Chapter 3

The officer flatly refused my request. "We can agree to your interview, but it has to be recorded in advance, and everything will go through a thorough vetting before it airs. That's non-negotiable."

I nodded without hesitation. "Alright, looks like I don't really have a choice here."

Annika was glaring daggers at me. "Hey, don't give me that look. Aren't you a journalist? Staying objective and fair is supposed to be your thing, right?"

"Just make sure you don't blow up during the interview, okay? If you freak me out, I might just forget where I've got those three locked up," I said.

With the higher-ups' approval, the interrogation room was quickly turned into a makeshift interview set.

As soon as the interview started, Annika lost it. She lunged at me, ready to go for my throat, but the cops held her back.

She was screaming at the officer, her face twisted with rage. "You idiots! My husband and child are missing, and you're just playing house with her? Are you out of your minds?

"I pay your salaries! Is this how you do your jobs?

"Just torture her already! I don't believe she's that tough. She'll break eventually."

The officer's face turned grim. "We're law enforcement, not some goons from the bad old days. We don't beat confessions out of people.

"Show some respect when you talk to us! We're not your hired help!"

I looked at Annika, who was acting like a mad dog. "Aren't you supposed to be a journalist? Where's your journalistic integrity?

"Where's that fire, that pushy, digging attitude you always show when you're grilling other people?

"So when it's someone else, you can be all tough, but when it's you, suddenly it's different, huh?

"Listen up, Annika. I've already taken care of your parents. If you want your husband and kid to make it out alive, you'd better play by my rules. Otherwise, if something happens to them, it'll be on you, not me."

That finally got Annika to quiet down. She sat across from me, clearly unwilling, but she started cooperating, her face full of reluctance.

I looked into the camera and started explaining how it all began, taking my time.

I said, "Seven years ago, when I was sixteen, I earned a chance to study abroad as an exchange student thanks to my grades.

"But just two months after I got there, I got the news. My parents were killed, both of them, in the most brutal way.

"By the time I made it back home, I didn't even get to see them one last time. All that was left for me were two urns, already buried in a rush, and just a cold grave.

"Afterward, I found out that my dad, a neurosurgeon, was treating a patient with a serious head injury. But he didn't make it. Just ten minutes after being taken into surgery, he died because his injuries were too severe."

"The whole thing was still under investigation, nothing had been decided yet. The autopsy hadn't even been finished, and the patient's family wasn't even that upset at first.

"But then, some female journalist who ran her own blog just had to be the first to chase the trending story. She posted this long article online, acting like she had all the facts, insisting my dad botched the operation, called it a huge medical screw-up, and basically blamed him for the patient's death."

My eyes were bloodshot as I stared straight at Annika across the table. She was totally at a loss, couldn't even bring herself to look me in the eye.

I went on, "Before the hospital could even release a statement, the patient's family, blinded by rage, barged into my dad's office with a knife and sliced his throat, leaving nothing but a mangled corpse behind.

"That same day, my mom had just gotten out of an appendectomy, still out cold from the anesthesia, barely back in her hospital room.

"That journalist dropped my mom's info in her post and claimed my dad was demanding bribes from the patient's family, just to cover my mom's surgery fees.

"The patient's family, seeing red, stormed into my mom's room and slaughtered her on the spot while she was still out cold from the operation.

"That notorious hospital murder case caused a huge stir online. Later, my dad was finally cleared. Both the hospital and the coroner proved he did nothing wrong in that surgery. But aside from a bit of compensation, I lost everything that truly mattered."

The officer jumped up in shock. "Wait, you're Dr. Patel's daughter?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I changed my face, took a new name, and used the money my parents left me to start over online. I built my own persona and hype from scratch, all for one reason: to get revenge for my parents one day.

"But that hit piece trashing my dad? It vanished from the internet, never to be found again, like it got wiped from existence."