Chapter 110
After three days of being avoided and ignored by my colleagues, I could stand the isolation no more. I called Mr. Chevalier to ask him if I could share the recording of Miranda to prove that I had not murdered anyone. He advised against it, saying that it was confidential evidence, but I didn’t know what else to do.
When lunch rolled around, I requested that Terri stay behind to discuss something with me in the employee lounge. She seemed reluctant, and the other employees looked nervous for her, but she nodded and went back into the employee lounge with me. I instructed Jeffrey to keep the door open so that Terri would feel more comfortable, but I knew that nothing would make Terri feel comfortable if she thought that she was alone with a murderer and her bodyguard.
“So, what did you need?” Terri asked, keeping as close to the door as she could.
“There’s something that I wanted to show you,” I said. “I’m hoping that it will change your mind about whether I’m a murderer or not.”
I reached into my purse, and I could hear Terri swallow. I pulled out my phone and brought up the recording of Miranda’s confession.
“This will have to stay between the two us,” I continued, “but I couldn’t take everyone here thinking that I was a murderer anymore.”
“What is it, exactly?”
“Just listen, then tell me if you think that I’m guilty.”
“The papers have said nothing about the evidence,” I heard myself say.
“Oops, did I mention the evidence?” Miranda’s voice responded. After a pause and some footsteps, she continued, “All that I mean is that there’s enough evidence to put you away for a long time, and it’s partially thanks to me.”
Terri’s eyes widened as the recording continued.
“What are you talking about?”.
“Where do you think your fingerprints came from? You really should be careful where you leave your coffee mug.”
“Wait a minute, are you saying that you gave my fingerprints to whoever is framing me?”
“Yes, of course!”
“But why, Miranda?”
“Because you don’t deserve to be Head Wedding Planner. Even Terri would be better at it than you are. Then you got the one good candidate, Samantha, fired for stealing!”
“She got herself fired by stealing!”
“She wouldn’t have been stealing if you hadn’t stolen her promotion in the first place!”
“You didn’t do this by yourself.”
“Well, no.”
“Who put you up to it?”
“If you haven’t already figured it out, then I certainly won’t tell you.”
Terri did not look away from my phone as I put it back into my purse.
“So,” she said, “that’s why the prosecutor dropped the case against you?”
“Part of the reason, yes,” I replied. “There was other evidence that weakened their evidence, but Miranda’s confession suggested that the accusations against me were falsified.”
Terri’s brow furrowed.
“But you don’t know who put her up to it?”
I hesitated.
“No, my defense lawyer and the prosecution do not know that,” I said, choosing my words carefully.
“Then how do they know that she wasn’t lying?” Terri crossed her arms over her chest. “She does tend to…exaggerate.”
My jaw opened and closed a couple times before I gathered my wits.
“Like I said, there was other evidence from my defense lawyer that weakened the prosecutor’s evidence against me. Do you not believe the recording that I played you?”
I placed my hands on my hips.
“Do you not believe me?” I asked, incredulous.
“Without seeing the other evidence, how do you expect me to? Like I said, Miranda isn’t exactly the most reliable witness, and given your track record—”
“My track record?”
An awkward silence fell between us. The look on Terri’s face betrayed the fact that she had not meant to say that, but there was no taking it back now.
“Yes, your track record. Miranda is clean, and you…well, you have a criminal record for manslaughter. What am I supposed to think?”
She lifted her chin at me, daring me to defy her claim.
In my frustration and desperation, I almost told her the truth. I almost told her that it was Bob who killed that man and that I had only been covering for him. The words were sitting in my mouth, waiting to spring out, and then I thought better of it.
Of course, she wouldn’t believe me if I told her that. If she didn’t believe me when I provided her with physical proof of the truth, then she wouldn’t just take my word for this. And to accuse the future son-in-law of the current Alpha King—that would be sacrilege.
“You don’t know that whole truth about that situation either,” I said through gritted teeth.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath.
“Forget it. If you don’t believe me now, you’re never going to believe me. Just go eat lunch while you have some time left.”
Without responding, Terri walked out the door, only glancing over her shoulder at me before leaving the shop.
I knew that if I couldn’t get Terri to listen to reason that I wouldn’t be able to get through to any of my colleagues. I wondered how long I would be able to work in an environment like this, how long I’d be able to remain productive among such hostile coworkers.
The next day did not look any better.
I had been working in silence, alone, all morning when I needed help from Dave, who had taken over for one of my weddings while I was gone. The numbers in the accounting section of the binder were not adding up, and I needed him to confirm whether they were all correct or not.
He was supposed to stay at the front of the shop with Terri and me to work on the upcoming weddings and be available if customers dropped in to the shop. However, I could not find him—or any of my colleagues besides Terri—anywhere. Not the front of the shop, not the employee lounge, nowhere.
It was only when I reached the storage area that I finally found everyone on duty sitting on the dirty floor together, their binders in their laps.
“What are all of you doing here? Only Tami should be on inventory,” I said.
They all looked like deer in the headlights, but no one said a thing.
“Come on, I’m not going to bite,” I said, exacerbated. “Someone just tell me what’s going on.”
“I…well…” Tami began.
“We’re avoiding you,” Dave said in a rush.
I closed my eyes and let out a breath. Of course, they were avoiding me. I should have guessed as much.
“You don’t have to avoid me,” I said. “I’m not going to hurt any of you.”
“During work hours,” Miranda said under her breath.
I glared at her, but I immediately regretted it as multiple of my colleagues flinched.
“That’s enough,” Terri said from behind me.
She stepped up beside me and put her hand on my shoulder.
“We all know Crystal. We’ve worked with her long enough to know that she’s not some crazed killer. The charges were dropped, and I believe that she’s innocent.”
When none of our colleagues moved, Terri sighed.
“Look, we have to work together, whether we like it or not. So, either you can act like adults and work together, or I can call Lily and tell her what’s going on. Do you understand?”
There was some grumbling, but our colleagues started to gather their things and stand up.
I leaned over to Terri and whispered, “Thank you.”
She smiled at me, and I smiled back, glad to have an ally in this that I earned without Andrew’s interference.
