Five years ago, Avelina had joined hands with a drug trafficker to silence me.

Using my credentials, she hacked into the internal system and leaked the list of undercover agents. Hundreds of officers were exposed, hunted down, and slaughtered in retaliation.

When my husband led the SWAT team and burst through the door, he found Avelina drenched in blood, sobbing, accusing me of betraying my team, of even trying to kill her.

If reinforcements hadn't arrived in time, she claimed, I might have murdered her on the spot.

The crime scene was a mess. The records showed internal breaches. Large sums had been transferred from my mother's medical account.

Every piece of "evidence" pointed squarely at me.

My husband hated me, my mentor Martina denounced me publicly, and my sister, who once idolized me, published a statement severing all relations.

I was abandoned by all, condemned as the shame of the DPD.

Five years later, during a raid on a drug ring, officers searched the dog farm where the traffickers had stashed narcotics. There, beneath the soil, they uncovered a skeleton curled tightly into itself. It was me.

Just as they were preparing to leave, a police dog suddenly went wild, barking nonstop at an oak in the corner. Floating above, I watched the German Shepherd dig violently, sending dirt flying everywhere.

Leading the team was my sister, Brianna Lockwood.

Back then, she was still a cadet. Now she was leading an entire search unit.

Noticing the dog's agitation, Brianna frowned and gestured sharply.

"Dig!"

Several officers quickly grabbed the shovels and ran to the oak.

They struck nothing but roots and loose soil at first.

They kept digging deeper and deeper, yet no sign of anything appeared.

When everyone wondered if they had been digging in the wrong spot, the shovel hit a hard object with a dull "clunk."

"Got something!"

As they cleared the dirt, what emerged wasn't the pile of drugs they expected, but a curled human skeleton—bits of horrifying tissue still clinging to the bone.

Brianna crouched down, her brows tightening.

"Get the M.E. and forensic team here."

She ordered without raising her head.

She didn't recognize me. Didn't know that this grotesque skeleton was the sister she once admired more than anyone.

Five years is a long time.

Buried underground, my body had been devoured piece by piece until only bones remained.

Brianna put on her gloves and traced the knife gashes and canine bite marks that crisscrossed the bone.

The medical examiner arrived swiftly. He bent over, examining the remains. He said calmly, "The estimated time of death is five to six years. The multiple knife cuts and canine bite marks on the bones indicate that the victim has suffered prolonged abuse while alive."

Pointing to the clean cuts on several large bones, he continued, "The sharp-force injuries are numerous and deliberate. My initial assessment: revenge killing."

"Revenge?"

A young officer walked over and chimed in, "Five to six years ago... buried in a trafficker's dog farm...

"Could this be tied to the operation five years back? When was the undercover list leaked?

"When that happened, half the undercover officers were hunted down. Dozens vanished. This might be one of them."

He spat suddenly. "It's all because of Kathleen Lockwood, that damn traitor! She sold us out for money and got so many officers killed. She was such a disgrace to the DPD!"

Kathleen Lockwood.

A disgrace to the DPD.

Brianna's fingers tightened so hard her knuckles turned white.

"Enough!"

An officer who had witnessed the incident back then immediately reprimanded the young officer and nudged him with his elbow.

He let out an awkward chuckle, trying to smooth things over. "Sergeant Lockwood, the rookie doesn't know the full story. Don't take it personally."

Brianna sneered, her gaze sharp. "He's not wrong. Those who betray everything we stand for deserve to be branded in shame forever."

She stood up, her voice devoid of warmth. "One day, I'll catch Kathleen and make her pay!"

I froze. Something inside me was ripping apart.

The traitor they chewed out, the one who had turned her back on her faith and betrayed her fellow officers...

Was me?

My thoughts spiraled into chaos.

How could this be?

I died protecting the evidence. How could I ever betray them?

Suddenly, the M.E. bent over, noticing something unusual. "Strange. The jaw is tightly clenched. There seems to be something in her mouth."

The M.E.'s words instantly drew all eyes to him.

Wearing rubber gloves, he gingerly moved the skeleton's lower jaw.

But it had been five years. The flesh had long since decayed, and the joints were unusually stiff.

