After the recording yed, the room fell into silence.


    Ricardo hadn''t expected Sophie toe prepared with a recording device, and he frowned at the surprise.


    Sophie met Ricardo''s gaze head-on, her eyebrows arched in defiance. ''Think you can set me up? Not a chance.''


    Mr. Briggs and Bea were clearly confused about the turn of events.


    Ricardo took a deep breath and said, "Ms. Sophie, a recording can''t prove anything. Besides, all these eyes witnessed you pushing someone down the stairs. That''s an undeniable fact."


    Sophie shrugged nonchntly. "Mr. Ricardo, you seem to have misunderstood me. I didn''t intend to use this recording to prove I wasn''t the one who pushed Nichole. I just wanted to prove that Ms. Rowena lured me upstairs using James'' identity and spoke some nonsensical words to me."


    "Even if Rowena said something strange to you, it doesn''t prove you didn''t push them!"


    "No matter what, Sophie killed my great-grandchild, and that''s a fact!"


    Mr. Briggs and Bea countered every argument Sophie made.


    Officer Derick also chimed in, "Ms. Sophie, do you have any other evidence? If not, I''m afraid I''ll have to proceed with the charges."


    With so many onlookers, he could not show favoritism.


    Sophie replied calmly, "Of course I do."


    The crowd exchanged puzzled looks as Sophie continued. "The incident urred on the second floor, which fortunately is under surveince. Why don''t we just check the footage?"


    Bea frowned, "What are you talking about? When did our second floor ever have surveince?"


    "It didn''t before, but it did yesterday."


    Bea was utterly confused. How could their house have cameras installed without her knowledge?Property belongs to N?vel(D)r/ama.Org.


    Marian, who had been in the background, stepped forward and handed her phone to Sophie, saying, "Madam, everything is here."


    Bea''s face registered shock. "Marian? You..."


    Sophie took the phone and, after a few taps, brought up the surveince video of Nichole summoning her. She handed the phone to Officer Derick, saying, "Officer Derick, this evidence should suffice, right?" Once Officer Derick watched the video, his face showed a clear change in expression.


    Sophie addressed the crowd, "I assume it''s hard to see from here. Let me use the Burke family''s projector to give everyone a clearer view."


    Sophie signaled Marian, who quickly


    set up the projector connected to the TV After a few swipes on her phone, a shocking scene was disyed through the projector.


    The surveince footage clearly showed Nichole grabbing Sophie''s hand and then stumbling down the stairs herself.


    Mrs. Pittman covered her mouth in shock, unable to believe that a mother could be so heartless as to sacrifice her own child.


    "This is horrifying. How can one use their unborn child to frame a love rival."


    "I always knew Nichole was no good. She climbed her way up by being the other woman, stopping at nothing to snag Mr. Burke." "Such a heartless woman!"


    The murmurs of disapproval grew louder around them.


    Mr. Briggs and Bea''s expressions darkened further.


    "My daughter... how could she... No, this must be fake!"


    Mr. Briggs was in disbelief while Sophie looked at him coldly.


    Bea, too, was shocked to learn that Nichole was responsible for her great-grandchild''s death and was at a loss for words.


    "Officer Derick, I wonder what the charge would be for intentionally killing one''s own child?"


    Officer Derick was at a loss for words, as they had never encountered such a case before.


    At this, Mr. Briggs angrily retorted, "Sophie! My daughter is still in the hospital. What do you want to do?"


    Sophie scoffed, "I don''t want to do anything. Nichole tried to frame me by sacrificing her own child. I simply seek justice for myself."


    "My daughter has already lost her child. What more do you want? Sophie, how can you be so cruel?"


    "Cruel? Your daughter was willing to kill her own child. Compared to her, I consider myself far less vicious."


    "You!"


    Mr. Briggs was about to erupt in


    anger, but Bea had lost her temper first and confronted Mr. Briggs. "What a performance by the


    ??????


    Freeman family! You courted us with sweet words to marry off your daughter, only to end up killing my great-grandchild! You owe me great-grandchild''s life!"


    Bea was furious. Her years in high society had made her all too aware of the schemes among the wealthy Nichole had used her child to trap Sophie, all in an effort to get at Sophie! The Freeman family pretended to host a jewelry g to embarrass Sophie, and Bea was used as a pawn in their game.


    ovel. 19


    Little did Bea know, Ricardo orchestrated this entire ordeal, and Mr. Briggs was merely acting out of a father''s love for his daughter.