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All Chapters of Comments Warned Me, I Turned The Tables: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Vanessa and I had been engaged for two years.Every relative in both our families said the same thing about her, gentle, intelligent, and able to carry herself well. She was the perfect woman to marry.Still, at that moment, cold crept into my fingertips.I tightened my grip on my phone and asked her, “What documents are so urgent that I have to come over right now?”Vanessa replied in a soft voice, “It’s the family information form you need for your background check. I changed a couple of things in the wording, so it’d be better if you came and picked it up yourself. And don’t take the subway. It’ll be packed during rush hour. Just drive over. It’ll be easier.”The comments had just warned me not to touch my car. Now she urged me to drive it.The coincidence felt deliberate, like someone had laid a noose at my feet and smiled as they told me to take another step.I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 5:27 p.m., and it was less than two hours until the time mentioned in the

Chapter 2

The news of the accident broke at 8:40 p.m.I sat in the 24-hour self-service area of the Government Services Center. I had just printed a receipt for a criminal-record check when my phone started vibrating nonstop.My class group chat, family group chat, and exam-prep group all forwarded the same video.The footage was shaky. In the video, there were rain, streetlights, and a crosswalk.A white SUV sped through the frame. Someone had zoomed in on the license plate several times.It was my plate.The headlines were as vicious as blood.[Future Government Official Kills Elderly Pedestrian and Flees?][Fatal Hit-and-Run Days Before Background Check—Still Wants to Join the Anti-Corruption Bureau?][How Does Someone Like This Deserve a Government Job?]I stared at the screen as tightness spread through my chest.The comments were right. Someone had died.Whether or not that SUV was actually mine, an innocent person had already been dragged into this trap.Vanessa called soon a

Chapter 3

Three days later, I received a notice ordering me to appear at the recruiting agency and give a formal statement.By the time I reached the gates of the provincial government compound, a crowd had already gathered outside.Banners hung from the iron railings.‘You killed my mother. You must pay with your life!’‘A hit-and-run driver wants to become a government official?’‘Give ordinary people justice!’Several social-media streamers stood outside with their phones raised, livestreaming the scene.“Everyone, our future government official is about to arrive. I heard he has powerful connections. They haven’t canceled his recruitment. They only put the background check on hold. Let’s see if he still has the nerve to show his face today.”The moment I stepped out of the car, every camera swung toward me.“There he is!”“That’s him!”“He kills someone and still has the nerve to dress like a decent human being!”I wore a black overcoat over a white shirt. I had chosen the outfit

Chapter 4

I handed the documents to the female officer responsible for maintaining order at the scene.Then I turned my phone screen toward the nearest livestream camera.“First, for the two hours before the accident, my car was parked the entire time in parking space B218 on Basement Level 2 of the underground garage at Oakmont Residences.”In the video, Zach, the property manager, stood beside my car and clearly stated the time, license plate number, and parking-space number.“Second, at 5:42 p.m., property management installed a temporary wheel lock. The installation form bears the management office’s official stamp, and there’s surveillance footage to back it up.”I flipped to the next page.“Third, at 6:03 p.m., I had my car keys and spare key sealed as evidence at Tanner Notary Office. At the time of the accident, neither key was in my possession.”Someone nearby muttered, “He must’ve planned all this in advance, right?”I looked up. “Yes. I did prepare in advance because I suspect

Chapter 5

The female disciplinary officer’s attitude changed. Until a moment ago, she had done nothing more than keep order.The second she saw the old man on the screen, she straightened.“Mr. Shane, what are you doing here…?”The old man replied in a calm voice, “I passed out from low blood sugar at the subway station. This young man was the one who saved me. Now I hear he’s been made a suspect in a hit-and-run.”Someone in the crowd whispered, “Who is that old man?”The disciplinary officer did not hide it.“His name is Hugo Shane. Before he retired, he was a senior traffic accident reconstruction expert with the State Highway Patrol. He worked on the review of numerous major and highly complicated accident cases.”The crowd fell silent for a beat.Vanessa’s fingers curled slightly. Even the composure on Jason’s face froze.Hugo looked straight into the camera.“I’m not here to claim anyone is innocent. I only have a few questions. Who posted the video? Where did the original footag

