Chapter 6

Katherine snapped, "Why aren't you arresting him? He's the one who sexually assaulted me! If you let him go, he'll just do it again! You're practically letting him get away with it!"

The police officer who'd questioned us frowned, his voice stern. "We don't have any evidence to back up your accusations right now, so we have to let him go. We'll keep investigating and let you know when we have an update."

Katherine grew even more agitated and started shouting. "I saw it with my own eyes! Daniel Hayes is the one who did it! You're not doing your jobs!"

I stood off to the side and spoke up coldly. "Officers, you heard that, right? She's already making false accusations against me, and now she's accusing you of not doing your jobs. She'll say anything to get her way."

The officer's expression darkened, and he cut her off sharply. "We'll investigate this properly and make sure you get an answer. But if you keep making baseless accusations, we'll have to take action against you!"

Katherine fell silent, intimidated by his warning. But she quickly lifted her chin and glared at me. "You did it! I'm not letting you get away with this!"

I walked slowly toward her. "You can twist the story all you want, but it won't change what really happened. We both know whether I assaulted you or not.

"Do you seriously think you can fool the police? Once the truth comes out, I'll make sure you face the consequences for filing a false report and trying to frame me. I'm not letting this slide."

Katherine looked away for a moment, and a flicker of uncertainty crossed her face. But she quickly regained her composure, gritting her teeth as she stood her ground. "I'm just trying to get justice for what happened to me! You can't scare me!"

I shrugged, unfazed. "Say whatever you want. The truth will come out eventually."

With that, I turned my back on her and walked straight out of the police station.

A few days later, a post titled "Coworker Drugged Me at a Company Party, Then I Got Detained for Seeking Justice" went viral online.

In the post, Katherine portrayed herself as the victim, tearfully accusing a former coworker of drugging her at a company party and sexually assaulting her while she was unconscious.

She claimed she'd been detained for seven days simply because she'd gotten carried away while trying to get justice.

She even filmed herself crying, making herself look as helpless and pitiful as possible.

She also posted my employee ID photo and personal information online. She'd barely bothered to blur the screenshots, deliberately leaving my face and personal details clearly visible.

My phone immediately blew up with abusive texts and calls. The messages kept coming, and my phone barely stopped ringing.

Some of the self-proclaimed vigilantes she'd riled up even managed to track down Mom's home address.

Dad had died when I was young, leaving Mom to raise me on her own. She'd worked herself to the bone to give me a decent life.

Now that I finally had a stable job, I'd hoped she could enjoy a peaceful retirement. Instead, because of me, she was being dragged into this nightmare all over again.

That evening, as I was returning home from work, I spotted Mom outside our apartment building. Several people wearing black face masks had surrounded her and were shoving her around.

My heart sank, and I immediately rushed over.