“What do you mean? Huh? Tristan? What do you mean it was all pretend? Don’t tell me... I killed my friend for nothing?!” Everyone was stunned by what they had just heard. The culprit’s confession took a moment to sink in.
“S-sis... H-how? You’re lying, right? You couldn’t have done that...” Marivic looked as though she was only seconds away from bursting into tears.
Perhaps this was also the first time she had learned about Tristan and Betty’s fake relationship. That explained why she had been acting strangely earlier. She had been jealous.
“Yes, Marivic! I killed her! I only did it because I didn’t want anything getting in the way of your relationship with Tristan! You know I’d do anything for you! But if I had known sooner that they were only pretending, I never would have done it! I was only worried about you, little sister!”
That’s right—they were sisters. The resemblance between them was undeniable.
“Sis, I never told you to kill Betty. Don’t use our relationship as an excuse. The fact that Betty was supposedly getting in the way of my relationship with Tristan isn’t enough reason for you to murder her. I know you like Tristan too, but whether their relationship was real or fake, you still shouldn’t have done it! We’re friends! We’ve always treated each other like family! You should’ve at least thought about that!”
SLAP!
“Don’t act so righteous!” Julie shouted at her sister. “You’re only saying that because Tristan loves you! If you were in my position, you wouldn’t be saying any of this! If Tristan had loved me instead of you, none of this would’ve happened!”
I never expected this case to end up like this. Shel quickly grabbed Julie to stop her.
“That’s enough... Stop trying to justify what you did. You made a mistake, and you have to face it. I just hope you’ll eventually forgive yourself.”
“Let go of me! You too?!” Julie struggled against Shel’s grip.
“You’re all ganging up on me! Fine! Let’s all go our separate ways! We’ve all been fake with each other anyway! Let’s forget we were ever friends—or sisters!”
She glared at Marivic.
“You all act like you’re better than me? I’ll make sure you’re the next ones to disappear from this world, and I’ll just laugh while it happens!”
“You’ve lost your mind!” Tristan yelled. “How can you say those things to your friends?”
“Friends? They’re my worst friends! They’ve all been pretending with me!”
“Look at yourself. You’re so selfish. You talk as if your friends mean nothing to you. Do you really think I—or any guy—would ever like someone who acts this way? You should’ve valued the bond you shared instead of letting jealousy and anger consume you!”
Julie dropped to her knees after hearing those words from the man she loved. It was as though all her strength had left her. Moments later, we heard her sobbing.
“I-I was only following orders...” she whispered.
Even though it was barely audible, I still heard it. I didn’t know whether anyone else had.
“You still made the choice,” I said. “You chose to obey. You let yourself do the work that should’ve been done by the person giving the orders. And now, you’re the one paying the price.”
Leo placed the handcuffs on the culprit. Sadness filled the air. I hadn’t expected any of this.
“Thank you, Aedrian,” Leo said.
“Thank Betty,” I replied.
He frowned, so I knew I’d have to explain.
“She helped me identify the culprit by leaving that lattice on her right hand. We were just looking at it the wrong way. The lattice didn’t point to the letter ‘L’—it pointed to ‘J.’”
“What do you mean?”
I raised my left hand and folded down my three smaller fingers, leaving only two extended.
“What letter do you see?”
“J.”
I nodded.
“But from my perspective, I see an ‘L.’ Get it now?”
He nodded and patted my shoulder.
“I don’t know why my brain gets slower whenever you’re around,” he joked.
“Well, we should get going,” Leo said before escorting Julie toward the patrol car.
“Wait.”
Both of them looked at me, but my eyes remained fixed on the culprit.
“How do you know L? Do you know anything about him? Who is he?” I asked quietly, just loud enough for her to hear.
Earlier, she had said she was only following orders. There was a chance L was behind this again.
“If I were you, I’d stop digging if I don’t want my life to become miserable,” she warned. “He can grab you by the throat and make you obey. No one can stop his plans—not even someone smart like you. Give up. Have some mercy on the people close to you.”
She stepped into the vehicle. Leo looked confused by our exchange.
Just as he was about to get in, I called out to him. He turned around as if he had also remembered something he wanted to say.
“You wanted to tell me something?” he asked.
“Yes. But first, I have a question. Have you talked to Nica about being a witness in your father’s case and hers?”
“To be honest, not yet. This case got in the way. Maybe not right now.”
“Alright. But make sure you talk to her. It might help us catch L and finally end all this. Now, what was it you wanted to say?”
I stepped closer and whispered,
“Julie knows L.”
A smile appeared on his face as though an idea had just struck him.
“I’ll handle it. Just make sure you stay careful, okay?”
He patted my shoulder before finally leaving with the culprit.
And with that, the case came to an end.
“What do you mean about me being a witness?”
I froze when I heard a voice behind me.
For some reason, I suddenly felt reluctant to ask her about it.
“N-nothing. Let’s head back to class.”
I quickly changed the subject and started walking.
“Look, Aedrian, I already told you I’d help you. What’s this about L? What witness? Why do you seem so hesitant to tell me?”
I don’t know why, but at that moment, a thought crossed my mind.
What if L decided to target her next?
I still remembered the time she disappeared from my sight because she chased after the man who shot Marco.
What if she got dragged into this too?
What if something happened to her?
“Tell me,” she said, “is there anything that I must know?”