The Swapped Master's Bride And Her Bad Luck System.-Chapter 103: Who was the bigger victim?

The first alert came from buzzing on her smart watch. Then she saw the breaking news banner: "Masked Square Assault: Game of Love between two sick partners." It wasn’t just the messages but photos too.

She exchanged a sharp glance with Linlin. They had just finished speaking with the victim--her denial was raw. Her pain was deep, her fear was high and now the press was running with a bad version of events. A version that came from the suspect.

It was all splashed across the headlines before the investigation had even settled.

Liwu’s stomach tightened. This was not a coincidence. Either the puppet master or someone inside the department had leaked evidence. For now, she chose to believe that it was the puppet master, looking to continue the destruction of Jinling.

A scream came from the bed.

Liwu and Linlin turned around. Jinling had a phone in her hand. She was looking at the same thing they were looking at. Her body was trembling.

"It’s everywhere," she cried, "they are saying I told him to do it. They are showing my pictures. Everyone will think I wanted this."

Liwu sat on the bed and gave the young woman a partial hug. "Listen to me, I believe you. These messages are not yours. Someone set you up and now they have leaked it to destroy you."

Jinling covered her eyes, her shoulders shook as she wailed in despair. "Who would do this to me? I am a good person. I did not do this, how do I prove it?"

Liwu’s jaw tightened. "We will prove it for you. And when we do, I promise to have every newspaper in the country declare your innocence. It’s okay, everything is going to be okay."

The room was mostly quiet, only the sound of Jinling’s sobs could be heard. For a girl that had been lucky her whole life, this was one of the worst ways to be introducing to bad luck.

Moments later, Jinling’s parents returned. Liwu and Linlin drove back to the precinct. Everyone had already seen the news, the whole precinct was buzzing was with it.

Chief Abby stopped Liwu before she went in to interrogate Beimo again. "How is the victim?"

"Not good. Someone is out to ruin her--not just ruin but humiliate her. Whoever it is, they hate her so much. I truly hope the mastermind is behind this and not one of us."

The Chief had a solemn look on his face. He had already bolted out of his office as soon as the news broke. He had locked down the evidence and the chain of custody for Beimo’s phone was being investigated. If someone inside was feeding information to the press, they would be in serious trouble.

Xuanji walked over, waving a piece of paper. "I have news--good news. After a thorough investigation into the accounts, pictures and on line secret life of our victim, tech has confirmed that this was a digital snare. Her phone has spy ware. The accounts were fake. I don’t know whose toes Mr. Hu was promising to lick after they were dipped in honey but it was not Jinling."

Liwu sighed. She leaned against the wall, seeking for a short moment of support. At least now they knew for sure that Jinling was not involved.

When she walked back into the room He Xiao Yi was still there, making Beimo take some tests.

"Mr. Hu, Miss Jinling does not know you."

He smirked. "She’s lying. She’s just embarrassed. I showed you everything. Three months--we have been together for three months. Why would I invent this? Why would I assault a woman in public and risk everything?"

Liwu leaned forward. "Because someone wanted you to. Because someone wanted her destroyed. Because someone wanted both to you caught in a trap."

Beimo’s smirk faltered. "What do you mean by that?"

"That someone hated either one or both of you and they set this up to ruin you." Liwu said. "They created created a fake account in her likeness, fed you messages, sent you stolen pictures. They manipulated you into believing it was her. Now, they have spread this everywhere by leaking these messages and pictures to the press. Two lives ruined, one crime committed."

Hu Beimo jumped back."Woah! I did not commit any crime."

"Sit down." Xiao Yi commanded. "Your life is about to become very complicated. Knowingly or unknowingly, you participated in a crime. All we can do here is collect evidence and leave the rest to the prosecution."

Liwu slid a paper and pen to Beimu. "I need you to write down the names of anyone you can think of that hates you to a point of doing something like this. Start with women. We have a list from Jinling. We want to see if there are any names in common. We also need to know about the woman that held Jinling down as you assaulted her."

"I did not even know it was a woman." Beimo shouted. "She made the same signal Jinling talked about in her texts. I assumed it was someone else that she had included in the plan. I don’t understand what is going on. I need to talk to Jinling." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"You are never coming near her ever again." He Xiao Yi told Beimu. "She is not your girlfriend. In her mind, you will forever be the man that assaulted her."

"But I love her." Beimu said softly.

"She does not even know you exist." He Xiao Yi told him. "Focus on what’s important. You were both deceived. You were puppets dancing to strings you couldn’t see."

Beimu’s face crumpled. "Who was it? Who did this? Why us?"

Liwu’s gaze hardened. "That’s what we’ll find out. But know this clearly: the account is not hers. The messages were fabricated. The pictures were stolen and taken illegally. Jinling is not your girlfriend and you can never go near her again."

Beimu lowered his head, running his hands through his hair. "But what about me?" he whispered. "I am victim too." He slumped in the chair, the weight of realization pressing down.