"Gabriella, I'm here to talk about Victor Patton."

As soon as my name rang out in the courtroom, I jolted and instinctively looked at Gabriella. I saw her stiffen, a murderous glint flashing in her eyes.

Oliver snorted, seeming pleased with her reaction. He leaned back in his chair as if unbothered by whatever came next.

Gabriella came to her senses and said coldly, "Victor Patton was a disgraced police officer who went rogue.

"Back then, he colluded with you, leading to more than a dozen police officers' deaths. He even fled the country after embezzling hundreds of millions of assets. What? Are you going to reveal his location?"

Oliver clicked his tongue, wagging a finger at her.

"I wouldn't say that. He was an officer killed in action. I paid a heavy price just to kill him, but what choice did I have? He killed my younger brother.

"Good thing I had spies on your team. Just before he died, all he could think about was you." Oliver closed his eyes, as if he were savoring the memory.

"What nonsense!" Gabriella scoffed. "He must've bribed you from overseas to say something like that. He made you put on a show before your execution!"

Her gaze swept across the reporters in the courtroom. "Anyone who spreads these rumors will be prosecuted for leaking classified police information. No exceptions."

The audience erupted in chaos, and the reporters' cameras clicked even more frantically. A murmur ran through the courtroom.

The presiding judge struck the gavel three times in a row before the audience finally fell silent.

Once the commotion in the courtroom died down, Oliver let out a snort. "What's the rush? I sealed his body inside Pier 17 of the Joy Bridge.

"You remember that place, don't you? Seven years ago, Victor led a team to intercept our cargo ship in those waters. He was the one who fired the shot and killed my younger brother."

Gabriella immediately went pale. Her rage vanished in an instant, and all she could hear was the growing thud of her heartbeat.

The presiding judge asked for more details, but Oliver kept silent. He cocked his head at Gabriella, grinning as if he were enjoying the drama unfolding.

Without speaking to Oliver, Gabriella turned and walked out of the courtroom.

As I was a soul, I had no choice but to follow her. Behind her, reporters hurried toward her, but she ignored them and quickly got into the car.

"Contact the media immediately. We're holding an emergency press conference in 30 minutes."

Half an hour later, Gabriella and I stood in the press room at the Gakoli Police Station. I looked down from the stage—everything felt strangely distant.

Dressed in a crisp police uniform, Gabriella delivered her official statement before the cameras.

"In today's public trial, statements made by death row inmate Oliver Rypien were nothing more than malicious lies. There was no evidence to support them.

"We have solid evidence that Victor Patton went rogue five years ago. The Gakoli Police Department forbids anyone from using the statements of a death row inmate to mislead the public, defame the police force, or challenge a lawful conviction."

At her words, something struck deep within my soul. The pain was so intense that I felt like I was being torn apart.

In Gabriella's eyes, I was a traitor who had been living it up for the past five years.

A reporter immediately raised her hand, asking, "Chief Campbell, Oliver Rypien already made it clear where Victor Patton's body is. Will the Gakoli Police Department conduct any drilling at Pier 17 of the Joy Bridge to verify his statement?"

Gabriella's gaze swept across the room.

"No. It would be irresponsible of the Gakoli Police Department to damage the city's key transportation hub over the baseless claim of a death row inmate, as it would pose a risk to public safety."

Once the press conference was over, the head of the narcotics unit stopped Gabriella as soon as she stepped out of the press room.

The head of the narcotics unit handed Gabriella an application form filled with signatures.

"Chief Campbell, here's the application form to conduct drilling at Pier 17 of the Joy Bridge. Everyone in the narcotics unit has signed it.

"We have to get to the bottom of this, regardless of whether Oliver was telling the truth. We owe the truth to our fallen comrades and the public!"

Gabriella swept her eyes across the application form before crumpling it into a ball.

"Application rejected."

"Chief Campbell!"

"Enough." Gabriella looked at the head of the narcotics unit. "From now on, you're suspended from duty. Go back and reflect on your behavior. Do not return until you've thought things through."

My soul hovered over the passenger seat as I watched Gabriella open the door and get into the car. As soon as the door shut, the facade she had maintained at the press conference instantly fell apart.

Gabriella leaned back in her seat, still stern and aloof, but the corners of her eyes kept twitching. We had been together for ten years, and I knew every subtle shift in her expression by heart.

My soul hovered at her side, trembling with surging emotions. "Gabriella, are you scared?"

In the car, only her increasingly heavy breathing remained. As the silence lingered, light flickered across her face.

There was no sign of the smiling young woman who had once helped me put on my goggles at the shooting range years ago.

After a long time, Gabriella opened WhatsApp. The same chat had been pinned for the past five years, and the profile photo was my ID picture taken at the entrance of the narcotics unit. I was dressed in my police uniform, my eyes shining.

Gabriella stared at my profile photo for a long time before sending me message after message.

"Victor, what on earth are you up to?"

