Chapter 3

Recalling that scene still made me tremble, sobbing uncontrollably.

The burns and fall injuries on my body stung with agonizing pain.

The IV pole beside me rattled as I thrashed.

A female officer beside my hospital bed handed me tissues, patting my back to calm me down.

“So, you jumped out the window to escape?”

The officer asked once I seemed calmer.

I choked out a nod.

Officer: “You were on the fifth floor. Weren’t you afraid of dying?”

“I wasn’t thinking that far…”

Officer: “What was Caleb Hayes doing when you jumped?”

“I… I don’t know, he was probably taking pictures.”

Officer: “The fire was that big, and he was still taking pictures? He wasn’t scared?”

“He’s insane!”

My emotions flared up again.

The female officer beside me once again patted my back, signaling me to calm down.

About five minutes passed.

Officer: “So, when the fire broke out, Caleb Hayes kept taking pictures, and when you jumped, he didn’t stop you?”

I steadied myself and nodded again.

Officer: “Do you know he was burned to death?”

“He’s dead?”

I looked at the officers in shock.

Seeing them nod, an uncontrollable euphoria surged through me.

“Good! He’s finally dead! That monster is finally dead! Hahahahaha…”

I laughed maniacally, but as I laughed, tears streamed down my face again.

“I hate him, I truly hate him! Every single day for the past two years, I wished he would die!”

“So you killed him.”

The officer’s cold voice sent a shiver down my spine.

I immediately retorted, “I didn’t!”

Officer: “Don’t be so quick to deny it. Take a look at this first.”

The officer handed me a phone. Seeing the images on the screen, my entire body trembled.

“Take it away! Get it away from me!”

“He forced me! He made me do it all!”

I covered my face, sobbing uncontrollably again.

The officer had shown me a video.

The protagonist of the video was me.

I was wearing heavy makeup, a provocative nightgown, with a card bearing a name dangling from my mouth, posing seductively for the camera.

And the name on the card was Caleb Hayes.

I didn't have the courage to watch the rest.

Because I knew very well that the latter part of the video showed me half-undressed.

“He forced me… he really forced me…”

I kept repeating the phrase, crying until I felt like I would pass out.

But this time, the officers didn't comfort me.

Once my emotions stabilized, I looked up and met their stern gazes.

A chill immediately spread through my heart.

But what they said next made me feel like I’d plunged into an icy abyss.

“Qianying Turner, your testimony does not match the scene’s condition.”

“The body’s burning was severe, and the face was completely disfigured. If what you say is true, that he was conscious when you fell, then he couldn't possibly not have tried to save himself.”

“Moreover, the door at the accident scene was locked from the inside. We now reasonably suspect that you murdered Caleb Hayes.”

“How can you suspect me?!”

I questioned them agitatedly, suddenly sitting up and yanking the IV pole again.

But the female officer, who had previously been so gentle in offering tissues, firmly pressed down on my shoulder, forcing me to remain seated on the bed.

“We’ve already found that your original name is Qianying Turner, and James Turner is your father.”

“Three years ago, James Turner died from a fall. At that time, Caleb Hayes and his father, Richard Hayes, lived in the building your father fell from.”

“Afterward, Caleb Hayes and his father Richard Hayes moved. Five years ago, your mother married Richard Hayes.”

“If you confess the connection between these events, you might still get a lighter sentence.”

The officers’ dark eyes peered at me, as if they could see into my very soul.

would be taken for questioning.

But I wasn’t worried.

I had already guessed that the police would find out about my father.

My father was a window cleaner. Cleaning the glass exteriors of high-rise buildings was his daily job.