The day before my wedding, I went to the beauty salon for a skincare treatment.

After the session, I handed over my membership card at the front desk to pay as usual. But the moment I glanced at the receipt, I frowned.

"The balance is wrong.

"I topped up this card with 100,000 dollars just last month. I've only used it once. How is there only 2,000 left?"

Without missing a beat, the receptionist pulled up the transaction history and turned the monitor toward me.

"Why don't you take a closer look yourself?

"Your mother comes in three times a week using this card. Last time, she even bought one of our premium luxury skincare gift sets for 60,000 dollars.

"The money on the card doesn't magically replenish itself. Of course it's gone."

I stared at the endless list of transactions on the screen and stopped arguing with her.

Instead, I pulled out my phone and dialed the police.

"Hello, I'd like to report fraud. Someone has been using my card without permission. The amount involved exceeds 80,000 dollars."

My voice was icy cold, every word sharp and clear.

Several guests lounging in the salon lobby immediately fell silent and turned to look at me. The moment they heard the words 'unauthorized card charges,' even the elegantly dressed socialites nearby stiffened, their expressions darkening.

The receptionist's look of disdain froze on her face. She stood there completely dumbfounded.

"N-no, Ms. Pearson, that's not... not what happened..."

I stood where I was, phone in hand, not even sparing her a glance as I calmly continued speaking to the police officer on the other end of the call.

Just as I was about to give the salon's address, a large hand suddenly reached out from behind me and snatched my phone away.

Frowning sharply, I turned around.

A woman in a professional skirt suit stood there with a security guard beside her. My phone was already in the guard's hand, casually being tossed around like a toy.

"Ms. Pearson, I'm Rita Waltz, the manager of Sensilk Beauty Salon. Whatever the issue is, we can talk it out properly. It's such a small matter, there's really no need to involve the police."

A polite smile rested on her lips, but the contempt in her eyes was impossible to miss.

The whole scene nearly made me laugh from anger.

I held out my hand and said loudly, "No matter what you want to discuss, return my phone first."

"That phone is my personal property. What kind of business are you running here? A customer's belongings can just be taken without permission?

"How is that any different from theft?"

Ms. Waltz's expression instantly turned cold. Not only did she make no move to return my phone, she actually stepped sideways to block the security guard behind her.

"Theft? Ms. Pearson, even if you are one of our customers, you can't just throw around accusations like that.

"And besides, your phone...? We're not that desperate.

"We simply noticed you were emotionally unstable and wanted to prevent you from doing anything irrational, so we're temporarily holding it for you."

The implication in her tone made the veins in my forehead throb.

Before I could respond, Rita slowly walked over to the counter and pretended to glance through the receipt records at the register. Then she turned back to me with an expression that practically screamed unreasonable troublemaker.

"Ms. Pearson, we've already pulled up the billing records. Every transaction is clearly listed. What exactly are you still making a fuss about?

"Instead of trying to extort money from us here, maybe you should go home and ask your mother what happened.

"I'm sure this is all just a misunderstanding.

"It would be quite embarrassing if the police arrived and discovered this was just a family matter, only to mistakenly arrest your father as a thief."

There was a faint smile hidden in Rita's voice.

Every sentence painted me as hysterical and unreasonable, with just enough threat underneath to make the meaning clear.

The guests watching from the lobby visibly relaxed after hearing her explanation.

Soon, whispers and comments spread through the room.

"Young lady, if it was your own family spending the money, you can't blame the salon for it."

"Exactly. I've been coming to Sensilk for years and I've never had my card stolen."

"If you ask me, she probably staged this whole thing just to scam compensation out of the store."

The overlapping chatter of dozens of women crashed against my ears.

My anger exploded instantly.

My mother?

My mother had died from illness ten years ago. What mother did I supposedly have running around beauty salons spending my money?

I forced myself to calm down and looked coldly at Rita.

"Ms. Waltz.

"First of all, my mother passed away ten years ago.

"I don't know where you got the idea that the person using my card was my mother, but that is absolutely impossible.

"What you should be doing right now is reflecting on whether your staff actually verified the customer's identity properly.

"Or is your salon the kind of place where anyone can walk in, tell a half-believable lie, and enjoy free services?"

I held Rita's stiff expression in my gaze and continued.

"Second, unless I'm mistaken, this membership card was opened under my name. I also left my phone number during registration.

"So why was there not a single notification call when large amounts were being charged to my card?"

The moment I finished speaking, the receptionist behind the counter also began to look visibly panicked.

Rita's smug smile instantly disappeared, her expression turning even uglier.

"Ms. Pearson, we always verify a customer's identity before allowing any charges on their card!

"And the woman claiming to be your mother even showed us photos of the two of you together. She swore up and down that she was your mother, so naturally we agreed to--"

Ms. Waltz's tone was already dripping with impatience.

However, instead of backing down, I stared right back at her.

"Photos?

"What era are we living in now? You think a photo proves anything?

"Do you believe I could generate ten thousand photos of us together with AI right now?

"Then what? Should I take those photos to a bank, claim I'm your mother, and withdraw all the money from your account?

"I'm not asking your store to operate with the same level of security as a bank, but if you're spending money from my card, the bare minimum should be notifying me first!"

I pointed casually at the transaction records displayed on the register.

"I prepaid a hundred thousand into this membership card because I trusted your store.

"You were the ones managing the funds for me. Now the money's gone, and somehow this is my fault?

"Honestly, I'm shocked. Your store charges luxury prices, yet your standards are this sloppy?"

