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...?

Once they got the address, the two officers made a quick decision.

Everyone involved would go together.

At this point, the whole situation was a tangled mess. The only way to figure out what was really going on was to confront everyone face to face.

Sitting in the police car, watching the familiar streets pass by outside the window, I started feeling worse and worse.

It was not until we stopped in front of a door I had visited more than once before that everything finally clicked into place.

My expression darkened instantly.

The doorbell rang for more than ten seconds before the door finally opened.

An elderly woman with a heavily wrinkled face peeked out.

Before I could even speak, Rita hurried forward first, her voice full of urgency.

"Mrs. Zander! We finally found you!

"When you made purchases at our store before, you personally said we should charge your daughter's card!

"Now the cardholder, Ms. Pearson, is causing trouble for us. She wouldn't even listen to our explanation before calling the police. You have to help clear things up for us!"

I stood silently in the hallway, expressionless.

However, I had already recognized who the woman was.

She was Felicia Zander, a distant aunt from my fiancé Leslie Zander's side of the family.

And that photo she had shown before? It had been cropped from a large group photo taken at my engagement banquet half a year ago.

But what right did she have?

Forget the fact that Leslie and I were not even married yet.

Even if we were, that still did not give some barely related relative the right to pretend to be my mother and take advantage of me.

Felicia frowned as she looked me over several times. Then she noticed the police officers standing nearby, and her entire expression changed immediately.

"Oh my, Yanne! Look at this mess. It's all just a misunderstanding!"

She forced a familiar smile onto her face while nervously sneaking glances at the officers.

"I'm her real aunt! What's wrong with an elder spending a little money from someone younger? Is that illegal now?"

I did not respond.

However, Felicia mistook my silence for agreement, and her tone became even more self-righteous.

"You child, why are you so immature?

"Calling the police over such a tiny matter?

"Yanne, tell these officers to go back already! Otherwise don't blame me if I tell Leslie's mother you don't respect your elders!

"Honestly. We're practically family already, yet you're making such a fuss over a little money!"

Every word out of her mouth came wrapped in moral superiority, trying to pressure and guilt-trip me.

The anger inside me finally boiled over.

"Who the hell is family with you?

"Do I even know who you are?

"And you dared to go around pretending to be my mother? My mother died from illness ten years ago. If you're so desperate, why don't you go ask her yourself?"

The moment I finished speaking, Felicia's face flushed red. When she spoke again, her voice had turned shrill.

"You little b*tch! You should be grateful I was willing to act like your mother!

"Who do you think you are? Someone like you even deserves those luxury goods?

"Let me tell you something. Not only am I going to keep using your card, you'd better keep paying tribute to me in the future too! Otherwise, don't even dream of entering the Zander family!"

The blatant threat was so ridiculous it almost made me laugh.

"What kind of prestigious family are you people supposed to be? Your house is so poor it's practically falling apart, yet you're still putting on airs."

Then I turned toward the police officers.

"Officer, she already admitted it herself. Can you arrest her now?

"And eighty thousand dollars isn't a small amount, right? That's enough for criminal charges, isn't it? I refuse mediation."

"How dare you!" Felicia was so furious her eyes had turned bloodshot, her finger trembling as she pointed at me.

"I already called Leslie! Today I'm going to let him see exactly what kind of woman his future wife really is!"

My expression remained calm, without the slightest hint of panic.

Instead, I continued speaking to the officers.

"Eighty thousand should qualify as a major amount, right? That's enough for up to two years in prison, isn't it?"

I glanced at Felicia with a faintly amused expression.

"Oh right. If I remember correctly, your daughter is preparing for the civil service exam?

"What a shame. With a mother who has a criminal theft record, she probably won't even pass the background check."

The moment I mentioned her daughter, Felicia's entire demeanor changed.

Her face turned purple with rage, and the way she looked at me became vicious.

Before anyone could react, her heavy body suddenly lunged toward me.

I did not even have time to respond before I felt her fist clench into my hair.

My face was slammed against the wall as she started beating me wildly.

"You b*tch! How dare you ruin my daughter's future! I'll beat you to death today!"

After only two slaps, the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

I struggled desperately, but I could not move her at all.

Everyone around us froze in shock. The officers realized things had gone wrong and rushed forward to stop her, but they were already too late.

Felicia's massive body pressed down on me like a millstone. No matter how people tried to pull her away, she wouldn't budge.

My vision went dark. Sparks exploded across my sight, making my head spin violently.

Just as I was about to lose consciousness, the elevator doors opened with a ding.

A furious male voice rang out.

"What the hell are you doing?! Stop right now!"