Chapter 4

That weekend, I was resting at home when someone pounded frantically on the door.

My mom opened it to find our neighbor Mrs. Peterson looking anxious:

"Dr. Brooks, you need to go see! Several people are livestreaming at our community entrance, saying your family scammed them for money and emotions!"

I thought, finally, it's happening. I immediately opened a livestreaming app, searched nearby locations, and quickly found it.

Marcus had gotten a major influencer account with hundreds of thousands of followers. The host was speaking passionately:

"Folks, today I'm seeking justice for this heartbroken young man who was scammed out of his wedding money!"

In the video, Marcus looked haggard as he complained:

"Evelyn and I dated for six months. Our relationship was great -- we were even discussing marriage."

"Her parents demanded $200,000 for the wedding money. We scraped together every penny, but after she took the money, she turned on me and blocked me..."

Marcus's mother knelt on the ground, kowtowing and crying heart-wrenchingly:

"I'm a widow... that $200,000 came from selling our family home and borrowing from relatives!"

"Now his fiancée has run off, the house is gone, the debts remain, and we don't even have a place to live!"

"We can't go on!"

Mrs. Wilson also spoke righteously:

"I've been a matchmaker my whole life, and I've never seen such a black-hearted family!"

"I personally watched Marcus hand $200,000 in cash to Evelyn's mother. Her mother was grinning from ear to ear when she took the money!"

The livestream flooded with hundreds of thousands of viewers, comments overwhelmingly cursing us:

[Marriage fraud! Scammer!]

[Expose her! Destroy her reputation!]

[Someone like this is a teacher?]

My parents and I had just reached the community entrance when the livestream camera shoved into our faces.

Marcus's mother pointed at me and shrieked:

"That's her! Everyone help me make her pay back the money!"

She pointed at my parents and cursed viciously:

"Hiding behind the facade of educators, doing such immoral things!"

Instantly, the neighbors present and online viewers all cursed our family:

"Scammer! Pay them back!"

My parents were bewildered. My mom's legs went weak with fear as she frantically waved her hands:

"We never took any wedding money! My daughter never even dated him!"

The viewers didn't believe it. The comments grew even more vicious:

[The scammer's still trying to lie!]

[Playing innocent! The evidence is right here!]

Mrs. Wilson walked over smugly and said to my mom:

"Old friend, so many people are watching. Just pay them back. Otherwise, your Evelyn will never find anyone to marry her!"

I quickly supported my mother, reassuring them, "Mom, Dad, don't worry. Let me handle this."

The host approached me:

"This is the person in question, Evelyn."

"They say you took $200,000 and then blocked them. What do you have to say? When will you pay them back?"

I looked into the camera, calm and composed:

"Marcus and his family are spreading lies. They have no evidence. I refuse to acknowledge this."

Marcus was prepared:

"We gave cash! Mrs. Wilson is our witness!"

I laughed coldly. "If you have evidence, if you were scammed out of $200,000, why didn't you report it to the police?"

I pulled out my phone, found that post, held it up to the livestream camera, and said word by word:

"They have no evidence, but I do!"