"The jaws are clenched firmly. Prying it open by force will only cause damage."

The M.E. shook his head, his tone grave. "I need to take it back to the lab to find out what exactly is inside."

I was drowning in a whirlpool of emotions. Indignation and resentment poisoned my soul, threatening to tear apart the last vestige of my being.

Just as they were about to engulf me, an irresistible force pulled me away.

Before I knew it, I was in the brightly lit corridor of the DPD, drifting behind a towering figure.

That was my husband, Cameron Harrington.

He wore a sharp police uniform, the epaulets marking him as an Inspector.

Five years had erased the last trace of his youth, carving a sharper, more rugged profile. Yet, there was a lingering weariness in his eyes, like a mist through which the sun could never shine.

"Inspector Harrington." The M.E.'s voice snapped me out of my reverie. "The preliminary results are in. The time of death was five years ago. Multiple cuts from sharp instruments and animal bites are evident, pointing to a revenge-driven killing.

"The forensic team is still working on the DNA match. It requires some time.

"But if the DNA confirms that it's someone from the department..." M.E. paused, lowering his voice. "Then it's very likely one of the victims from that failed operation five years ago."

Cameron's hand, hanging at his side, balled into a fist, the tips digging into his palm.

He pressed his lips together, his jawline taut, as he forced all his emotions back down.

"Cameron?"

A sweet female voice cut in.

Avelina, in a tailored suit, walked over with a radiant smile. She casually hooked her arm around Cameron's.

Cameron didn't pull back, nor did he cast her glance, as if he had grown used to her touch.

My heart sank.

Avelina nodded at the M.E., then turned to Cameron. "Stop dwelling on it. You've been working around the clock for days to chase this drug ring. Go home and get some rest."

She paused, her voice softening. "Besides, Troy misses you. I can't keep troubling Martina to watch him over."

"Our son needs his father."

Cameron fell silent for a while, then finally gave a nod.

I watched Cameron's every move, utterly dumbstruck.

A dreadful suspicion rose in my heart.

Against my will, my spirit followed them back to the home that I once knew so well.

The moment the door was opened, Troy Harrington, with a buzz cut, scampered toward them, shouting, "Daddy! Mommy!"

Cameron's exhausted expression melted into a warm smile. He bent down and held the boy up, his voice softer than I had ever heard. "Were you a good boy at school?"

Avelina trailed behind, beaming with delight. She rubbed Troy's little head and teased softly, "Good boy? The teacher said he got into a fight with other kids again. He's such a rascal, nothing like you."

Just then, Martina emerged from the kitchen, soup in hand, and hollered, "Right on time. Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner."

After wiping his hands, Martina grabbed his phone and said, "I'll go get Bree. She's probably eating that instant food for dinner again."

Once the call was connected, Martina said, half-impatiently, "Hurry home. Dinner is ready!"

"Alright, alright. I know you too well.

"I'll ask Ava to bring it to you."

Brianna's voice came through the phone, laughing. "Thank you, Martina! You're the best!"

"Thank Ava, for me!

"You silver-tongued little girl!"

Martina chuckled and hung up, then turned to Avelina. "Ava, I'd appreciate it if you could bring Bree some warm food. She's probably forgotten to eat again while reading those case files."

Avelina took the insulated container and said, "No problem."

They spoke with such ease and familiarity, as if they had this kind of conversation and task-splitting a thousand times already.

I floated in the air, staring blankly at the harmonious scene below.

The person who orchestrated my murder now brazenly occupied my seat, enjoying all the attention and care that once belonged to me.

Yet my lover and my family accepted all of this without a pang of guilt!

A searing pain ripped through the core of my soul. I felt as if I had been thrown into a grinder, my last scrapes of consciousness shredded.

Martina was still talking to Brianna, his voice full of concern. "Cracking the case is important, but your health comes first.

"Don't be like anything like Kathleen..."

The mention of my name instantly cast a pall over the living room.

All the voices stopped abruptly.

In the choking silence, Troy blinked his wide eyes and asked curiously, "Daddy, who's Kathleen?

"Why is no one talking?"

Cameron's arms tightened around Troy, his face turning ghostly pale.

The smile on Avelina's face froze instantly.

