Chapter 5

Elena’s sobbing paused for a split second.

The system alerts flashed rapidly in front of me.

[Look at the register counter!]

[She was desperately trying to get you to sign because the shipping receipt is hidden right under the inventory sheet!]

[That is the hard evidence of her moving the bags!]

I walked over to the marble counter.

A mess of papers was scattered across it, with the unsigned inventory sheet on top.

I reached out and lifted the sheet.

Sure enough, hidden right beneath it was a pink copy of a shipping receipt.

The timestamp was 8:30 PM tonight.

Sender: Elena Juan.

Recipient: Marcus Diago.

Description: 300 pieces of clothing.

Weight: 187 lbs.

I knew Marcus. He was Elena’s husband.

He owned a high-end luxury consignment shop downtown.

The time, the quantity, the recipient—everything matched perfectly.

I picked up the slip and turned around.

Elena was still groaning on the floor, pretending to be in pain.

But the moment she saw the pink slip in my hand, her pupils dilated.

"What is that? Put it down!"

She scrambled up from the floor like a wild animal and lunged at me.

I stepped back, holding the paper high out of her reach.

"At 8:30 PM tonight, while the store was still open, you shipped out 187 pounds of 'clothing' to your husband, Marcus."

"Elena, 300 luxury leather bags weigh exactly that much, don't they?"

Lara and Vicky gasped.

"Elena... did you actually take the bags?"

Elena went completely hysterical. "She's lying! Those are just old clothes I sent to my husband!"

"Chloe, you looked through my personal mail! That's a violation of my privacy!"

She clawed at me, trying to rip the paper from my hands, even swinging her plastered arm to strike me.

Just then, heavy footsteps echoed from the mall corridor.

Two security guards carrying heavy breaching tools rushed to the entrance.

"Who called? Where's the door?"

Elena looked at the guards, gritted her teeth, and screamed at Lara.

"Lara! Cut the power! Now!"

Lara was so terrified by the chaos that she couldn't think.

Acting purely on reflex, she slammed her hand onto the main breaker switch on the wall.

Click.

The entire boutique plunged into pitch-black darkness.

It takes a few seconds for eyes to adjust to sudden darkness. I couldn't see a thing.

Then, I heard the rapid clicking of high heels charging toward me.

Someone threw their weight into my shoulder, knocking me to the ground, and pinned me down.

Elena used her good hand to aggressively pry open my fingers, trying to snatch the receipt.

"Give it to me! Give it to me!"