Chapter 2

Leo smirked and added, "Mia was switched at birth. Her adoptive parents died when she was young, and she spent more than a decade in foster care before the Reeses found her. But instead of caring about what she'd been through, they looked down on her for being unrefined and not fitting into their social circle. They didn't even dare acknowledge her in public. Am I right, Counselor Reese?"

Nathan scoffed. "What right does a murderer have to discuss my family's private affairs? If you ask me, Mia put you up to this little performance in court, just to humiliate us in public."

Leo sneered. "Please. I don't take orders from some girl."

He let out a long sigh. "Poor thing. Dead for a whole year, and her own family doesn't even know. Worse, they suspect her of conspiring with her own killer."

The murmurs in the courtroom grew louder.

"He sounds so certain. You don't think it's actually true?"

"Their own daughter vanishes for a year and they don't go looking for her? That's cold-blooded."

"If she's really dead, these parents are beyond negligent..."

Even hearing all this, the Reeses didn't lose their composure.

Nathan's tone was mocking. "You say Mia's been dead for a year? Then how did she post on Instagram just two weeks ago?"

Leo tilted his head, grinning wider. "Those photos were all pulled from the internet. They didn't even bother removing the watermarks. And you actually thought she posted them herself?"

Ada couldn't hide her disdain. "She grew up running wild out there. Putting on airs is nothing new for her. Using stock photos and claiming they're hers? That's exactly the kind of thing she'd do."

Her voice turned weary, as though she'd been hurt one too many times. "From the moment we brought her home, she had it out for Vera. She even accused Vera of stealing from her. Then, a year ago, she went too far. We scolded her, and she ran away. We haven't heard a word from her since.

"We didn't look for her because we refused to indulge her habit of disappearing the moment things don't go her way, just to threaten us." Ada looked up at Leo. "Now she's roped you into this little act just for the attention. She's played this card too many times."

I hovered above the gallery, and a sudden ache pierced my chest.

Accused Vera of stealing?

It was Mom's first birthday after I'd been brought home.

I'd spent more than six months washing dishes at a restaurant, saving every penny to buy her a bracelet. I even carved her name inside it myself, one letter at a time.

I thought she'd be happy to get it.

But at the party, Vera walked up carrying an identical gift box. The wrapping paper, the ribbon, even the crooked engraving on the inside of the bracelet, all exactly the same.

She smiled at Mom. "Happy birthday, Mom."

I lost it. I rushed up and grabbed her. "That bracelet is mine! You stole it from me!"

The answer came as Dad's palm cracked across my face.

The condemnation in his eyes was cold enough to burn. "Mia, are you done making a scene? Vera would never steal anything. Using a trick this low to frame her, aren't you ashamed?"

I cried and tried to explain. I told them I'd carved the letters myself.

But Mom only frowned. "It's okay if you didn't get me anything, sweetheart. I won't blame you. But you can't take credit for Vera's gift, and you certainly can't lie about it."

So even with the evidence right in front of them, it didn't matter.

Their hearts had already chosen sides. Everything I said was wrong.

Now I was dead, and they still didn't believe me. They still thought this was just another one of my schemes for attention.

Leo spoke up from the defense table, mockery written all over his face. "She wasn't playing some disappearing act. She reached out to you before she died. It was you two, her own parents, who pushed her straight to her death.

"That night, I was even kind enough to give her two chances to call for help. The first call, nobody picked up. The second one, well, Counselor Reese, you answered that one..."