Sensing the sudden shift of the atmosphere, Troy clammed up.

A shadow of remorse crossed Martina's face as he cleared his throat and said, "Silly me! Why on earth did I bring her up...

"It's all my fault for ruining everyone's mood."

Brianna's voice drifted through the phone, deliberately breezy. "That's right, Martina. When you get older, eat more greens and talk a little less!"

Avelina's lips curled into a perfect wry smile. "Martina, don't beat yourself up.

"Kathleen, she...

"Before the incident, she was indeed a good cop. She had done some outstanding work and helped many people.

"I know it's hard for everyone to accept the truth. That's perfectly normal, and I can relate."

Cameron slammed the spoon back into the bowl.

The impact sent a harsh, jarring sound ringing through the air.

His face was like thunder. His tone was dripping with icy disdain. "Enough! Don't mention that woman! Don't speak her name!"

The brief moment of calm in the room vanished, and the tension rose again.

Avelina's eyes flickered with a trace of pride, but she still spoke gently, "Come on, Cameron, don't say that. Martina and Bree are still here. Besides..."

"Cameron was not wrong!"

Brianna's voice blasted through the speaker, sharp as a blade. "After what she's done, I no longer saw her as my sister.

"In my heart, you're my only sister."

Martina's face darkened, his voice cold and resolute. "For money, she betrayed her fellow officers. She left a permanent stain on the Detroit Police Department!

"If I had known, I would never have taken her as my protégé!

"I wish I had never taught her a thing!"

I hovered in the air, watching and listening.

Every word they said was like a blunt knife straight from the furnace, slashing and stabbing at my bodiless soul, over and over.

The excruciating pain almost shattered what little remained of my consciousness.

The mentor I respected the most, the sister of my own blood, and the husband that I loved dearly, all regarded me as a shameful secret.

Their words hurt a thousand times more deeply than the torture that Avelina and drug dealers once inflicted on me.

After the group vented their spleen on me, the suffocating tension finally eased.

The air began to flow again, carrying a gentle, cathartic warmth born from their collective release.

Martina kept urging Brianna to eat properly. Avelina smiled in agreement and picked up the insulated container, ready to head out.

Cameron's sour expression softened. He grabbed the spoon and started stirring his soup.

Sensing the storm had passed, Troy cooed and babbled again.

They sat together, bathed in the warm light, the air thick with the aroma of food, their laughter echoing through the room.

What a harmonious, perfect family!

And yet all my loved ones ostracized me.

I was like a ghost whose entire existence had been wiped, leaving not a single trace behind.

I first met Cameron seven years ago. He wasn't an inspector yet, just a driven young detective working on a stolen-goods case.

As for me, I was assigned to his division temporarily to provide technical support as a white-hat hacker.

The investigation reached a dead end, and every standard approach failed.

During the briefing, I proposed a bold plan: hack into their servers and reverse-trace their online fencing network. But for it to work, we needed someone to infiltrate their operation and be our eyes on the inside.

Everyone thought I was out of my mind, and the plan was too risky and unlikely to succeed.

Only Cameron, his eyes shining with determination, stood up and declared, "I think it'll work!

"I volunteer for the infiltration mission!

"What do you need me to do?"

At that moment, the blazing light in his eyes had seared into my heart.

Later, the mission succeeded, and with every battle we faced together, our bond only grew stronger.

I remembered that I only drank ice-cold, sugar-free cola while coding, and I needed a large cup of extra-strong coffee after pulling an all-nighter.

Everyone said I hit the jackpot finding such a thoughtful and capable husband.

I thought so, too.

After we got married, we still loved and supported each other.

I assumed we would walk this path side by side and grow old together.

But everything changed when Avelina waltzed into our lives.

Avelina and Cameron grew up together. As the cybersecurity specialist returning from overseas, she was assigned to our division and became his partner.

At first, I looked out for her because of Cameron.

But later, when Avelina called, saying she felt out of place and disheartened, he ditched me in the middle of preparing dinner, hurrying to console her with words and wine. When her old injury acted up, he whisked her away to the hospital, leaving me high and dry in the restaurant to deal with our bewildered families. Even the anniversary trip we had planned for months fell apart the moment she voiced her sorrow. He canceled our flight without a second thought and ran to her place.

