Chapter 4

Dad whipped around to face Mom. "She came back? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid you'd get upset, so I didn't." Mom took a deep breath, the words tumbling out fast. "Last month, I drank a glass of water at home and passed out. By the time I came to, I was in the hospital. Vera noticed something was wrong and called 911.

"I broke out in a rash all over my body and could barely breathe. The doctors found a sleep medication in my system. You know I'm severely allergic to it." Her voice shook with barely suppressed fury. "When I woke up, I found the biometric safe at home had been tampered with. The jewelry and gold bars inside were all gone. The front-door camera caught a girl bundled up head to toe, punching in our gate code like she knew the place by heart. Who else could it have been but Mia?

"She knew perfectly well that I'm allergic to that medication, and she drugged me anyway just to steal from us. She didn't care if I lived or died! If Vera hadn't come home when she did, I might be dead." Mom grew more worked up with every word, her chest heaving.

"We're both respected attorneys, yet we somehow raised someone with no respect for the law. If she weren't our own flesh and blood, I would've had her arrested long ago! An ungrateful wretch like her, dead? She's probably living it up somewhere with our jewelry!"

The tide of public opinion shifted again in an instant.

"Drugs, debts, robbery, and she even tried to kill her own mother? That's pure evil."

"No wonder the Reeses disowned her. I'd do the same."

"Born rotten. What a curse on the family."

The accusations and insults came one after another, all heaped onto me, a girl who had been dead for a year.

Dad turned back to Leo. "Anything else to say? Still going to insist you killed Mia?"

There wasn't a shred of alarm on Leo's face, as though his lie hadn't been exposed at all. He sighed leisurely. "How pathetic. The girl's been dead for nearly a year, and her own mother is still dragging her name through the mud."

A sardonic smile tugged at his lips. "Mrs. Reese, are you so certain the person who drugged you and robbed you was your biological daughter, Mia? Why couldn't it have been your precious adopted daughter, Vera?"

"Impossible!" Ada shot back without a second's thought. "We raised Vera ourselves. I know exactly what kind of person she is. She's kind and timid. She wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone do something like this!

"Leo, I don't know what you're trying to accomplish with these lies, but Mia is absolutely not dead. So stop trying to drive a wedge between me and Vera."

"Is that so?" Leo raised his eyebrows. "Since you still don't believe me, I'll tell you where Mia's body is. Have the police search the place, and you'll see if I'm lying."

His gaze settled on Dad again. "But in exchange, Counselor Reese, you'll have to ask that 'noble-minded' mentor of yours to take over my defense. Once you're confirmed as a victim's father, the conflict will force you off my case. What do you say? Fair deal, isn't it?"

Dad's rage hit its peak. He ground out each word through clenched teeth. "Fine. You have a deal! If they really find her body, I'll personally ask my mentor to defend you and keep you off death row. But if you're lying to me, I will make you pay!"

Leo smiled, satisfied. He drew out the words, keeping the entire courtroom in suspense. "Mia's body is at..."

Before he could finish, the courtroom doors burst open.

Several uniformed officers strode in. At their head was Detective Marcus Harris, his expression grave, tension radiating from him.

He walked straight to Dad. "Based on Leo's earlier statements in court, we conducted a full investigation of the abandoned factory district on the outskirts of town. In the wall cavities and the soil, we recovered biological traces and large quantities of blood belonging to an eighth victim."

He paused, holding Dad's gaze as his pupils shrank, and spoke every word with absolute clarity.

"The forensic team ran an emergency analysis and compared the results with the DNA sample you submitted three years ago, when you were searching for your biological daughter—

"The victim. Female. Eighteen years old.

"The same biological daughter you keep insisting came home last month to steal from you. The same daughter you said was out living it up somewhere. Mia."