Chapter 4

The next morning, Gilbert Group's largest conference hall was packed with reporters.

The live stream had gone up early.

In five minutes flat, the viewer count blew past a million.

On the big screen, Gilbert's brand promo played on a loop.

In a spotless production floor, workers in masks walked the camera through each quality-control step.

Carly, in a puff dress, cradled a can of infant food, smiling sweetly.

"Baby eats without a worry, so Mama has peace of mind."

Only I knew that off camera, the warehouse was stacked with near-expired ingredients that had been relabeled.

The moment I stepped into the hall, reporters surged forward.

"Lesley Gilbert, do you admit to leaking trade secrets?"

"There's a rumor that you did this to get back at the Gilberts because the real daughter came home and your shares were taken away. Is that true?"

"Was your mother also involved in funneling out the money?"

Security held the reporters back.

Then the Gilberts filed in one by one.

Carly, in a white dress, sat in a wheelchair.

The second she reached the front, she struggled to her feet and bowed deeply to the press.

"Please don't blame my sister. She just couldn't accept that Baby came home, so she did something wrong."

"If you have to scold anyone, scold Baby for not finding Mama and Papa sooner. Baby only begs my sister to stop hurting the company."

My adoptive father signaled the tech director to present the evidence.

One after another, my account login records, the USB copy logs, and the encrypted emails came up on the screen.

In the footage, I copied the formulas, the client list, the quality-control reports, and the financial books with my own hands, then packaged it all and sent it out.

The last thing to appear was a screenshot of a payment into an offshore account.

A complete chain of evidence. The hall broke into an uproar.

In front of every reporter there, Silas Delgado slid a notice of annulment across the table to me.

"Lesley Gilbert, I misjudged you. As of today, our engagement is formally off."

My adoptive mother pressed me too, her eyes red.

"The Gilberts raised you for twenty-four years, and we never treated you badly."

"After Carly came home, she was the one who asked us to keep you at the company. And you sold generations of this family's hard work for five million?"

Carly sat between her parents and stretched a hand toward me.

"Sister, tell them the buyer's name, and give the money back to the company."

"Baby's got a come-home pass ready for you. Just admit what you did, and Baby will give it to you."

I didn't look at her. I kept my eyes on the transfer screenshot on the screen.

"A screenshot with the account name blacked out, and you call that a complete chain of evidence?"

Seeing that I still wouldn't confess, Carly suddenly clutched her chest and started gasping.

The family doctor rushed to fit an oxygen mask over her face.

She gazed at me through the mask, wounded.

"All the evidence is right there. Why does my sister still have to bully Baby?"

My adoptive father slammed the table.

"Enough!"

He turned to the cameras and declared it word by word.

"Gilbert will shield no one. Whether or not Lesley Gilbert was ever my daughter, we will pursue this to the end."

A reporter thrust a microphone at me at once.

"The video, the logs, and the emails already form a chain of evidence. Are you still going to deny it?"

"Did you or did you not copy and send these materials?"

Carly pulled off the oxygen mask and reached out to me.

"Sister, stop making excuses. Just admit it, and Baby's still willing to forgive you."

I glanced at the time. Ten o'clock sharp, exactly the time I'd set with them.

"I copied the materials, and I sent the emails. Weren't you asking me who I sent them to? They're here."

The next second, the doors of the conference hall crashed open.

More than a dozen uniformed officers walked straight in.

The one in front held up his credentials, swept his eyes over the room, and asked in a low voice.

"Joint inspection, market regulator and inspection bureau."

"We've received a signed report that Gilbert Group is suspected of using expired ingredients to produce infant food and of falsifying its financial books. Please cooperate with the investigation."

Across a hall full of stunned cameras, I looked at Carly's face, drained of all color.

"The crime you schemed so hard to pin on me. Now it's your turn to catch it."