Chapter 7: The Sister Everyone Trusted

The lead investigator replayed the surveillance footage several times.

The timestamp clearly showed me entering the basement.

Minutes later, Gwen walked out alone.

I never appeared on camera again.

"Who locked the basement door?" the investigator asked.

No one answered immediately.

Gwen forced a confused expression onto her face.

"I... I don't remember," she whispered.

"Kate suddenly ran downstairs. I thought she wanted to be alone."

The investigator stared at her for several seconds.

"The forensic team found your fingerprints on the basement doorknob."

Gwen's face instantly turned pale.

"That's... that's normal. We all use the basement."

"Fingerprints alone don't prove anything."

The investigator nodded calmly.

"You're right."

"But the security system recorded something else."

He played another video.

This time, everyone clearly saw Gwen locking the basement door from the outside.

"No... that's impossible..." my mom murmured.

"Gwen would never do something like that."

My dad immediately defended her.

"There must be some misunderstanding."

"Kate probably asked her to lock the door."

Even now, he refused to believe I was the victim.

I smiled bitterly.

Nothing had changed.

The investigator remained expressionless.

"We also recovered deleted messages from Miss Kate's phone."

He placed several printed screenshots on the table.

One message read:

"If anything happens to me, don't believe Gwen."

Another read:

"She locked me in the basement before. I'm afraid she'll do it again someday."

Silence filled the room.

Zac slowly picked up the papers.

His hands were shaking.

"Kate... wrote these?"

"Yes," the investigator replied.

"She sent them to a close colleague several months ago."

My mom suddenly remembered the day I had begged her not to leave me alone with Gwen.

She had dismissed me without listening.

Now those forgotten memories returned one after another.

"No..." she whispered.

"That can't be true."

Gwen immediately burst into tears.

"Mom, you have to believe me!"

"Kate always misunderstood me."

"She hated me because Orion chose me."

She cried so pitifully that my parents instinctively moved toward her.

Only Zac remained frozen.

For the first time, he looked uncertain.

"Gwen..."

"Did you really lock Kate inside?"

Gwen looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

"Brother, even you don't trust me anymore?"

Zac lowered his head without answering.

The investigator interrupted them.

"We're not accusing anyone yet."

"But this investigation has now become a homicide case."

"Everyone involved that night will be questioned separately."

As they prepared to leave, another officer hurried inside.

"Captain!"

"The forensic lab finished examining the victim's fingernails."

"They found skin tissue belonging to another woman."

Everyone instinctively looked toward Gwen.

Her breathing suddenly became uneven.

I remembered struggling desperately before losing consciousness.

I had grabbed someone's wrist.

Back then, I thought it was only a meaningless act of resistance.

I never imagined I had left behind the evidence that would eventually expose the truth.

For the first time since my death...

I saw genuine fear appear in Gwen's eyes.