They Turned Me Into a Criminal in My First Life—This Time I Fight Back Chapter 05
The second that commanding voice rang out, every single family member gathered around the scene was
immediately restrained and taken into custody.
Not only were the suspects stunned, but even the officer standing beside me froze in shock.
“Detective Burke? What are you doing here?”
Detective Liam Burke let out an awkward laugh before shifting his gaze toward me.
“Actually,” he said, pointing in my direction, “I’m here thanks to Ms. Rhodes.”
The entire crowd turned to stare at me in disbelief.
Meanwhile, the people pinned to the ground glared at me with murderous hatred.
“You cops are working together with her!”
“So this is justice now? The victim gets tied up while the murderer walks free?”
“This is insane! Every one of you is sick!”
“Why are we the ones getting arrested? Vivienne Rhodes is the killer!”
Detective Burke frowned and looked at me sharply.
“You killed someone?”
My heart skipped. I immediately shook my head.
“No. I didn’t kill anyone.”
The officer beside him looked utterly confused.
“Detective Burke, what exactly is going on here? You suddenly show up and arrest the victim’s family?”
His tone carried obvious unease.
Burke glanced disdainfully at the group on the ground before letting out a cold scoff.
“You still don’t get it? These people are connected to an international human trafficking ring.”
The officer’s eyes widened instantly.
“A… a trafficking ring?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Ethan and Clara stiffen simultaneously.
A thin sheen of sweat had already formed across their foreheads.
“Yeah,” Burke continued grimly. “Human traffickers.”
He pulled a photograph from his pocket and handed it over.
“Do either of these people look familiar to you?”
The officer who had been holding me took the photo and gasped.
“Wait… these are the two people Ms. Rhodes ran over with her car last night!”
Burke shot me a strange look before snatching the photo back.
“These two were key suspects in an active trafficking investigation. Ms. Rhodes was the one who gave us the
lead in the first place. You really think she’d suddenly murder them?”
I quietly let out a breath but stayed silent.
After dying in my previous life, I had learned the horrifying truth.
The couple Clara killed had actually been major players in a trafficking operation buried deep inside
Silverport.
At least two dozen people had disappeared through their network. They had countless accomplices working
under them.
Protected by layers of people covering for them, their identities had stayed hidden for years, making the
police investigation nearly impossible.
And the night Clara lost her mind and tried to steal their child, the couple had already been planning to sell
the baby.
The moment they realized the child was gone, they chased after her immediately.
What they never expected was that as ruthless as they were, Clara was even worse.
Burke subconsciously stepped in to defend me.
“Yesterday morning, Ms. Rhodes sent me information matching the exact number of missing children in our
database.”
At that, my face heated slightly.
Truthfully, that list had only existed because I remembered pieces of what happened in my last life.
“As soon as we received the information,” Burke continued, “we contacted Ms. Rhodes and organized an
arrest operation.”
Then he patted my shoulder lightly.
“Hold on. You’re saying Gary and Vanessa Vance are dead?”
He shook his head immediately.
“No way Ms. Rhodes killed them. She had zero connection or financial interest tied to them. Hell, she was
actively helping our investigation. Why would she suddenly murder them?”