A sleek black Rolls-Royce Phantom glided through the quiet city streets. Inside, Han Yue sat elegantly with her hands on her lap, her eyes calm as they took in the passing cityscape. Seated beside her were Secretary Wen and the two lawyers, Ren and Qiu, who had both dressed in restrained charcoal gray to match the formal tone of the day.
No one spoke.
But it wasn't tense—it was a silent kind of solidarity.
Han Yue's thoughts were focused. In her small shoulder bag was her miniature hidden camera with the SD card still inside, untouched and unedited. Every file remained raw, showing the exact moment she'd placed the camera, followed by Han Jiaojiao sneaking into her room and stealing the access card. She had also included other footage: the Welcome Party juice incident, the swimming pool "accident," and several strange exchanges where Feifei and Jiaojiao whispered conspiratorially.
All of it was timestamped, clean, and reviewed the night before.
She glanced at Lawyer Qiu, who gave her a calm nod. "We checked everything. No discrepancies. The files hold up under scrutiny," she had said earlier that morning.
Even the library trip, which might have seemed weak as an alibi, was stronger than expected. The CCTV at the library entrance clearly recorded Han Yue entering, and her student ID swipe registered on the city's education network with a digital timestamp. Though she hadn't stayed long, she'd still walked through the doors, and that was enough to prove where she'd been during the critical time window.
Secretary Wen had made sure every loophole was double-checked and sealed shut.
By the time they arrived at the police station, Han Yue felt no fear.
She felt ready.
They were led through a side entrance and guided to a private meeting room. The space was simple: a large rectangular table, white walls, a glass panel in one corner, and a recorder sitting on the table. Two police officers were already waiting.
One was a well-kept man in his forties with sharp eyes—Detective Wang. The other was a younger woman officer seated beside him, fingers poised over her keyboard to record the statement.
Detective Wang stood and extended his hand politely.
"Miss Han, welcome. Please don't be nervous—this is not an interrogation. We're here to record your version of events and fill in the missing puzzle pieces. Your cooperation has already helped tremendously in our internal review."
Han Yue greeted them calmly and placed her bag on the table.
"I brought the camera and the SD card, along with my library entry record."
She laid the miniature camera down gently, followed by her library card with multiple scanned stamps of past visits—each confirming her consistent routine of entering, staying a while, and being picked up without deviation. It also had the record from the morning of the incident.
The officers reviewed the items and passed the SD card to an assistant, who left to deliver it to the I.T. department for extraction and duplication. As the legal team remained silently seated, Han Yue looked up and asked politely, "Should I begin?"
Detective Wang smiled. "Whenever you're ready."
Lawyer Ren gave Han Yue a small nod of approval.
Han Yue took a breath. Then she spoke with clarity.
"I didn't originally intend to record anyone. It started because… I just felt uncomfortable at home. The atmosphere. I didn't feel welcome."
"It was like walking on eggshells. Even though I'd just returned to the Han family, everything felt off. I thought maybe I was imagining things, so I got a small hidden camera—for fun at first."
She offered a faint smile.
"I saw on TV once that hidden cameras reveal people's true faces when they think no one's watching. So, I placed it in my own room, and only during the welcome party, where it was public and crowded. I respected everyone's privacy—never went beyond that."
Detective Wang nodded thoughtfully. "Reasonable. And clever."
Han Yue continued, her voice soft but composed.
"Then… yesterday morning, I was getting ready to leave for the library. I opened my door to step out, and heard a whisper—someone talking. It came from Jiaojiao's room, which is right next to mine. Her door was ajar. I peeked in."
She paused, her eyes steady.
"She had her back to the door. She didn't see me. She was on the phone and said…"
Han Yue mimicked the tone and inflection precisely:
"I'll wait for her to leave. I'll go to her room. I know where her access card is. Tonight you can go and take some jades. Take the most expensive ones. Make sure to give me back the access card after, so I can put it back while she sleeps."
The room fell quiet.
Even the young female officer stopped typing for a second, then resumed rapidly.
"At first," Han Yue continued, "I was frozen. I didn't want to believe it. Jiaojiao… my sister, the one who always claimed to care for me. I was in denial. Maybe it was just a prank? A test?"
"I thought she just wanted to get me into trouble again—maybe hide the card, make mom and dad scold me."
"But… to actually steal from the company?"
She lowered her gaze, shoulders slightly slumping—not from fear, but sorrow.
"I didn't realize it was real until it was too late."
Detective Wang exhaled and leaned back in his chair. "You're not to blame for someone else's crimes. You had no obligation to suspect the worst."
The other officer added softly, "Many people wouldn't have noticed what you did. You caught a lot more than we expected."
At that moment, the I.T. officer returned. He handed over a file to Detective Wang and whispered something in his ear. Wang skimmed through it, nodding occasionally.
"The footage is clear," he said. "All timestamps align with your story. We'll add the relevant clips to our case file. Thank you."
After Han Yue finished her statement, the detectives nodded in appreciation and said they would now focus on finalizing the interrogation with the suspects. They clarified that since Han Yue had overheard the conversation but didn't record it directly on her phone, there was no need to check her device. Instead, the police would retrieve Jiaojiao's phone call logs and cross-reference them with tower data and any relevant voice recordings.
The lead officer reassured Han Yue, "You've given us a clear and consistent account, and your hidden camera footage plus your solid alibi puts you far from suspicion. We'll verify the rest through the suspects' digital records and testimonies."
Officer Qiu added, "The camera and SD card will be returned immediately after duplication. All originals remain with the client unless formally requested through a court warrant, which we do not believe is necessary at this time."
Moments later, Han Yue received her camera back, and with it, a duplicate of the SD card in a sealed police evidence envelope.
Detective Wang stood and extended his hand again.
"That will be all for today. Thank you, Miss Han. We'll finalize statements with the other involved parties and prepare a public statement for tomorrow morning. The city press office will hold a conference to clear your name and provide official details."
Han Yue stood up with grace and bowed lightly.
"Thank you for your trust"
Back in the car, Secretary Wen gently reminded her, "We'll be going straight to Young Master Long Yi's residence. It's better if you stay there for now."
Han Yue blinked. "What about my things?"
"We'll send a moving service with a lawyer present. Just in case your family refuses to cooperate or attempts to tamper with your belongings."
Han Yue let out a soft, almost girlish chuckle and leaned back in her seat.
"Alright. Sounds fair."
But deep in her mind, another thought bloomed like a flower.
"I miss Long Yi..."