"Five years ago, you went rogue and got hundreds of our comrades killed. Wasn't that enough?"

"Daniel's dead. They said you were a traitor. I refuse to believe that."

"As long as you say you didn't do it, I'll believe you."

Gabriella's fingers trembled for a moment before settling on the last message.

"Victor Patton, I hate you."

In the end, she slammed her phone onto the passenger seat.

As I read those messages, I felt as if I had been thrown into ice water, a chill spreading through me.

When I went undercover for Oliver's operation, I was one step away from the final takedown, but I didn't know how my cover almost got blown.

It was Daniel who sacrificed his life so I could stay undercover. He even took the fall for the compromised operation.

On the day he died, his last words were for me to keep going and not let the force down. But with his death, the last person who could prove my innocence was gone.

I watched Gabriella bury her face in her hands. The resentment, grievance, and searing pain kept wearing down my soul.

After a long time, Gabriella regained her composure. She slowly smoothed out the application form she had crumpled earlier.

She stared at the names signed on the form. These were the comrades who had once risked their lives with us.

"Victor, perhaps it's time I gave up on you for good."

She pulled out a pen from her suit pocket and prepared to sign the form, but at that moment, her phone rang—it was Christopher.

Gabriella answered the call, her expression softening instantly.

Christopher's voice, filled with pain, came through the phone. "Gabriella, my chest hurts."

Gabriella sat up straight immediately, her voice turning tense. "What's going on? Where are you?"

"I'm at home. I just watched the news about Oliver's live trial. I suddenly thought of Daniel and felt overwhelmed.

"I've been like this for a while, but I just can't calm down. Now my chest is starting to hurt."

Christopher sounded aggrieved. "Gabriella, I'm scared. Just thinking about it makes me shiver.

"Daniel died a horrible death, and so many of our comrades are gone too. It's all because of Victor. And now Oliver, who's about to be executed, is trying to clear his name? How many more people is he going to hurt before he stops?"

Gabriella's fingers tensed. His words had shattered whatever brief calm she had just found.

"Don't overthink this. Stay in bed, okay? I'll have the family doctor drop by now."

"I don't want the family doctor. I want you to come home."

Christopher's voice came through more clearly. "Gabriella, you believe what Oliver said, don't you? You think he's not a traitor. Have you forgotten how he nearly killed you back then?"

Gabriella's breath caught, and she didn't answer. Of course, she remembered.

Back then, Oliver sent word that I was at a warehouse at the dock. Without hesitation, Gabriella led a team and stormed in, only to find the place rigged with bombs. If her teammate hadn't shielded her from the blast, she would have died on the spot.

"Back then, you lay in the warehouse, covered in blood and trapped by the flames. I was the one who risked my life dragging you out of the fire!

"I also took a bullet for you during the evacuation. That's why my heart hasn't been the same ever since!" Christopher's voice rose a few notches before cracking with emotion.

"Victor and Oliver set that trap from the very beginning. Gabriella, you can't forget what he did just because time has passed. Don't let him fool you."

I became frantic. I wanted to tell Gabriella that wasn't the truth, but she couldn't hear a single word I said.

Gabriella stayed silent for a long time. Finally, she ended the call and drove to the Gakoli Police Department.

The narcotics unit was still waiting in the office for updates. As soon as they saw her walk in, everyone stood.

Gabriella tossed the application form for drilling onto the conference table.

"According to Oliver's testimony, this was a trap that he and Victor had planned in advance. They probably wanted to lure us under the bridge under the guise of reopening the case. Then they'll trigger an explosion."

At her words, the entire office fell silent.

"It would be a disservice to our comrades who sacrificed their lives if we let the testimony of a death-row inmate overturn the judgment we made back then."

Everyone in the room exchanged glances in silence.

Back then, after the warehouse explosion, most of them had taken part in the rescue operation. They had seen Gabriella carried out, covered in blood, and the bodies of their fallen comrades.

After that tragedy, no one was willing to take such a risk again.

Gabriella slammed her hand down on the conference table. "I'm submitting the application immediately. Coordinate with all relevant departments. We'll be conducting a controlled demolition of Pier 17 at the Joy Bridge. We're going to put an end to their plan."

Once submitted, the application was quickly given the green light.

The explosion was scheduled for the early hours of the morning. The authorities made sure everyone was evacuated beforehand to ensure everything went off without a hitch.

While preparations were in full swing, Gabriella drove alone to Gakoli's maximum-security prison.

Oliver was led into a visitation room, separated by thick bulletproof glass. The moment he saw her, he grinned from ear to ear.

"Chief Campbell, what brings you here? Aren't you going to demolish the pier?"

Gabriella stared at him coldly. "I know all about your plan with Victor. You wanted to trick me into leading a team to the pier and wipe us all out.

"I've already submitted an application form. At dawn, we'll conduct a controlled explosion at Pier 17. No matter what you're hiding in the pier, it'll be blown to pieces."

Hearing that, Oliver froze for a moment before bursting into laughter.