A wave of relief washed over Salma. With such a distinguished ''brother'' to back her up, Juniper would surely be fine.


    Schwartz? The name hit Dustin like a physical blow. In all of Era City, only a handful of families bore that name, the most famous being the legendary, untouchable Schwartz family. No matter which branch this man belonged to, Dustin couldn''t afford to offend him.


    "Mr. Schwartz!" The officer, Carl, straightened his uniform and rushed forward with a broad smile, extending both hands. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Schwartz. I''m Carl, the officer in charge here at the Westgate District precinct."


    The Schwartz family was the stuff of legends in Era City. Who would have thought this little orphan girl had such a powerful distant rtive? No wonder she carried herself with such an air of defiance.


    Damn it. Carl wanted to gouge his own eyes out. Of all the people to offend, he had to cross the Schwartz family. He didn''t have enough lives to spare for that mistake.


    Shanley merely nced at the man before sitting down, crossing his long legs and resting his hands on the armrests, tapping them rhythmically.


    The sound was faint, but to Carl, it was bone-chilling. His outstretched hand was left hanging awkwardly in the air.


    "So, you were saying that my distant... little sister started a fight?" Shanley tilted his head, his gaze deliberately falling on the girl beside him.


    Juniper pressed her lips together. What was that look for? Didn''t he understand they were role-ying?


    "Uh..." Carl didn''t dare repeat what he''d said earlier. He quickly passed the buck. "It''s like this, Mr. Farley and his son called us, alleging that Juniper had assaulted someone. But... I never really believed it myself, so we''re still in the middle of our investigation."


    Tch! The other parents rolled their eyes at his tant hypocrisy. The man changed his tune faster than he could turn a page. He should quitw enforcement and be a street performer.


    With the spotlight now on him, Dustin broke out in a cold sweat. "Mr. Schwartz," he stammered, "we have video evidence. It shows that Juniper... identally injured my son. But I''ve looked into it. It was just kids fooling around. It''s all in the past now. Haha, all in the past."


    "Assault?" Shanley looked up at the little girl beside him, who was pouting unhappily. He softened his voice. "How many did you take on this time?"


    Juniper blinked.


    "Mr. Schwartz, they were the ones who started it! Juniper only fought back because they were bullying our friend!" Qadir blurted out, afraid that Juniper would be misunderstood by her own family. "And that old geezer destroyed the original footage to frame her!"


    At this, Shanley turned his head to look at Qadir, his deep eyes narrowing dangerously.


    Hmph. This boy was quite protective of her.


    "Since the footage is corrupted, have someone restore it."


    "Our technicians have been trying, but it''s beyond recovery," Carl said meekly, his face pale.


    "That''s because your technicians are ipetent," Shanley scoffed. He looked at his assistant. "Felton, get someone from the corporate office over here."


    "Yes, sir."


    As Felton was about to leave, Juniper suddenly spoke up. "Don''t waste time. Is there aputer? I''ll restore it myself."


    She had been about to do it herself earlier, but Shanley''s sudden arrival had thrown her off her rhythm.


    Instantly, every eye in the room swiveled to her. Did they hear that right? She was going to restore the footage? A task that even professional technicians couldn''t aplish, and a high school student was going to do it? Was she joking?