In my previous life, no one had come to the house at this time.

So why this time…?

"Is this the residence of Tamsin Wallace?"

The police were at the door, and I recognized every single one of the officers' faces. They were exactly the same as in my past life.

But they were supposed to come tomorrow. Why had they arrived early?

I clung to a sliver of hope. Maybe after being reborn, everything had changed. Maybe the murders hadn’t even happened this time.

The moment Detective Micah Reed spoke, every illusion I had was shattered.

"Tamsin Wallace, you are a suspect in a major homicide case. We need you to come with us for questioning."

My parents froze for a second, as if they thought they had misheard. When Detective Reed repeated himself, panic set in immediately.

"There must be some mistake! Our daughter has always been a good kid. She wouldn’t even hurt a bug…"

"She just finished her exams. She’s one of the top students at her school."

My mind raced. The timeline had moved up. The cameras hadn’t been turned back on in time. I still had no alibi.

Everything was going to play out exactly like it did in my last life. Then, what was the point of being reborn?

"You should really take a closer look at her. I’ve thought something was off about her for a long time. She's always sneaking around, messing with who knows what!"

At Grandma’s words, the officers’ expressions turned even more severe, as if they were ready to cuff me on the spot.

"Mom, what are you talking about?!" Mom’s voice broke as tears streamed down her face. "She’s your granddaughter. How can you accuse her like this?!"

Grandma let out a cold, mocking chuckle. "So what if she’s my granddaughter? Does that mean she can break the law?!"

Dad managed to hold onto a shred of composure. "You’re police officers. You need evidence. If you can’t provide solid proof, I will sue you!"

Detective Reed remained calm. "The evidence is conclusive. DNA recovered from the scene is a high-probability match to Tamsin Wallace. And security footage captured her face."

My parents looked like they had been struck by lightning.

Officer Everett Cole, who handled technical forensics, placed a laptop in front of them. The short video clip, which was just a few minutes long, was enough to drain the color from their faces.

Even though the time of the crime had shifted earlier, the person in the footage was still me.

In the video, it even looked like I had done it on purpose, even standing directly in front of the camera long enough for a clear shot of my face.

DNA evidence. A clear facial recording.

There was no way to deny it.

My parents slowly turned to look at me. Their eyes were filled with disappointment and pain.

"The victims were your classmates: Tyrell Pierce, Elian Whitley, and Brandon Maddox. According to our investigation, in this year’s citywide rankings, you placed just behind them."

The three deceased, along with me, had taken turns ranking first in the entire school. We were all well-known top students.

Every year, Ravenshire awarded the top scorer a generous prize. Everyone wanted that money and recognition. Even if we never said it out loud, we had been competing behind the scenes all along.

The evidence was overwhelming. There was no way my parents could doubt the police now.

"Tammy… how could you turn into this…" Mom pointed at me, her hand trembling as she staggered back a few steps. All my life, she had seen me as her pride, and now, she looked at me like I was something monstrous.

"Tamsin, how did your mother and I end up raising a demon like you? How could you do this to us?!" Dad’s eyes were bloodshot.

I shook my head helplessly, just like in my last life.

"I told you long ago, raising a girl is useless! All the money we spent on her should’ve gone to your uncle’s sons!" Grandma beat her chest in frustration.

What do I do?

No one believed me. And the cameras at home still couldn’t prove my alibi.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the trash can.

Maybe… just maybe… I still had a way out.

"Please come with us."

"I'm not the person in that video!"

For a moment, everyone in the room froze.

"I have evidence. Someone is deliberately framing me!"

Grandma let out a mocking laugh. "There you go again, talking nonsense. I suggest you just confess properly and stop bringing shame to this family!"

"The officer just said the time of the crime was around 11 a.m. today. At that time, I was at a cafe nearly an hour’s drive from the scene. So there’s no way I could’ve appeared on a security camera at the crime scene at 11:10!"

