The color drained from Yelena''s and Deirdre''s faces. They froze for a few seconds before the realization hit them.


    "This is a setup! Juniper, you did this on purpose!"


    She had deliberately provoked them, pushed them into hiring men to kill her... Now she had irrefutable proof. There was no way they could talk their way out of this.


    "Wow," Juniper feigned surprise, her voice dripping withnguid sarcasm. "You finally figured it out?"


    The mother and daughter were left speechless.


    "You''re the victim?" the officer asked, eyeing the girl who stood with her hands in her pockets like a mob boss. He then nced at the fourrge men tied up on the floor and the two injured women beside them. With an aura like that, she didn''t exactly seem like the type to get kidnapped easily. But the surveince footage clearly showed otherwise.


    "Sir," one of his subordinates spoke up. "These four are fugitives we''ve been hunting."


    They hadmitted a string of crimes-robberies, murders... The police had been after them for years. To think they''d be caught here.


    "Take them back to the station," the lead officer ordered with a wave of his hand. "Bring these three as well. We''ll sort this out there."


    Juniper was perfectly cooperative,zily trailing behind the officer and ncing around curiously. She looked less like a kidnapping victim and more like an actress on a film set.


    "No, we''re not going!" Yelena and Deirdre, terrified, clung to each other and refused to get in the car. "What kidnapping? It has nothing to do with us!"


    Several officers had to step in, finally managing to cuff the pair and haul them towards the police car.


    "Juniper, you little bitch! How dare you plot against us..." Deirdre shrieked. "Did that bastard J put you up to this? We''re her aunt and cousin, for god''s sake! How could she be so vicious?"


    "Juniper-"


    "Gag them," the officer said coldly, having heard enough.


    ...


    At the police station, Yelena and Deirdre were still trying to argue their way out, demanding awyer.


    Juniperid out all the evidence: surveince footage from the kidnapping, the factory''s security cameras, chat logs call records between the mother-daughter duo and the kidnappers, and even the discreet payment transactions.


    Looking at the mountain of irrefutable evidence,bined with the four kidnappers'' testimony, the officer knew the charges against Yelena and Deirdre for attempted murder-for-hire were practically sealed.


    "You knew they were going toe after you, didn''t you?" the officer asked,


    intrigued. "Otherwise, how could you have gathered so much evidence?"


    "Whether I knew or not is irrelevant," Juniper said, a faint smile on her lips. "The only question is, did they break thew?"


    The officer was at a loss for words. They most certainly had.


    "And then there are those


    kidnappers... Juniper paused for a


    moment, ther voice clear and cold. "Solve both cases at once, and if I''m not mistaken, you''ll be up for a


    promotion to Deputy Chief


    end of the year, right?


    ge


    by the


    Congrattions."


    Those four were major fugitives. Capturing them was a huge aplishment.


    ?


    "Thank you, the officer said, a broad grin spreading across his face. He''d been stuck at his current rank for years, and now a golden opportunity for promotion hadnded in hisp with almost no effort on his part.


    "As for the mother and daughter, what''s your desired oue?" the officer asked.


    "Life in prison," Juniper said, her eyes lifting slightly.


    "Life? That seems a bit harsh," the officer said, looking troubled.


    "What if you add this to the pile?" Juniper leaned back and tossed her phone onto the desk in front of him.


    As the officer read what was on the screen, his pupils dted, his face filling with utter shock.