Chapter 6

The accident-scene forensic report came back quickly.The white paint recovered from the victim’s clothing did not match the paint sample preserved from my vehicle.The tire-tread marks on the road did not match the tires on my car either.The traffic police then pulled footage from checkpoints along the route before and after the accident.After hitting the victim, the suspect vehicle never made it onto the main road. It turned into an old auto-repair district on the south side of the city instead.The surveillance there was a mess. Many of the cameras had been installed by individual businesses and were not connected to the traffic police system.If Hugo had not suggested checking the blind spots where a fleeing vehicle could disappear, this lead could have been buried beneath the public outrage.On the morning of the third day, officers found a breakthrough at a repair shop called Xinda Auto Repair.Surveillance footage showed that at 8:02 p.m. on the night of the accident,

Chapter 7

Jason pointed at Vanessa. His voice trembled. “She taught me how to do it! She said that as long as we pinned a hit-and-run on Reid, he’d never pass the background check. I’d take his place, and after that, we wouldn’t have to live in his shadow anymore!”Vanessa’s expression darkened. “Jason, think carefully before you speak.”“I’ve thought about it plenty!”He broke down, shouting, “You said everything came too easily to him! From the time we were kids, his grades, his school, his job, everything was his! You said that once he got into the disciplinary bureau, he’d be even harder for us to control!”A dull ringing filled my ears.So this was not some spur-of-the-moment scheme. They had resented me for a long time.Jason kept going. “My uncle found the cloned car, but the idea was hers! She took pictures of Reid’s license plate in his garage. She even had someone copy the sticker on his rear window!”Vanessa slammed her hand against the table. “Shut your mouth!”The officer’s

Chapter 8

The investigation that followed was uglier than I could have imagined.After Vanessa’s phone was recovered, I saw the messages.She and Jason had been together for almost a year. They had been dating behind my back, transferring money between them, and even looking at houses together.Worse, they had been discussing my background check long before any of this happened.Jason wrote: [He ranked first on the written exam and beat me in the interview, too. If he passes the background check, I’m done. I won’t stand a chance.]Vanessa replied: [The background check is most vulnerable to negative publicity. We don’t even need to prove anything. We just need to make enough noise that the agency is too afraid to hire him.]Jason asked: [But he’s your fiancé. Can you really do that to him?]Vanessa sent back a smiling emoji. [He’s too smart. He’ll be impossible to control once we’re married. Better to deal with him now. It’s better for everyone.]Then came another message.[He paid most

Chapter 9

The traffic police eventually released their final findings.The vehicle involved in the crash was a white SUV with a cloned license plate. It had nothing to do with the vehicle registered in my name.My car had never been started or moved from the garage that night. I had a complete, verifiable alibi.The direct cause of Mary’s death was the driver of the cloned SUV driving drunk, speeding through a crosswalk, striking her, and fleeing the scene, delaying the medical treatment that might have saved her.Harry was suspected of helping conceal and destroy evidence.Vanessa was suspected of fabricating and distributing a misleading video of the accident, disrupting public order, and participating in the scheme involving the cloned vehicle.Jason was suspected of helping plan the scheme and inciting the victim’s family to storm the background-check briefing.The moment the statement was released, the internet turned on a dime.The people who had once called me a murderer started t

Chapter 10

Six months later, I officially started my new job.It was drizzling in the state capital on the day I reported for duty.I stood outside the government office building, my appointment letter clenched in my hand, and for a moment, I felt strangely detached from it all.It had taken me years to reach the moment when this piece of paper was within my grasp.I had come within a hair of losing everything, to a cloned license plate, a carefully edited video, and a wave of malicious public outrage.My office was on the sixth floor.The director assigned to oversee me was a steady, soft-spoken man named Mr. Grant. He handed me a stack of documents.“Don’t worry about proving yourself just yet. Take some time to learn the ropes. In this line of work, the worst thing you can do is make up your mind before you know all the facts. Got it?”I nodded. “Got it.”He studied me for a moment. “We all know what happened to you. It’s over. Keep moving forward. Still, don’t forget this, the proced

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