Chapter 104: You Two Can Report and Expose Each Other
A middle-aged woman, perhaps moved by compassion, couldn’t help but speak up. "How can you prove you didn’t steal it?"
The person next to her tugged her arm, but the middle-aged woman persisted, "I think she looks like she’s been wrongly accused."
"The evidence is solid. How could she be wrongly accused?"
"Exactly. Don’t let her fool you. Right now, she’d do anything to get out of this, not just swear some oath."
The middle-aged woman hesitated for a moment. "Then we should still call the police."
She paused, then comforted Mama Knight, "Don’t worry. If you’ve been wrongly accused, the police will clear your name."
Fear appeared in Mama Knight’s eyes. ’Can the police really clear my name?’
She had been framed once before, but in the end, all suspicion fell on her. Even now, the interrogation in that room felt like a nightmare whenever she recalled it.
No one believed her. No matter how desperately she tried to defend herself, it only earned her accusations of lying.
"It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me, it really wasn’t me!" Mama Knight grabbed the middle-aged woman’s hand as if it were a life raft.
The middle-aged woman was suddenly filled with a sense of mission. "Don’t be afraid. Just speak slowly..."
Just as she looked up, she saw someone walk in.
Mama Knight looked up and saw Samuel Miller. The color instantly drained from her face. "It’s you."
’I should have known,’ she thought. ’This method of framing is so familiar. Who else could it be but him?’
Mama Knight immediately became agitated. "You framed me! Did you tell her to stuff the watch into my bag? And you," she pointed, "you’re in on it with him too!"
The housekeeper and security guard she pointed at turned pale, then flew into a rage, shouting that she was spouting nonsense.
Samuel Miller sighed. "Melody Knight, you’re just like you were before, always trying to shift the blame."
"You two know each other?" the middle-aged woman asked, now hesitant.
The crowd looked curious. This clearly sounded like there was some history between them!
Samuel Miller turned to explain to the crowd. "This woman was my family’s housekeeper over a decade ago. She stole my mother’s gold bracelet and sold it. My mother found out, called the police, and had her arrested. Her family scraped together some money and came to our door, begging. My mother took pity on them and agreed to drop the case, so she was released. I never thought that after all these years, she’d still have sticky fingers."
Mama Knight’s chest heaved violently. "You’re lying! You were the one who stole the bracelet!"
Samuel Miller spread his hands. "See? Back then, in front of the police, she did the same thing—pushed the blame onto me. I was still in middle school at the time, just a kid. Thankfully, after an investigation, the police cleared my name."
At this, even the middle-aged woman’s expression changed. She flung Mama Knight’s hand away. "I hate it when people take advantage of my sympathy!"
"How vicious! Stealing from her employers and then blaming it on a child."
"Supervisor Miller, you can’t let her get away with this! Call the police, send her to jail!"
Someone was already on the phone, calling the police.
Samuel Miller glanced impassively at Mama Knight, inwardly filled with smug satisfaction.
’If Mama Knight had stayed under the security cameras, it would have been difficult for me to make a move. Luckily, they arranged a break room at the last minute today.’
’There are no cameras in the break room. Now she has no way to defend herself.’
’That lowly old hag. Back then, she dared to say I’d get my retribution someday. Well, today, I’ll show *her* what retribution is.’
Mama Knight’s vision went black in waves, and a tearing pain shot through her chest.
She trembled all over with fear. As she gripped her phone, she suddenly remembered something. "I need to find the Miss! I need to find my Miss!"
’That’s right! It doesn’t matter if no one else believes me. The Miss will believe me!’
’The Miss said she would never believe I was a thief!’
"Hello." Hearing Jane Lancaster’s voice on the other end, Mama Knight’s tears instantly started to fall.
On the verge of collapse, she suddenly regained her composure. Holding back her tears, she whispered, "Miss, can you come out for a moment?"
"Mama Knight, are you crying?" Jane Lancaster immediately knew something was wrong. She said quickly, "Wait right there. I’m on my way."
Before the call disconnected, Mama Knight heard someone shouting, "My lady, wait a moment!"
Mama Knight was a bit baffled. ’Why call her "my lady"? The voice sounded quite old. Aren’t all the people in this group just high school seniors?’
’Could it be that Professor Woods? That would be great! I knew the Miss was so brilliant, she’d definitely be valued by the professor.’
Jane Lancaster arrived quickly, not even having washed the paint from her hands.
Samuel Miller shot her a glance, somewhat surprised. ’Did she run off to work with the students?’
’Didn’t she talk so tough, saying I could remove her from the list?’
"Miss!" As soon as Mama Knight saw her young miss, her tears threatened to fall again.
Samuel Miller put on a helpless expression. "Come on, don’t act like we’re bullying you. You were caught red-handed stealing something, and you think you’re the one in the right?"
Mama Knight was about to say something, but Jane Lancaster took her hand, stopping her.
"Alright," Jane Lancaster said. "This can’t be explained in a sentence or two. Why don’t we all sit down and talk this through calmly?"
Her expression was calm and her tone gentle. She led Mama Knight to a seat first, then took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped away her tears.
Samuel Miller was a bit surprised. He hadn’t expected Jane Lancaster to defend Mama Knight instead of firing her on the spot.
’I have a good idea of what’s happening,’ he thought. ’Young girls are soft-hearted; she probably wants to beg me to be lenient.’
Samuel Miller let out a hearty laugh and invited everyone to sit down and talk.
Having been a supervisor for a year, his greatest strength was leading meetings. This was his home turf, and he felt he should be the one to control the situation.
"Actually, this matter... it’s not huge, but it’s not small either. The value of the stolen item is over a million..."
"Wait a moment." Jane Lancaster looked up, interrupting him. "Where is the stolen item?"
Samuel Miller placed the watch on the table and sighed. "She must have recognized the brand of the watch, which is why greed drove her to take such a risk."
Jane Lancaster took out the box of gold beads from Mama Knight’s bag. "She strings gold beads for fun. Why would she steal your watch?"
Samuel Miller narrowed his eyes. "That box of gold beads is only worth tens of thousands. Besides, those beads are yours, aren’t they?"
’He knew Melody Knight all too well. Stingy and cheap. Back when he was tight on cash, he’d wanted her to buy him the latest phone, but she refused.’
’She earned such a high salary from his family but didn’t even know how to curry favor with him, the young master.’
"That watch could sell for a million on the second-hand market. What are tens of thousands in gold compared to that? Pull off this one job, and you’ve got a down payment for a house," someone said sarcastically.
Jane Lancaster didn’t get angry. She smiled and replied, "You certainly seem to know the market."
After a pause, she suddenly leaned back against her chair and said bluntly, "Alright, out with it. How did you all conspire to frame Mama Knight?"
She was still smiling, but her eyes had turned sharp.
Samuel Miller hadn’t expected her to switch so suddenly. "You can’t just listen to Melody Knight’s side of the story. She has a prior record for theft..."
"Enough. I know you’re the mastermind," Jane Lancaster cut him off.
She swept her gaze over to the housekeeper and the security guard and said with a smile, "I’ll give you ten minutes. The two of you can rat each other out. I’ll consider it making up for your crime."
Samuel Miller was completely enraged by her attitude. He slammed his hand on the table. "You’re too arrogant!"
’Rat each other out? Who does she think she is? Does she really believe a few words can make them turn against me?’
’She really doesn’t know her place.’