Rina took a deep breath to contain the hatred she felt. She faked a look of surprise as she responded to Sonia. “What do you mean, Miss Reed? Do you trust her? Do you think that I really attacked you?”
Sonia couldn’t believe what was going on. Rina continued to shake her head. “I didn’t do it, Miss Reed. I work for both you and Mr. Coleman—I’d never attack my own boss. That doesn’t make sense! Trust me, Miss Reed and Mr. Coleman. Please trust me when I say that I haven’t done such a thing.”
Zane merely let out a scoff without responding to her. Rina felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach when she saw his response, realizing how flustered she was at that point. “Mr. Coleman...” Rina parted her lips to call his name. She could tell that Zane didn’t just hate her— he practically treated her as if she didn’t exist. Rina was terrified as being ignored felt worse than being hated by him.
If he merely hated me, he would probably still look at me. However, now that he’s ignoring me, it means that I’m not even worth a glance. At this point, Rina began to regret all that she had done. I should have been more careful. Why didn’t I wear a mask when I went to meet Alice? That way, I wouldn’t have been found even if Alice decided to snitch on me. Then, Mr. Coleman wouldn’t hate and ignore me. Rina balled her fists as she counted her regrets.
“No. I’m very sure about this. You were the one who did it. I can’t trust you any longer. Do you know how we found out about this? We hired a sketch artist to draw a portrait of you in accordance with Alice’s descriptions. Then, we showed the portrait to Alice again. That was how we’re so sure that you’re the attacker.”
Rina widened her eyes. So, that’s what happened. I can’t believe that’s an actual way for someone to investigate a case! There’s still so much that I need to learn! “I see, Miss Reed. But portraits—” “Stop trying to wriggle your way out of this. I know what you’re going to say.”
Sonia raised her hand as she cut Rina off once more. “You’re going to say that a portrait can’t be legitimate evidence because someone could just describe your face on purpose, right? You’re trying to claim that Alice is framing you as the attacker, right?” Sonia continued with a smirk.
“I...” Rina was stunned and at a loss for words, proving that Sonia’s guess had been right. “Fine. If a portrait isn’t good enough as evidence, then allow me to present you with the most solid piece of evidence I have. After you attacked me, you went over to Alice’s house and stayed there for a long time. I’m sure your fingerprints are on some of the items in Alice’s house. Although this might be a bit of a hassle, I can still pay a large sum to order someone to dust everything in Alice’s house. Do you think we’ll be able to find your fingerprints somewhere in there?” Sonia scoffed.
“Sonia’s right. Once we find your fingerprints in Alice’s house, it’ll show that what Alice said was true. You were the one who attacked Sonia and ordered
Alice to be your scapegoat.” Zane spoke while rubbing his chin.
Color drained from Rina’s face as she recalled how she had taken her gloves off once she arrived at Alice’s place. Back then, my gloves were stained with Sonias blood, so I took my gloves off and washed my hands in the bathroom. I touched many parts of the bathroom back then, so I’m sure that I left my fingerprints somewhere in there.
Rina’s body began to tremble in fear just at the thought of it. She could no longer conceal the fear in her eyes.
Zane spoke up in a stern tone after he saw Rina’s expression. “It looks like you’ve finally admitted to your crimes. Well, tell us—why did you decide to betray us? Why did you attack Sonia?”
“Didn’t you hear what Alice said earlier? Alice said that Rina attacked me because she thought that I was a threat to her identity, right?” Sonia asked.
Zane knitted his brows. “Identity? What sort of identity does she have? Is she worried that you might steal her identity as Taylor? That can’t be it, right?” “What are you talking about?” Sonia rolled her eyes. “She thinks that I’m a threat to her identity as Rina because I know that her identity is a lie. She is worried that I might expose the fact that she isn’t actually Rina,” Sonia explained.
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