Chapter 4

The moment the word "recording" dropped, the color drained from both Julian's and Lily's faces.

"Officer, who knows what kind of dirty relationship she had with my husband? She was on the other side of the country. How could she possibly have a recording?"

"She clearly faked it to get her hands on his money!"

"First it's an audio file, next she'll probably show up with a forged will!"

Lily's desperate excuses convinced no one. Everyone knew criminal investigations relied on hard evidence, not personal smear campaigns.

The way she talked made it sound like the police were just props in her little drama.

"Rest assured, everyone. We follow the law and go where the evidence leads. We will get justice for Mr. Miller."

Chloe pulled out her phone and played the audio of my final phone call with Lily. It was the recording I had sent her with the very last ounce of strength I had before bleeding out.

"I also have the voice message Logan sent me when he first heard about winning the award."

While these files couldn't directly prove they had murdered me, they were concrete proof that Julian and Lily had stolen my work without my consent.

Chloe watched their horrified reactions and sneered. "This is my first time flying into this city in years. And as you can hear from our chat logs, Logan and I were completely professional."

"On the other hand, Miss Lily... your husband is barely cold, yet that hickey on your neck is practically glowing. You look a lot more like the one who was sleeping around."

The officers' gazes shifted straight to Lily's neck. Her guilty flinch gave everything away.

"AI voice cloning is everywhere these days! You could have easily faked that! Besides, why would he send a recording of a call with his own wife to you? That makes zero sense!"

The only reason I sent it to Chloe was pure desperation.

Aside from Lily's, Chloe's chat had been pinned right near the top of my inbox.

Drowning in my own blood, I didn't have the strength to scroll for anyone else.

"Data roaming and carrier records don't lie. All the police need to do is pull the timestamp from Logan's carrier to confirm whether that file came from his phone. The truth will be obvious!"

Julian stepped in, trying to stay calm. "Even if I did accept the award in his place—which I didn't—how on earth does that prove we killed him?"

Floating above them, watching Chloe fight tooth and nail for my name, a faint warmth brushed against my cold spirit.

"All of you, come down to the station to give formal statements."

"The case hasn't even been solved yet, do we really have to go with you?"

The moment Julian asked, the lead detective's expression darkened.

Julian caught himself and scrambled to recover. "I mean, of course, I'll fully cooperate with your investigation. I just want my name cleared."

At the precinct, Julian leaned in and whispered to Lily repeatedly.

"Lily, Logan is dead. As long as you insist he was having an affair with Chloe, it doesn't matter what audio she has. She was out of state, and local records take forever to subpoena. Don't panic. The cops have nothing on us."

"Do you hear me? Don't worry, I'll protect you. Even if things go south, I won't let anything happen to you."

Seeing Lily staring blankly into space, Julian hooked his finger around hers. "Did you hear a word I just said?"

"People die when their time comes. Logan's death isn't your fault. Lily, you don't need to blame yourself."

Those words finally pulled a reaction out of her. She still hadn't fully processed the fact that I was gone.

"Was it a mistake... to tie him up..."

Before she could finish, Julian cut her off sharply. "We're right outside the interrogation rooms! This is their turf. You keep that buried in your chest. You take it to the grave, understood?"