Chapter 4

The next morning, the moment I stepped out of the dorm, someone deliberately walked past and slammed hard into my shoulder.

"Pervert."

They tossed out the word and walked off without looking back.

I stood there, my fingers slowly curling in.

The suffocation of my past life came crawling back through the memory.

Back then I was lying in a hospital bed, both legs amputated, unable to even get up.

People online cursed me, people at school avoided me, and Joy Galloway kept herself spotless.

I was the one who'd saved her.

And in the end I became the villain in everyone's mouth.

But this time, I wasn't going to lie in a bed and wait for them to grind me into the dirt.

I called the police directly.

"Hello, I'd like to report a case."

"Someone is spreading lies about me online, claiming I deliberately pushed a person and caused her disability."

"I want this handled by law. I won't accept any private settlement."

Two hours later, I was at the police station again.

Joy's parents came too.

The second Camila saw me, she rushed forward to grab me.

"You're the one who ruined my daughter!"

"How do you still have the nerve to call the police?!"

An officer held her back.

"Please stay calm."

"If you believe Paul Henson pushed her, you can provide camera footage, witnesses, or other evidence."

Carter's face went dark.

"My daughter said it with her own mouth. That doesn't count as evidence?"

The officer handling the case looked up at him.

"A victim's statement can serve as one piece of evidence, but it can't stand alone as the basis for a ruling."

"Especially since there's public surveillance at the accident intersection. We have to go by objective evidence."

After that, the traffic police pulled the footage from the crossing.

The picture was clear.

Joy hadn't stopped at the red light. She was walking and looking at her phone, wearing earbuds, oblivious to the traffic around her.

When the truck came at the crosswalk, I was standing two meters behind her.

I didn't touch her.

Didn't push her.

There was no so-called grappling or pulling either.

In the footage, I even stepped back.

The officer paused the video on the key frame.

"Ms. Galloway, where exactly did Paul Henson touch you?"

Joy froze.

She couldn't force out a single word for a long time, and started to cry.

"I was too scared back then… I don't remember clearly."

"I'm paralyzed, I've lost everything…"

"I won't press it any further, okay?"

One line about not remembering, and she wanted to smooth the whole thing over.

I looked at the officer handling the case.

"Officer, I'm the one who filed the report."