My voice remained steady, but the faint smile on my face was full of mockery.

And somehow, those few sentences completely stirred up the other customers in the room.

A middle-aged woman wearing a mink coat slammed her hand against the table.

"The young lady's right!

"This is how your store handles things? Fake photos are everywhere these days. What can they possibly prove?

"Isn't this obviously the result of your own poor management?

"I'm telling you right now, I still have six hundred thousand stored in my card!

"No way. I want to check my balance immediately! Who knows if you people secretly emptied my account too?"

The voices in the store grew louder and louder.

Every employee behind the counter had gone red in the face, stumbling over their words without being able to explain anything.

Ignoring them completely, I held my hand out toward the security guard.

"Now. Give me my phone back immediately.

"Otherwise, once I call the police, this won't just be about unauthorized charges anymore."

Rita's face turned livid with rage. She shot me a vicious glare before slapping my hand away.

"Ms. Pearson, stop making baseless accusations!

"Everything you've said is purely your own speculation, and it's seriously damaging our store's reputation!

"We have every right to sue you for defamation!

"Let me tell you something. I have an elite legal team behind me!

"Today, you will provide a written and public apology to our store, then compensate us two million for reputational damages. Otherwise, don't even think about leaving!"

I looked at her with a faint smile that was not really a smile at all.

At the same time, I quietly touched the voice recorder in my pocket, the one I had accidentally brought from the office. Only then did I finally relax a little.

"Sure. As long as you let me call the police, you can say whatever you want.

"But remember what you just said. Your store will probably be adding unlawful detention to the list of charges too."

Just as the standoff between Ms. Waltz and me reached its peak, the mink coat lady who had supported me earlier suddenly stood up and thrust a phone covered in rhinestones toward me.

"Here, use my phone!

"I've seriously never seen a store act this outrageously before!

"Young lady, call the police! Let them come investigate this place properly!"

I smiled and thanked her before taking the phone and dialing 911 again.

This time, Ms. Waltz stared at both of us for a long while, her face flushed an ugly purple-blue color, yet she did not dare say another word.

After receiving the report, the police arrived quickly.

Less than ten minutes after the call ended, two officers pushed open the door and walked in.

Ms. Waltz, who had been glaring at me the entire time, instantly lost the aggressive expression she'd been wearing the moment she saw the police. Her face changed immediately into a smile as she hurried over to greet them.

"Hello, officers. I'm the lobby manager of Sensilk Beauty Salon. This is all just a misunderstanding, really, just a misunderstanding!"

Watching her deliberately stall them with pointless chatter was almost laughable.

Did she really think the police could not see through such an obvious trick?

Sure enough, the next second, the two officers walked straight past her and stopped in front of me.

"Are you the one who made the report?"

I nodded and calmly explained everything that had happened from beginning to end, leaving out nothing and exaggerating nothing.

"I called the police to protect my legal rights.

"There was one hundred thousand dollars in that card. Today's treatment only cost three thousand, but somehow more than eighty thousand disappeared from my account.

"That's a huge amount of money. I'm allowed to report that, aren't I?

"And according to Ms. Waltz and the staff here, they used my card without my knowledge because they claimed my mother came in and spent the money."

I let out a cold laugh.

"Officer, my mother died of illness ten years ago. Doesn't that sound completely ridiculous?"

I handed over the receipt from the transaction along with my bank card, then pointed toward the register, whose screen was still lit up.

Those were all solid pieces of evidence.

The reason I had stayed here watching them the entire time was because I was afraid they might panic and try to delete or destroy something. If that happened, I really would have nowhere left to argue my case.

The two officers followed my explanation and carefully checked the machine and the receipts before finally turning toward Rita, whose face had already gone pale.

"Well? Explain this.

"You used someone else's card without the cardholder's knowledge. Did your store fulfill its obligation to verify the transaction?"

Cold sweat instantly broke out across Rita's forehead.

By now, after hearing my full explanation, everyone in the room could sense that something was seriously wrong.

"No... no, that's not what happened... We... that customer showed us a photo as proof!

"The woman in the picture was clearly Ms. Pearson!

"Officers, we're innocent too! We only agreed to process the card after seeing the photo!

"Otherwise... otherwise we wouldn't dare even if you gave us ten times the courage!"

The explanation sounded weak even to her own ears. As she spoke, her voice gradually shrank lower and lower.

Just as the situation reached a deadlock, the staff member behind the register suddenly spoke up in a small voice.

"I... I kept that customer's contact information...

"It should still be in the client registration book... We might be able to contact her..."

The moment those words came out, everyone's eyes turned toward the thin registration notebook sitting on the counter.

A sneer rose in my chest.

Got you.

I was finally going to find out who this rat hiding in the shadows really was.

At the officers' instruction, the staff member flipped through the registration book and dialed the number listed inside.

Everyone waited anxiously.

The next second, after a sharp beep, a woman's shrill voice came through the speaker.

"Who is this?!"

Following the police officer's signals, the staff member nervously stumbled through her words.

"I-Is this Ms. Pearson?

"This is Sensilk Beauty Salon. We're doing a loyalty rewards event for longtime customers and need to confirm your information before sending out gifts...

"If you could leave us your address, we'll arrange delivery shortly..."

I listened carefully to the woman's voice, trying to catch even the slightest hint of familiarity.

However, no matter how hard I searched my memory, I could not place her at all.

The woman on the other end trusted the excuse surprisingly easily and immediately gave a detailed address.

But the moment I heard it, my eyes widened in shock.

Wait... wasn't that...?