Chapter 5

Katherine yelled, "Officers, that's him! He drugged me at the party and raped me! Arrest him!"

My coworkers were stunned, and the office erupted into whispers.

"Wait, is that why Katherine went after Daniel last time?"

"But wasn't Katherine the one who got locked up for seven days? Daniel didn't get into any trouble."

"Didn't Daniel say something about a manager last time? Maybe there's been some kind of misunderstanding."

"Still, Katherine wouldn't risk her reputation just to frame Daniel, would she? What would she gain from that?"

Katherine's latest false accusation caught me off guard.

I took a deep breath, forced down my anger, and turned to the police officers. "Officers, she's lying. I've already reported this to the police. She's deliberately trying to frame me."

When Frank heard about the commotion, he came over. After asking a few coworkers what had happened, he approached the officers and shook their hands.

"Officers, could there be some mistake? She was detained for disorderly conduct just last week. As far as I know, someone else was suspected of assaulting her."

Katherine immediately snapped back. "That's a completely different matter! I'm talking about what happened at the party! Daniel Hayes is the one who drugged me! And now you're defending him? Are you trying to protect a rapist?"

The party had been a business networking event with one of our partner companies. I was the main contact for the project, William was the manager in charge, and Katherine had only attended because William had specifically asked her to come.

At first, Katherine had been thrilled, thinking she'd finally earned the manager's trust. She hadn't expected things to turn out this way.

The event had been held at a private club with no security cameras. Everyone who attended had business ties to our company, so they were unlikely to testify against William. That made it easier for Katherine to pin everything on me instead.

I knew that arguing with her in front of everyone would only make things worse, so I turned to the officers. "Officers, I'm willing to come down to the station and cooperate with your investigation.

"I've done nothing wrong, and I'm confident you'll find out what really happened and clear my name."

The officers nodded and told me to come with them.

Before leaving, I glanced at Frank and was surprised to see that he actually looked a little worried.

At the police station, I told the officers everything I'd seen at the party, leaving nothing out.

One of them frowned and asked, "If you saw him drug her drink, why didn't you say something or try to stop him?"

I smiled bitterly. "Officer, you've seen what happened. I stayed out of it, and she's already dragged me into this mess and accused me of something I didn't do. If I'd actually stepped in, things could've been even worse for me.

"Besides, Katherine and I are just coworkers. Whatever happens to her is none of my business. Why should I risk ruining my own life to save someone who might turn around and stab me in the back?"

The officers fell silent.

After what I'd been through in my previous life, I doubted anyone in my position would be willing to help so readily again.

For the rest of the interview, I answered every question truthfully without making anything up. My story remained consistent throughout.

Katherine, on the other hand, had told the officers at the other station that I'd stood by and refused to help her. Now she was insisting that I'd drugged and sexually assaulted her. Her stories were full of contradictions.

After repeatedly checking with officers at the other station and comparing our statements, the police eventually released me pending further investigation.

I'd barely stepped out of the interview room when I ran into Katherine, who had also just finished giving her statement.

The moment she saw me walking out without a scratch, she flew into a rage and rushed toward the officers.