In my previous life, after that night at the hotel, I hadn't been able to recognize my own body. Hickeys and bruises bloomed across my skin like damning proof. Used condoms filled the trash can, each one allegedly carrying traces of my DNA. I had even started to question myself—had I really done it?
That thought had haunted me. Maybe someone drugged me, manipulated me... but even that didn't change the consequences. My reputation had still been destroyed.
But this time—it was different.
This time, I never set foot in that hotel. Even if there were videos, even if the surveillance footage claimed I was there, I hadn't gone anywhere. My body was clean. Unmarked. That, at least, I could cling to.
Sean stared at my exposed skin, his brow furrowing slightly. His eyes flicked over my arms, my calves—unblemished, pale, untouched.
But the people around us weren't so easily swayed.
Their gazes didn't soften. If anything, they became more vicious—smirking, scoffing.
Just as I opened my mouth to suggest a physical examination by a female officer, someone in the crowd jeered.
"Did she have so much fun she forgot everything? In the video, she literally told the men not to leave any marks, or she'd report them."
"Yeah, probably planned it all from the start. Pretend to be some poor, innocent girl later. Didn't expect the whole thing would get leaked online. What a joke."
"She's clearly playing both roles—acting like a slut on camera, then crying innocence now. Look at the tattoo on her ankle and the red mole on her arm. It's exactly the same as in the video."
My thoughts collapsed in a thunderous crash. I hadn't even examined the video closely. I'd been too shocked that it had returned—exactly as it had in my past life.
But now they were saying it was different?
In my previous life, the footage showed me wild and feverish, with bruises and love bites covering my body. I had no strength to fight back then. Everything pointed to guilt and I had no defense.
Now, I was staring at a clean body... and yet the world still refused to believe me.
I turned to Sean, silently begging him to think. To question. To even hesitate.
But he wouldn't look at me. His face twisted with a mixture of rage and revulsion as he turned away, jaw tight.
DNA doesn't lie. Even if the video was faked, no one could forge that. And I knew I hadn't been there. There was no way anything of mine could be in that hotel room.