Chapter 3 A Stolen Victory

I forced myself not to cry and turned my face away, avoiding Chester's eyes. I was afraid. Afraid of seeing the scar on his forehead. Afraid he would say something I could no longer bear to hear.

Chester sighed, his expression returning to the familiar gentleness I remembered. "Audrey, I'm Phoebe's husband now. No matter how much you fight it, I still have a responsibility to fulfill as her husband and as a father."

I lowered my head and laughed bitterly, my voice twisted with anger. "But you were my husband. What about your responsibility to me?"

The suffocating pressure in my chest left my entire body weak. I forced myself to stay upright and reached out, gripping Chester's arm tightly. "Didn't you promise you'd protect me for the rest of our lives? Chester, why? Why did you do this?"

"Audrey! Stop making a scene!" My mother shoved me away, her eyes red with anger, and I finally lost all strength and collapsed onto the floor.

"Chester is your brother-in-law now. No matter how hysterical you get, you can't change that reality."

I wanted to argue, but my phone rang with the distinctive ringtone I had reserved for the police station.

I answered immediately, and my superior's voice came through. "Audrey, the state department just finished its investigation. You can return to the Criminal Investigation Division. Your sister's death had nothing to do with you.

"She'd been faking her death all these years to carry out a classified mission. Based on the evidence she submitted, we've cracked a major international organ trafficking case. She's now been awarded First-Class Merit…"

My mind went completely blank. After that, I could not hear another word.

That international organ trafficking case was the very case I had been secretly investigating all this time.

With that, I abandoned everyone and raced home like a madwoman.

…

When I opened my safe and saw that every piece of evidence I had risked my life to collect over the years was gone, I collapsed onto the floor and pounded the ground in despair.

Suddenly, someone wrapped his arms tightly around me from behind. "Audrey, don't hurt yourself."

I whipped around and froze. It was Chester.

Then, it hit me. The safe's password was Chester's birthday. He was the only person who could have opened it.

He had stolen my evidence and given it to Phoebe.

Tears blurred my entire face. I grabbed Chester by the collar, sobbing so hard I could barely speak. "You stole the evidence and gave it to Phoebe, didn't you? Do you have any idea how close I've come to dying just to collect that evidence over the years? Do you know that was my only chance of getting back into the Criminal Investigation Division?"

The international organ trafficking case had been the last case I had taken on before being transferred out of the division.

To obtain crucial photographs of the suspects making a deal, I had been pushed from the third floor of an illegal clinic, fracturing my lumbar spine on impact and suffering a comminuted fracture of my left scapula.

To infiltrate the criminal organization, I had disguised myself as a buyer and entered an underground trading site. When they discovered the recording device I had been carrying, they locked me inside a water dungeon for three days and three nights. I'd barely managed to escape alive with the evidence.

How could he take the evidence I had traded my life for and hand it to Phoebe?

I pounded my fists against Chester's chest, and he let me do it without resisting. His entire body trembled from the pain, but he did not dodge a single blow.

"Audrey, you owe Phoebe. If it weren't for you, she wouldn't have had to fake her death, and she wouldn't have lost her job. You owe Phoebe too much. The evidence will be your apology to her."

I opened my mouth, furious and desperate to argue. But I looked up and saw my mother standing in the bedroom doorway, holding another piece of evidence.

"Audrey, I know you've had a hard time these past few years, but your sister has had it even harder. She's always been ambitious. Can't you help her for once? You're sisters. What difference does it make who gets the credit for this case? Don't be so petty."

I burst into laughter. My whole body shook with it, tears streaming relentlessly down my face.

Sisters? When Phoebe seduced my husband, had she ever thought about the fact that we were sisters? When she took my husband and my son and faked their deaths, leaving me without a job and causing everyone to condemn me, had she ever thought about the fact that I was her sister?

I lunged forward and tore the evidence in my mother's hands into pieces. "If you dare let her get the rest of the evidence, I'll take her down with me. I'll die with her right in front of you!"

My mother froze. She clenched her teeth, her face darkening as she pointed at me. "Don't you dare! If you're going to turn your back on your family, don't blame me for what comes next!"

Chester gave me one long, deep look before supporting my mother and leading her away.

…

I closed my eyes and, as though every last bit of strength had been drained from my body, curled up motionlessly in the corner until the sky outside the window gradually darkened.

Before, no matter how late I worked, Chester would always make me something to eat. Even this time, before he left, he had left a plate of food for me.

Slowly, I dragged myself off the floor, took the cold plate of food, and dumped all of it into the trash.

Then, I opened my computer, pulled up the complete chain of evidence I had painstakingly assembled, and uploaded a video clarifying the truth.

"Stolen credit always leaves a trace."