"So ... so it feels like a scam!" Tara glanced at me timidly, as if she were scared.
Her gentle explanation, coupled with her fragile and innocent demeanor, quickly earned the trust of many.
Thomas pointed at me, giving his final ultimatum, "Olivia, give the money back to my mom and we'll drop this matter."
I sneered and slapped his hand away, "Even if we go to court, I'll say the same thing. We only received 18,800 dollars as the bride price and I've already transferred it back to your account. Whether you accept it or not is up to you!"
I turned to the police, "Officer, I request a thorough check of the video's integrity. If there's a missing segment before we took the gift box, the video cannot be used as evidence."
I glanced at Mrs. Royce, my tone calm, "After all, the missing footage might be when someone took part of the bride price. As for who that might be? Only someone aware of the raised price would know when to take the money."
Mrs. Royce jumped up from the ground upon hearing my words, "What are you implying? The one who raised the price was your mother!"
My mom, struggling to contain her anger, defended herself firmly, "I, Lilian Reed, have always been honest and straightforward. I never asked for the bride price twice!"
Mrs. Royce looked furious. Thomas grabbed a bottle of water and hurled it at me.
Before I could dodge, a sharp pain shot through my eye. "Ah!" I cried out, my mother's worried voice echoing beside me.
Before I could recover, Thomas shoved his mom's phone into my face. The cold and sharp edge of the phone hit the same spot, causing another stab of pain. "Look! Look at this message from your oh-so-good mother!" he shouted.
I struggled to open my teary, blurred eyes. The WhatsApp message read: [In-law, the bride price is 188,800 dollars. Otherwise, don't expect to see Olivia tomorrow!]
Tara added fuel to the fire, "Mrs. Royce stayed up all night trying to gather the money. It caused her chronic headaches to flare up for days!"
I stared at the message. Its assertive tone didn't seem like something my mom would say. But the account in the chat window was indeed hers.
Before the police could step in, Tara turned to my mom, her voice gentle, "Mrs. Reed, may I see your phone to confirm your chat history with Mrs. Royce?"
My mom's visible panic made my heart sink.
Seeing this, Mrs. Royce immediately pressed further, "Take it out! Lilian!"
Fidgeting with her clothes, my mom stammered after a long pause, "I ... I deleted the chats."
Mrs. Royce keeps berating, "Feeling guilty, are you, Lilian? Why are you delete the chat history? Show us your phone! Let's see if you only deleted mine or everyone else's as well! If it's just mine, you're clearly guilty!"
***
"Exactly! Let's have a look!" Once again, the crowd's words became daggers aimed at us.
"She seemed honest, but who knew?"
"Unbelievable. She wouldn't even take small advantages while buying groceries."
"You don't get it. Petty gains are nothing!"
"Plenty of people like to act virtuous while doing shady things."
My mom's chest rose and fell rapidly. Her face turned pale as she muttered intermittently, "I ... I didn't ..."
I panicked, utterly at a loss. Had my rebirth been for nothing? Was I doomed to repeat the same fate?
Eyes rimmed red, I looked at Thomas and pleaded in a low voice, "Can we not talk about this for now? My mom has a heart condition. Regardless of who took the money, this is too much for her to bear today."