Not until he ditched me again did I realize that I would never be Cameron's first choice with Avelina around.

His care and attention were never meant for me alone.

All my pent-up anger and resentments snapped, plunging us into an endless war of words.

Every time, he would furrow his brows and look at me with a mix of exhaustion and confusion, his words raining down like a hail of bullets. "Kathleen, you used to be magnanimous.

"Ava just returned home. She's still getting used to life and work here. What's wrong with me helping her out?

"Every day, I work on cases and chase leads. I'm already stressing out. It's not like you, sitting comfortably in front of your computer.

"I didn't come home to hear your ridiculous rants!

"If she and I were a thing, you wouldn't be in the picture!

"Can you get your act together and stop being so paranoid?"

His words cut me to the quick, but the pain wasn't enough to break me.

I was truly tired.

So, after that fight, I stared into his eyes and, for the first time, said with clarity, "Cameron, let's break up."

I didn't expect my decision to be met with a strong backlash.

My teammates said I was overreacting, that the pressure of the job was getting to me. Martina smacked the table and scolded me for acting foolishly and letting Cameron down. Then my sister called me, her voice full of disbelief. "Kathy, where on earth are you going to find a man as amazing as Cameron?

"Don't be so stubborn!"

Even Cameron, with bloodshot eyes, gripped my hand and said shakily, "Kathleen, what exactly do you want from me?

"Don't break up with me, please?"

I felt trapped. The walls of persuasion and reproach caved in, leaving me struggling to breathe.

As I was about to drown in the feeling of isolation, Avelina reached out to me.

With an immaculate, apologetic smile, she offered to join my hunt for the dark web drug ring as the "technical consultant."

She swallowed her pride and assured me. "Kathy, I know we got off on the wrong foot.

"But once this operation is over, and I help you take down the drug ring, I'll immediately request to be reassigned. I promise I'll be out of your lives for good."

A sneer almost escaped me. After spending all this time with her, I knew she was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

So, I refused.

Yet she always managed to stay on top of our operation.

Whenever we were close to a breakthrough, she showed up "by coincidence," either derailing us with seemingly plausible reasons, or feeding us with urgent yet useless intel, or claiming she found a "security flaw" in the system that required an immediate shutdown for inspection.

Our operation was delayed again and again, and the top brass kept pressuring me.

These constant, inescapable shackles had pushed me to the edge of the cliff.

For the sake of destroying that notorious drug ring, I gritted my teeth, smothered my doubts and humiliations, and agreed to let her in.

I believed that the compromise I was making would eventually guide me to the light at the end of the tunnel.

But to my dismay, it opened the gate to hell.

In the lab, the air was thick with tension.

Brianna held the camera and took photos of the autopsy.

Frowning, the old M.E. picked up the delicate tools, cautiously working to separate my tightly clenched, fleshless lower jaw.

The bones split with faint "cracks," each one sounding deafening in the silent lab.

He held his breath and explored the cramped cranial cavity with his tweezers.

Suddenly, his hands stilled.

He used the tweezers to pinch a tiny black flake, smaller than a fingernail and covered in filth.

"What's this?"

He muttered under his breath, putting the flake under the intense light and carefully scraping off the filth.

The material of the flake and its tiny interface slowly became discernible.

Brianna, who had been watching closely, suddenly gasped, her body lurching forward as her pupils constricted.

"This is the encrypted chip issued by the Cyber Crimes Unit seven years ago!

"Designed for the highest-level offline data transfers. Because of its high cost and strict usage requirements, only three were given out to the entire division!"

Her eyes stayed locked on the tiny black chip. As if blinded by the sun, she jerked her head up and faced the silent skeleton. A name that she had cursed for five years slipped from her lips. "Kathleen... The only one who possessed this chip and went missing was..."

"Kathleen!"

Suddenly, the door was pushed open with a bang.

A young officer dashed in, panting, his face flushed with excitement. "Sergeant Lockwood! There has been a major discovery at the dog farm!"

Brianna suddenly looked up.

At the bottom of the pit, the dirt had been cleared away. A technician shone his flashlight on a small black object encased in a waterproof vacuum bag.

"Sergeant Lockwood, look!

