After I Died for Justice, He Chased Me for Years

Chapter 8

At the interrogation room at the regional bureau, Jillian was cuffed to the table.

The leg bone she'd fractured while working undercover throbbed dully again, set off by the chill in the air.

Nathan's face was ice-cold as he slid a pen and sheet of paper across the table. "I ask the questions, you write the answers. Why did you attack Nina?"

Jillian's face was deathly pale. Her hand shook so badly from pain that her writing came out wobbly and uneven. "I didn't."

Nathan's sharp eyebrows furrowed. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

Jillian squeezed the pen so hard her knuckles whitened, the tip of the pen tearing straight through the paper as she wrote. "I didn't."

"Fine, you didn't."

Nathan's voice dropped abruptly, heavy with suppressed anger. "Then tell me how much money you laundered for the Taylor Group when you were undercover, and how much they paid you off for it!"

His tone dripped with such blatant distrust that it cut through Jillian's chest like a rusted dagger, twisting raw and sharp.

She lifted her head in disbelief, her lips trembling so hard she could barely get the words out. "You don't believe me?"

Nathan stared her down, his gaze cool and unreadable. "We traced an account under the Taylor Group's name. They transferred one million yuan to you."

Jillian froze. She had never heard of this transaction in her life.

She lifted her pen to write a response several times, but no words came. How do you explain something you didn't even know happened?

Across the room, the people who were supposed to be her colleagues stared at her with strange, judgmental looks, as if they'd already convicted her of treason.

Tears burned the back of Jillian's eyes, and she couldn't hold them back no matter how hard she tried.

All the throbbing pain from her old injuries combined was less than a ten-thousandth of the agony searing through her heart right now.

Just then, Nathan stood up and pointed at the slogan painted on the wall. "Confess for leniency, resist for harsher punishment. Look at that sign clearly," he said. "Think about the promises you made before you went undercover. Reflect on what you've done."

With that, he turned and strode toward the door.

As the door clicked shut behind him, his voice drifted through the c***k. "Jillian, I don't even recognize who you are anymore."

Jillian's breath caught in her throat. She couldn't understand how things between her and Nathan had fallen apart this badly.

Even if he didn't love her anymore, had all the years of friendship they'd shared since they were kids just vanished into thin air? Was there really not a single shred of trust left between them?

He felt like a stranger to her too, now.

Gritting her teeth through the pain, she wrote their old oath one word at a time on the paper. "I will fight bravely forever to maintain social stability and protect the safety of the people. I will not fear sacrifice. I will not fear death."

She'd heard her parents recite these words every day since she was little. They'd been etched into her bones since childhood.

She mouthed the lines over and over to ground herself, then tore off the slip of paper and tucked it into the damp inner pocket of her jacket.

It felt like if she held onto it tight enough, she could hold onto her crumbling faith too.

She had no idea how long she'd been locked in there when the interrogation room door finally creaked open again.

Nathan walked in wearing his navy-blue uniform, and unlocked the cuffs around her wrists. "You can go."

Jillian stared at him, her hands stiff as she fumbled through sign language, since she could barely speak through the pain. "Have you cleared up the truth?"

"Mm." Nathan grunted, then added in a frigid, warning tone. "Jillian, if I find out you really did betray us, I'll be the one to throw you in prison with my own two hands."

Jillian's pupils shrank in shock. A bitter, bile-like taste rose in her throat, so thick and cloying she could barely swallow.

She limped out on stiff, aching legs, every step a slog under the weight of everyone's suspicious stares.

She didn't head home. Instead, she made her way to the cemetery. She wanted to visit her parents, and Jake too.

She'd just bought two bouquets at the entrance when she spotted Nathan and Nina walking side by side into the cemetery.

Her chest clenched tight. She hesitated for a split second, then followed them in.

Five minutes later, she watched as Nathan led Nina to a stop right in front of her parents' graves.

Next, Nina bowed deeply. "James, Mary, I'm Leo's daughter. I'm here today to apologize on my dad's behalf. I'm so sorry."

White-hot fury exploded in her chest the second she registered what was happening, and she lunged forward before she even thought about it.

Just then, Nathan's voice drifted over on the wind, straight to her ears. "Nina, none of this is your fault."

Jillian froze mid-step, staring, stunned, at his broad, familiar back.

She watched him bend down to set down the bunch of white chrysanthemums he'd brought, his tone heavy and solemn. "James, Mary, I share the blame for the path Jillian has gone down lately. I failed to take care of her. But rest assured..."

"I will get Jillian back on the right path. I won't let her taint the Raines family's good name!"