"Everyone, allow me to apologize on my sister's behalf."
Just as the officers were about to take me away.
Connor stepped up onto the stage and bowed deeply to the whole room.
"She's done great things for this company. No one can deny that."
"But she's also a criminal."
"Because she sold out the company's interests."
"I know that apologizing on her behalf can't undo the harm you've all suffered, but I can promise you this."
"From now on, I'll make this company better and better, and I'll make sure your incomes keep rising."
The room erupted into warm applause.
And me.
While no one was watching, I was led away by the officers.
At the station, facing the interrogation.
I held my ground.
"I didn't sell out the company."
"That recording is fake."
Confirming whether a recording is real or not takes time and some technical work.
So that night I had no choice but to stay in the holding cell.
Curled up alone in the corner of the cot.
I thought about a lot of things.
Where did the recording come from.
Who was trying to frame me?
Turn it over as I might.
The most suspicious person was my fake brother, Connor.
My parents were the traditional sort.
They always believed a family business needed a male heir to carry it on.
So back when my mother was told she could never get pregnant again.
They went to an orphanage and adopted a boy.
Later renamed Connor.
The brother I have now.
Growing up, he was doted on endlessly, always fighting me for everything.
While I, being a daughter.
My parents weren't just hard on me, they were almost twisted about it.
I understood that clearly.
Parents like that would never be anyone I could lean on.
I only had myself.
The next day.
Captain Finch told me someone wanted to see me.
I thought it was my parents, come to post bail.
Then I caught myself, and the thought seemed ridiculous. They were the ones who called the police. Why would they turn around and bail me out?
And things turned out exactly as I expected.
The person who'd come all the way to the station wasn't family.
It was a handsome man.
Seeing him, I froze.
He gave a slight smile. "Surprised?"
I nodded. "What are you doing here?"
His name was Lambert Kaufman, my father's arch-rival in business.
The company's current crisis was entirely his doing.
"I heard you were framed at the celebration banquet."
"And reported by your own parents."
"Figured you had it pretty rough, so I came to see you."
At that, I laughed.
"Yeah. Pretty rough."
Lambert shrugged. "Actually, the police have already confirmed the recording was spliced together from multiple audio clips. Someone set out to pin it on you.
"I sent people to track down the staff member who played the recording last night.
"He said someone gave him money and a USB drive.
"We could've followed the thread and found out who framed you."
"Only, unfortunately..."
"The hotel's security cameras were down for maintenance yesterday. There's no way to find out who's behind it."
