Lily's POV
The police station smells like stale coffee and desperation.
Officer Martinez leads me through a maze of desks and uniformed officers who barely glance up. Everyone here looks tired. Overworked. Like one more domestic dispute complaint is just another box to check.
I'm not a person to them. I'm paperwork.
This way, Ms. Chen.
She opens a door to a small room, gray walls, metal table, two chairs. The kind of room you see in crime shows where they break suspects down until they confess to things they didn't do.
My hands won't stop shaking.
Someone will be with you shortly to take your statement. Officer Martinez's voice isn't unkind, but it's not warm either. Can I get you water?
No. Thank you.
She leaves. The door clicks shut.
I'm alone.
I pull out my phone with trembling fingers. Three missed calls from Connor. Five texts.
Connor: Don't say anything without a lawyer.
Connor: I'm calling someone right now. Sit tight.
Connor: Lily, answer me. Are you okay?
Connor: I'm coming down there.
Connor: Please tell me you're okay.
I type back quickly: I'm fine. Don't come. This will just make it worse.
Three dots appear immediately. Then: Nothing about this is fine.
Before I can respond, the door opens.
A man walks in, late fifties, gray suit, tired eyes. He's carrying a manila folder that looks too thick for just Nathan's fake evidence.
Ms. Chen. I'm Detective Morrison. He sits across from me, opens the folder. Let's talk about your relationship with Nathan Kim.
Ex-relationship. We broke up two weeks ago.
After you were caught cheating on him.
The accusation is so casual. So matter-of-fact.
That's not what happened. He cheated on me. With my best friend.
Detective Morrison doesn't write that down. Just flips through papers in his folder.
According to Mr. Kim's statement, you became obsessive after the breakup. Started harassing him. Sending threatening messages. Following him to his workplace.
That's a lie.
These text messages aren't lies, Ms. Chen. He slides his phone across the table. The screen shows those vile texts supposedly from my number. You admit this is your phone number?
Yes, but I didn't send those! Nathan must have, I don't know, faked them somehow.
Faked them. His tone says he doesn't believe me. Do you know how difficult it is to fake text messages from someone else's number?
I know how much money the Kim family has. I know they fired me to protect Nathan's reputation. I know they'll do anything to
Ms. Chen. Detective Morrison's voice sharpens. I need you to focus. Did you or did you not send these messages?
I didn't.
Did you show up at Mr. Kim's residence last night?
What? No! I was at my apartment
The apartment you share with Connor Hayes. Mr. Kim's former best friend.
The way he says it makes it sound dirty. Suspicious.
Connor offered me a room when I had nowhere else to go.
How convenient. How long after your breakup with Mr. Kim did you move in with Mr. Hayes?
A week. Maybe less. I don't
So you moved directly from your ex-boyfriend's home into his best friend's apartment. Detective Morrison leans back. That's quite a quick transition, Ms. Chen.
It wasn't like that
Then what was it like? Because from where I'm sitting, it looks like you and Mr. Hayes might have been involved before your relationship with Mr. Kim ended.
My blood runs cold. That's not true.
Mr. Kim seems to think otherwise. He's provided witness statements from mutual friends who say you and Mr. Hayes were 'overly familiar' at social gatherings.
That's insane! Connor barely spoke to me for two years!
Why would he barely speak to you if you were just his friend's girlfriend?
The question is a trap. I see it too late.
I don't know. You'd have to ask him.
We will. Detective Morrison closes the folder. Ms. Chen, I'm going to be straight with you. This looks bad. The evidence suggests a pattern of harassment from you toward Mr. Kim. The threatening texts. The sudden cohabitation with his former friend. The fact that you were recently fired from his family's company for misconduct
I was fired because they wanted to protect Nathan!
Do you have proof of that?
I open my mouth. Close it. I have nothing. No emails. No recordings. Just my word against the Kim family's empire.
Detective Morrison sees my face and nods. Here's what's going to happen. I'm recommending a restraining order. You stay away from Nathan Kim. No contact. No messages. No showing up anywhere he might be. If you violate it, you'll be arrested. Understand?
He's the one harassing me!
Then file a counter-complaint. With evidence. He stands. You're free to go. But Ms. Chen? Get a lawyer. Because if this escalates, you're going to need one.
He leaves me alone in the gray room.
I sit there, numb, trying to process what just happened.
Nathan turned his harassment of me into a case against me. He's using the police. The system. Everything.
And I have nothing to fight back with.
My phone buzzes.
Connor: Where are you? Are they done?
I text back: They're letting me go. I'll take an Uber back.
Connor: I'm already here. Front lobby.
Of course he is.
I make my way out through the maze of desks. Officers glance at me—some curious, some dismissive. The woman who threatened her ex. Another crazy ex-girlfriend who can't let go.
That's what they think I am.
Connor is pacing the lobby like a caged animal. The second he sees me, he's moving.
Are you okay? What did they say? Did you talk to them without
I'm fine. My voice sounds hollow. They believed Nathan. All of it.
Connor's jaw clenches. Lily
There's a restraining order. I can't contact him. Can't go anywhere near him. I laugh bitterly. He gets to harass me, but I'm the one with restrictions.
We'll fight this. We'll get evidence
With what money, Connor? What lawyer? My voice cracks. I have nothing. He has everything. This was stupid. All of it. I should never have moved in with you. I should have just
Don't. Connor grabs my arms. Don't say you regret this.
Why not? It's true. Look what he's doing. To both of us. He's destroying
I don't care what he destroys as long as you're safe.
