to pieces.

And no one knew that the USB drive didn't contain the core code at all, but a virus program I had written overnight, powerful enough to destroy the enemy's system.

But I had no strength left to explain, and even if I did, no one would believe me.

Just as the crowd's emotions were whipped into a frenzy, the memory screen shook violently again.

Time rewound to that suffocating rainy night.

The night Lily died.

Rain poured down like a waterfall, and lightning tore through the night sky.

In the footage, I was soaked to the bone, kneeling on the muddy riverbank.

In front of me lay Lily's pale, breathless body.

"Lily! Wake up! Please, don't leave me!"

I even took off my jacket, desperately trying to warm her stiffening hands, calling her name in vain over and over again.

That despair, that heart-wrenching pain, made everyone present feel suffocated, even through the screen.

"Mommy..."

Just then, in reality, Daisy, who had been hiding behind Kael, suddenly burst into loud sobs.

The child pointed at her mother's body on the big screen, her small frame trembling violently:

"That's Mommy... Why won't Mommy get up..."

Daisy's crying awakened Kael's rationality.

He looked at the screen, where I was crying to the point of fainting.

If I were to betray Lily for the sake of money, why would I cry more despairingly than her own family?

Kael's eyes turned red.

He rushed over to me in a few steps, gripping the arms of the chair tightly, his voice trembling uncontrollably:

"Elara, tell me..."

"Since you're in so much pain, since you cared about Lily so much... why won't you name the killer?!"

"What are you hiding?!"

I couldn't see his expression because my vision was blurred by blood and tears.

But I could feel his hesitation.

Seraphina acutely sensed the change in Kael's emotions.

"Kael! Don't let her fool you!"

Seraphina screamed and lunged at the control console:

"She's resisting the critical memory! She's trying to alter the footage!"

"The killer's face is about to appear, and she's fighting it with everything she has!"

"If we don't increase the current to break her defense, we'll never know the truth!"

Without giving Kael a chance to react, she twisted the dial to lethal levels with a ferocious expression!

"Die!"

Zzzzt—!

A terrifying current instantly surged through my entire body.

"Ugh, ahhh—!!!"

I let out a scream that didn't sound human. My body went rigid, then slumped heavily into the chair like a kite with its string cut.

My heart almost stopped.