In the video, it was clear the cash Mrs. Royce placed in the gift box exceeded 18,800 dollars. Until the moment we took the gift box away, no one had touched it.
My brows furrowed. In my previous life, they had never produced such a video.
Before I could react, Mrs. Royce sat down on the ground, wailing, "I worked so hard to send Thomas to school by myself. Life has been tough enough! Originally, we agreed on 18,800 dollars, but the night before the engagement, the family raised the price! I thought Thomas really liked this woman, so I gave up all my savings."
"I assumed Thomas and Olivia had come to an agreement. Everything was so rushed that I didn't ask too many questions. But who knew even Thomas didn't know about this? Now that we've come to claim the money, they're pretending it never happened! My hard-earned savings!" she whined.
The onlookers were curious about the so-called evidence.
Tara, helping Mrs. Royce wipe her tears, took the opportunity to share the video link with everyone, "Everyone, take a look! Mrs. Royce is such a kind and honest woman. Thomas's engagement should've been a joyful event, but the more they thought about it, the more suspicious they felt. Imagine, raising the price on the bride price and even Thomas didn't know about it!"
"So ... so it feels like a scam!" Tara glanced at me timidly, as if she were scared.
Her gentle explanation, coupled with her fragile and innocent demeanor, quickly earned the trust of many.
Thomas pointed at me, giving his final ultimatum, "Olivia, give the money back to my mom and we'll drop this matter."
I sneered and slapped his hand away, "Even if we go to court, I'll say the same thing. We only received 18,800 dollars as the bride price and I've already transferred it back to your account. Whether you accept it or not is up to you!"
I turned to the police, "Officer, I request a thorough check of the video's integrity. If there's a missing segment before we took the gift box, the video cannot be used as evidence."
I glanced at Mrs. Royce, my tone calm, "After all, the missing footage might be when someone took part of the bride price. As for who that might be? Only someone aware of the raised price would know when to take the money."
Mrs. Royce jumped up from the ground upon hearing my words, "What are you implying? The one who raised the price was your mother!"