The officers exchanged looks, their expressions complicated as they considered whether what I said could be true.

"Don’t listen to her," Grandma cut in quickly. "She’s been clever since she was a kid. Lying comes naturally to her. I guarantee what she just said is completely made up!"

Afraid the police might believe me, she hurried forward and grabbed Detective Reed’s arm, acting as if she were part of the victim’s family.

My parents had started to waver, but after hearing her words, their guard went right back up.

Of course. In their eyes, I was just saying anything I could to escape punishment.

Right now, though, I didn’t have the luxury of being hurt by that. I gave them the name of the establishment: Cinder & Oak Cafe.

The police quickly went to retrieve the surveillance footage.

Just like I said, at the time of the crime, I was there.

The forensic tech team examined the surveillance systems at both locations carefully, over and over again.

There were no signs of tampering, yet my DNA had undeniably been found at the crime scene.

The case suddenly hit a dead end. Even so, I was still the prime suspect.

After the police left, my parents didn’t say a single word to me. They locked their bedroom door and even hid their food separately.

Meanwhile, Grandma called relatives every single day, complaining nonstop. She went on about how our family had such terrible luck to have produced a murderer.

Before, in the eyes of those relatives, I had been the model "perfect child". Now, I had become the ultimate cautionary tale.

Every second at home felt suffocating. All I could do was wait desperately for news from the police.

Finally, two days later, the doorbell rang. I rushed to open it, heart full of hope, thinking there had been progress in the case.

But the moment I opened the door and saw who it was, I froze.

The narrow hallway was packed with people, every face twisted with barely contained rage.

I recognized them. I had seen them many times before at parent meetings for our class. They were the parents of the three students who had died.

"You shameless monster, how do you even have the nerve to still be alive?!"

"You should be in hell! Even the deepest level of hell would be too good for you!"

"Give us back our child’s life!"

...

Voices overlapped, shouting, surging forward as they tried to lunge at me.

"Please, just listen to me!" I kept my voice as steady as I could, trying to make them believe me. "I’m not the killer. If I were, the police would’ve arrested me already. I have an alibi for the time of the crime.

"They’ve already verified everything. You can ask them yourselves."

The anger on their faces didn’t fade in the slightest. If anything, they pressed closer.

"What alibi?! That was obviously something you staged ahead of time!"

"You might be able to fool the police, but you can’t fool us!"

"The evidence at the crime scene is rock solid. There’s no second person in this world identical to you!"

That was the biggest problem. No one knew who the person at the crime scene really was.

Sometimes, even I found myself wondering.

Could I really be the one who appeared there?

"Please, we’ve been classmates for years. I had no grudge against them. Why would I hurt them?"

Smack!

Without warning, a heavy slap struck my face. The sharp sound echoed through the hallway.

"And you still dare to say that?! Wasn’t this all just for the city’s top ranking this year?!"

"So young and already this vicious. People like you will only become a danger to society!"

"A monster like you should’ve been strangled at birth!"

I clutched my face as the metallic taste of blood spread through my mouth.

In that moment, I finally understood that there was no reasoning with them. They didn’t want the truth. They just wanted me to die in place of their children.

I turned and ran, sprinting toward the apartment.

However, what happened next sent a chill straight through my body.

Grandma was standing behind the door. At some point, she had appeared there silently.

With a strange, twisted smile, she slammed the door shut right in front of me. She wanted me dead at the hands of those parents.

I spun around and bolted for the stairwell, racing down as fast as I could. Behind me, they chased like a swarm, relentless.

Using the cover of darkness, I ducked into a cluster of bushes, my heart pounding violently.

A flood of headlines I’d seen before flashed through my mind: "Families of victims, enraged by verdicts, beat suspect to death."

If I couldn’t get away tonight, I might not live to see the sunrise. I refused to die like this.

Suddenly, something from earlier flashed across my mind. I pulled out my phone and dialed the police station.

"I know who the real killer is!"