Natalie studied the young man before her. He had garish pink hair,rge hoops dangling from his ears, and e-scarred skin. His eyes were jaundiced, a clear sign of liver problems and a life of excess. She shook her head, marveling at the strange characters Joanna always managed to find.


    "I have evidence to refute their ims," Natalie stated calmly to the police. "I did not hire anyone to harm him."


    She turned to the man. "Are you certain I was the one who instructed you?"


    "Are you certain you instructed me?" he retorted with a smirk.


    Natalie let out a coldugh. "Is your word the only proof you have?"


    She then nodded to Luna, who presented their own evidence to the police.


    It was a video. In it, the pink-haired man looked frantic, pleading into his phone. “I


    lost big gambling. You gotta give me a job. Just help me pay off my debt, and I''ll do anything. They''re gonna chop off my fingers! How am I supposed to live without my hands?"


    He listened intently. "Just frame Natalie? I get paid for crippling Jerome? Okay, okay, I''ll do it. I''ll pin it on Natalie so she never recovers."


    The man''s eyes widened in horror. "Where... where did you get that video?"


    Nathan was stunned. He knew the person on the other end of that call was Joanna.


    "Natalie, where did you get this doctored video?" he bellowed. "Jerome was good to you! Why would you try to kill him?"


    Natalie fixed him with a stare so


    him


    sharp it felt like a physical blow. A chill ran up Nathan''s spine. When had her gaze be so terrifying? Joanna was right. Ever since that birthday party, Natalie had be a different person.


    "Mr. Scott," Natalie said with a cold smile, "shouting won''t make your false usations true. The police will determine if this video is fake."


    She turned back to the officer. "We have more evidence. It proves this man


    agreed to frame me for today''s incident in exchange for arge sum of money to cover his gambling debts."


    Luna yed another clip.


    "I messed with Jerome''s car. It''ll flip as soon as he elerates. The job is done but I never saw Natalie at the scene. I don''t even know what she looks like How am supposed to frame her?"


    “Okay, okay. I just say it was her. She gave me five hundred thousand, right? Got


    it. Jerome is definitely going down today."


    The man stared at the phone in Luna''s hand, his face a mask of disbelief.


    Nathan was speechless. How could this be happening? Foiled again. It was like Natalie was an unkible cockroach.


    Natalie, Luna, and the man were taken to the station for further investigation. By noon the next day the police confirmed that Luna''s videos were authentic while the evidence provided by the man proven to be fabricated. With no way to deny it, he confessed to his crime but refused to name his employer, iming he had acted alone out of a personal grudge against Jerome. He was arrested for attempted murder.


    As Natalie walked out of the police station, the case against her was closed. She was exhausted after a sleepless night. She was about to stretch when a dark shadow fell over her.