“We had a call about a big fight going on here. That’s you guys, right?” The lead officer scanned the area and saw people sprawled out on the ground. He stared at Kaia in surprise.
“You took all these people down by yourself, huh?” he asked.
Kaia nodded, then pointed at Casey. “She brought them here to attack me.”
Casey’s eyes went wide, and she blurted out, “Kaia, that’s a lie! You’re the one who brought them to beat me up!”
Kaia stayed calm. “Oh yeah? If I brought them to beat you up, why would I knock them all down?”
Casey stammered, “Um… they felt bad for hurting me, so they switched sides to help me. Then you got mad and attacked them.”
Kaia let out a mocking laugh, amazed by how ridiculous her excuse was.
The officer cut in, “Alright, what actually happened?”
Casey hurried over to him. “Officer, I’m telling the truth. You can ask them!”
The officer looked at the men on the ground. “Is what she said true?”
The men glanced at Casey, who was giving them subtle eye signals.
She was paying them, after all, and so far they’d only gotten the down payment. They still wanted to get paid, so they pointed at Kaia. “Yeah, she hired us.”
The officer turned to Kaia. “Is that true?”
“No, it’s not,” Kaia replied, steady as ever.
The officer rubbed his forehead. “All of you need to come down to the station and call families.”
your
Kaia frowned. She knew if she called Ruth and the others, they wouldn’t even listen to her side- they’d just make her apologize to Casey. Just thinking about it gave her a headache.
After a moment’s thought, she decided to call Tobias.
When he picked up, he didn’t sound happy. “Why aren’t you home yet?”
“Something happened,” Kaia said,
Tobias’s tone instantly changed to worry, “What happened? Were you in an accident? Where are you? I’m coming right now.”
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55 vouchers
Hearing the concern in his voice made Kaia feel a little warm inside. “I’m at the police station.”
“What? The police station? Shouldn’t you be at the hospital?” Tobias asked, confused.
Kaia rubbed her forehead. “No, I didn’t get in an accident. It’s just a situation.”
At the station, Kaia and Casey sat across from each other.
“Got any ID on you?” asked the captain, Maurice Riley. He was handling the case.
“No,” Kaia said.
“Me neither,” Casey added.
“Then we’ll wait for your families to get here,” Maurice said.
Just then, Philip walked in.
“Mr. Snyder? What are you doing here?” Maurice recognized him right away.
“Maurice? I didn’t know you were on this case,” Philip said. His eyes landed on Kaia, and realization. hit–she must be the one Casey claimed was bullying her.
Casey ran up to him, tears in her eyes. “Philip, thank God you’re here! Kaia tried to get people to beat me up. Luckily, they felt bad and didn’t go through with it, or I’d probably be in the hospital right now.”
Philip frowned. “She hired people to beat you? Why?”
“It’s because of that bet we made. It was just a joke, but she’s been trying to force me to shave my head. She threatened me in the group chat, saying she’d leak the video if I didn’t. Now, she’s trying to scare me into giving in. And-” Casey hesitated.
“And what?” Philip pressed.
“And she also wanted to warn me because you’re interested in her. She said you should take a good look in the mirror, that you’re not good enough for her, and that it’s disgusting you’re trying to marry her with only 300 thousand dollars.”
Philip believed her instantly. Kaia had said almost the exact same thing to him at the coffee shop, and Casey wasn’t even there. He figured Kaia must have told Casey later.
He was still bitter about being humiliated by Kaia that day at the coffee shop, and with Casey egging him on, his anger flared.
He turned to Maurice. “It’s exactly like my girlfriend said. She’s been trying to get close to me and my family. When I kept turning her down, she lashed out–said those things to my girlfriend and
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even tried to have her beaten up.”
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Casey’s heart leapt at his words. She thought she was brilliant for pinning everything on Kaia and making Philip give up on her.
Maurice looked at Kaia seriously. “Is any of that true?”
Kaia stayed composed. “That’s just their story. They don’t have a shred of real proof.”
Maurice had to admit she had a point.
“Who says we don’t have proof?” Casey pointed at the men. “They’re the ones she hired. They’re witnesses.”
Kaia slowly turned toward them, her voice calm but sharp. “You say they’re witnesses, that I hired them. Do you have any messages? Any record of me making a deal with them?”
“I-” Casey froze. She hadn’t expected Kaia to think so clearly in this mess.
“Kaia? That name sounds familiar,” Maurice muttered, trying to remember.
Kaia picked up a glass of water. She remembered coming here once before for something minor, back when Maurice was still just a regular officer. She’d shown her ID then, and he’d learned she was Dr. Bennett.
“It does sound familiar…” Maurice kept thinking.
“Oh! I remember now. Kaia–it’s her!” one of the officers nearby suddenly said.
Kaia’s grip on the glass tightened as she worried that she’d been recognized.
“What is it?” Maurice asked.
“She’s the one who scored the highest on the SAT in our city this year,” the officer said.
“Oh, right. My daughter mentioned her,” Maurice said, finally placing the name.
Kaia let out a quiet breath of relief.
“Where’s your family? They’re still not here, huh?” Maurice asked.
Just then, a deep voice came from the doorway, “Sorry. I’m late.”
Kaia turned to see Tobias. His hair was a little messy, his tie loose, and sweat clung to his forehead-
he must have rushed over.
Seeing him like that made Kaia’s chest tighten. “I should be the one apologizing. I dragged you into
this.”
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What are you talking about? I’m your fiancé,” Tobias said.
Chapter 59