I'm not safe! I'm in a police station being accused of crimes I didn't commit!
We're causing a scene. Officers are watching. But Connor doesn't let go.
Then we go public, he says quietly. We tell the truth. Your side. What Nathan really did.
No one will believe me.
I believe you.
The words hit me in the chest.
Connor's gray eyes are intense. Fierce. I believe you, Lily. And I'm not letting him win. Not this time.
I want to believe him. Want to think we can fight back.
But Nathan has money. Power. The entire system on his side.
What do we have?
My phone buzzes. I pull it out, expecting another message from Nathan.
It's not Nathan.
It's an email. From an address I don't recognize.
Subject line: You need to see this.
I open it with shaking hands.
There's no message. Just a video file attachment.
What is it? Connor asks.
I don't know.
I click the video.
It loads slowly. Then starts playing.
The footage is grainy—security camera quality. But I recognize the location immediately.
It's Nathan's apartment building. The hallway outside his door.
The timestamp says two weeks ago. The night of my birthday party.
My stomach drops.
On screen, I watch myself arrive with decorations. Watch myself use my key to enter. The camera doesn't show inside the apartment, but I know what I found. What I walked in on.
Twenty minutes later, I emerge. Walking fast. No decorations. Looking destroyed.
Then, three minutes after that, Madison comes out.
She's smiling. Checking her phone. Completely calm.
She walks down the hallway and stops at the security camera. Looks directly at it.
And waves.
Like she knew someone was watching. Like she wanted this recorded.
Oh my god, I whisper.
The video continues.
Madison pulls out her phone and makes a call. The camera doesn't pick up audio, but I can read her lips clearly.
It's done. She saw everything. Yes, just like we planned.
Connor's hand tightens on my shoulder. She set you up.
But the video isn't over.
Nathan appears in the hallway. Fully dressed now. He approaches Madison.
They talk for a moment. Then Nathan pulls Madison close and kisses her—not the guilty kiss of two people caught cheating.
The triumphant kiss of two people who just won something.
When they break apart, Nathan says something to Madison. She nods. Pulls out her phone again.
The timestamp jumps forward five minutes.
My phone—on screen, visible in Nathan's hand, lights up with messages. Dozens of them. He's typing fast. Sending texts from my phone to himself.
Creating evidence.
The threatening messages the detective just showed me.
Nathan was creating them. That night. While I was falling apart at Jazz's apartment.
The video ends.
I stare at the screen, hands shaking so badly I almost drop my phone.
They planned it, I whisper. All of it. The affair. Making sure I found them. The texts. Everything.
Connor takes my phone, watches the video again. His expression goes dark.
Who sent this to you?
I scroll back to the email address. It's a random string of numbers and letters. No name. No signature.
Just one line at the bottom of the email I didn't notice before:
He destroyed other women too. You're not the first. But you can be the last. -A Friend
Connor, I say slowly. What if Nathan's done this before?
He looks at me, and I see the same realization dawning in his eyes.
How many girlfriends did Nathan have before me? I ask.
Three. Maybe four serious ones.
And how did those relationships end?
Connor's quiet for a moment. Then: Badly. There were always rumors. Cheating accusations. One girl lost her job. Another had some kind of breakdown.
What if it wasn't random? What if Nathan and Madison have been doing this to every woman he dates?
My phone buzzes again.
Another email. Same anonymous address.
This one has four more video file attachments.
And a message: Check the dates. He's been doing this for years. Madison helps him every time. You're just the latest victim. But you have something the others didn't—proof. Use it.
I look up at Connor.
He's staring at my phone like it's a bomb about to explode.
We need to open those files, he says quietly. Right now.
But before I can click anything, a voice behind us makes us both freeze.
Lily Chen?
We turn.
A woman stands there, mid-thirties, expensive business suit, carrying a leather briefcase. She looks like she walked out of a corporate law firm.
My name is Sarah Mitchell. I'm an attorney. She hands me a business card. And I'd like to represent you. Pro bono.
I don't understand, I say. I can't afford
You don't need to afford me. Someone already paid your retainer. She glances at Connor. A mutual friend who wants to see Nathan Kim exposed for what he is.
Who? Connor demands.
Sarah Mitchell smiles. It's not a kind smile. It's the smile of a lawyer who smells blood in the water.
Jessica Reeves. Connor's ex-girlfriend. Turns out she has her own history with Nathan Kim that she'd very much like to discuss.
The world tilts.
Connor goes completely still beside me.
Jessica, he breathes. She knows Nathan?
She does. Quite well, actually. Sarah's smile widens. And she's been waiting a very long time for someone to finally fight back. Ms. Chen, if you'll come with me, we have a lot to discuss. Starting with how we're going to destroy Nathan Kim's life the way he's destroyed so many others.
She turns and walks toward the exit.
Connor and I stand frozen in the police station lobby.
My phone is full of evidence. A lawyer just appeared out of nowhere. And Connor's ex-girlfriend, the woman he left because he said my name in his sleep—is apparently connected to Nathan in ways we never knew.
Connor, I whisper. What's happening?
He looks at me, and for the first time since I've known him, Connor Hayes looks genuinely scared.
I don't know. But I think we just found out that nothing about Nathan was ever what it seemed.
My phone buzzes one more time.
A final email from the anonymous sender:
Trust Sarah. Trust the evidence. And whatever you do—don't trust what you think you know about Connor's relationship with Jessica. Nathan lies about everything. Including that. -A Friend