"Could this be...

"The same micro signal transmitter they used five years ago?"

Brianna's body trembled violently, her eyes fixed on the transmitter, tears threatening to spill.

She gave me this transmitter herself, saying it featured state-of-the-art technology, with exceptional battery life and anti-interference ability, perfect for high-risk undercover missions.

If this were here...

It meant that Kathleen was not a traitor!

Where was she then?

A blood-curdling thought struck her. In her mind, the ravaged bones on the autopsy table overlapped with the image of the vivacious young detective that she once knew.

A wave of dizziness swept over Brianna. The room started spinning around her, leaving her barely able to stand.

With shaking hands, she pulled over the officer and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Find Detective Harrington now! And Martina!

"Tell them to get to the DPD ASAP!

"Let them know that we've found the evidence linked to that darknet drug case.

"We've finally found it!"

Before the officer could make the call, the analyst who handled the preliminary evidence processing blurted out, his voice brimming with disbelief and delight, "Sergeant Lockwood!

"The transmitter has a recording feature.

"The parts aren't severely damaged. The device is simply out of power!

"It might still work."

It was a cloudy day when I went out on the mission.

Avelina tailed me like a shadow, eyes darting around, but I didn't have time for her.

After I tracked down the criminals' lair, I couldn't get a hold of Martina or Cameron.

I had no choice but to go alone.

In the deserted chemical factory, I followed the clues and found a hidden room.

The crucial evidence to take down the drug ring was likely inside.

Our division had been grinding on this case for far too long, and I needed to solve it now!

Before I could even celebrate, a string of heavy footsteps rattled the floor. Those thugs were outside!

My heart skipped a beat. I subconsciously shouted for Avelina to run, only to discover she was gone.

A dreadful premonition crept over me, sending shivers down my spine.

I quickly jammed the USB drive containing all the case files into a crack in the hidden room's wall.

Just as I tucked it away, I overheard a conversation from outside.

A woman rasped, "Where's the evidence? Where's the cop you mentioned?"

Someone replied, "I saw her!

"She just went in there!

"The evidence she has with her now is enough to exonerate all of you!"

The resolution in her voice made my blood run cold.

It was Avelina.

Soon, the sound of footsteps drew nearer, reverberating against the walls.

"Bitch, there was no one inside! How dare you trick us?"

Every word the man uttered was a deadly warning.

I heard Avelina plead in terror, "Please, don't kill me. I really saw her come in..."

Desperate to stay alive, Avelina stripped off her clothes. Then the room was filled with the rustle of cloth and disgusting moans.

Shamelessly, she clung to the thugs and cooed, "As long as you spare me...

"I'll do anything you ask..."

My stomach churned violently. Shaking, I retrieved the small recorder from my pocket and recorded everything.

At long last, the depraved noises from outside subsided.

Just when I thought I dodged a bullet, a thug knocked on the wall and exclaimed in delight, "This wall is empty! There's a secret room!"

A wave of dread washed over me.

While they hammered at the wall, I wedged the recorder into the crack and curled up in the corner, trembling nonstop.

The door burst open.

A band of fierce-looking thugs stormed in.

The moment Avelina saw me, she pointed at me, grimaced, and screamed, "That's her! She must've hidden the evidence!"

They tied me up and tortured me in every possible way, yet I gnashed my teeth and refused to talk.

Seeing it, Avelina leaned over and said coldly, "Since she's a hard nut to crack, take her away and interrogate her until she talks.

"Then make the scene look like she tries to kill me. I'll be the 'victim' and drag her name through the mud. By then, both the cops and the gangs will tear her apart."

Spurred on by Avelina, those thugs cut me and dragged me away.

Then Avelina picked up the knife, still slick with my blood, and calmly carved fresh wounds into her own skin as she spun the story that would convict me.

"Kathy betrayed us to protect the drug dealers...

"She even tried to kill me to shut me up for good. I fought for my life to snatch the knife from her..."

Her lies were riddled with flaws.

But as a detective, Cameron believed her.

He shamed me publicly, so even after I died, people would spit on my name.

My body, along with the truth, was buried underneath the ruins for five years.

I hovered in the air, watching Cameron and his family indifferently.