Chapter 1401: Is this even legal?

Patricia sat in the interrogation room, balling her hands into tight fists. Ever since she had been brought to the station, they had just thrown her in this room and made her wait. Checking the time, the bitterness in her heart only grew.

If this didn’t happen, Patricia would have started her final interview.

"Are you just going to waste my time here?!" Patricia yelled, glaring at the security camera in the corner of the room. "If you’re going to question me, why not do it now?! Or are you all too busy trying to come up with ways to get out of this mess you got yourself into?!"

Clenching her teeth, Patricia felt like flipping the table out of frustration. Her morning had started better than it ever had, but these people just had to show up and ruin everything.

"Gosh..." she hissed, the corners of her eyes turning red. Tears of frustration welled up, but she refused to let them fall. "That bitch..."

Not long ago, Patricia had met with Cassandra’s lawyer regarding the "assault" charges Cassandra had filed against her. Arrogant and unremorseful as she was, Patricia hadn’t cared. If they wanted to take such a petty thing to court, then so be it. It wasn’t like people went to jail for slapping someone.

But Cassandra must have known that, too. That’s why she had staged another attack and framed Patricia for it—or at least, that’s what Patricia assumed. Otherwise, the officers wouldn’t have come for her.

"I swear..." she trailed off, biting her tongue as she glanced at the security camera. Pressing her lips into a thin line, she looked away, stopping herself from saying anything that could be used against her. She was already in a bad position; the last thing she needed was to give them a reason to detain her.

Still, how would she get out of here?

"This is such a headache," she mumbled, massaging her temple. "Penny better give me a second chance for this final interview. Ugh... this is so upsetting."

But most importantly, Cassandra had better prepare herself—because once Patricia got out of here, that woman wouldn’t just get one slap. Patricia would shave her hair off.

Of course, that was just an intrusive thought. She couldn’t actually do that—not if she wanted to stay out of jail. No matter how tempting the thought, Patricia would get back at that woman in a different way. Although she still didn’t know what kind of revenge, she would eventually pay that woman back with the distress she had caused her.

"I need to call someone!" Patricia complained, glaring at the security camera. "Gosh. Is this even legal?"

But no matter how much she complained, no one answered her. All she could do was wait. Thankfully, after a few long minutes, the door finally opened. Patricia glanced up, furrowing her brows.

The first person who entered was the same officer who had arrested her. The second man, however, wasn’t in uniform, but the badge on his hip made it clear he was also from the station.

"Good morning, Miss Miller. My name is Detective Landers," the man in casual clothing introduced himself as he took a seat across from her. "This officer here is Officer—"

"I know him," Patricia cut in sarcastically, barely holding back an eye-roll. "He’s the one who detained me against my will over a ring hitting him."

"Miss Miller, you do understand why you’re here, correct?" the detective asked, his tone calm and level.

"I just told you," Patricia scoffed. "I’m here because this officer detained me for no valid reason."

"Miss Miller, our officer had no choice—you assaulted him. Do you realize you could be thrown in jail for assaulting an officer?"

"Assaulted?!" she laughed in ridicule. "For your information, I didn’t assault him. My ring was loose. It flew off when I moved my hand and happened to hit him. It didn’t even hurt him!"

"But that wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been aggressive in the first place."

"Excuse me?" Patricia looked at the detective incredulously. "Are you here to get the truth, or have you already decided what happened and now you’re just trying to force me to confess? I was invited for questioning, but last I checked, that was voluntary."

"It becomes mandatory if the crime is serious enough," the detective replied, clearing his throat, unbothered by her attitude. "Last night, Miss Cassandra Smith was attacked and she’s been in the intensive care unit since."

As he spoke, he placed a series of security camera photos in front of her. Deep lines appeared between Patricia’s brows as she examined them.

Most of the images were blurry shots of a parking lot. A few showed a car pulling in. The next photo depicted a woman walking through the lot—then, in the next, someone was running up behind her with a baseball bat.

The following images captured the assailant striking Cassandra before fleeing. The last photo showed the getaway car—an identical make and model to Patricia’s. The license plate wasn’t visible, but if the officers already knew what Patricia drove, it was enough to make an assumption.

"I didn’t do it," she said quickly, her instincts screaming that she was being framed. "I can prove I was home all night."

Unlike earlier, her tone was no longer whiny or sarcastic. She met the detective’s gaze and shook her head.

"I have proof of my whereabouts that night," she repeated under her breath. "That’s not me."

The detective studied her face before slowly leaning back in his chair. "Miss Miller, on the 9th of this month, didn’t you have a confrontation with Miss Smith?"

"I did," Patricia admitted. "But that doesn’t mean I attacked her."

"Back at the restaurant, you barged into a private dining room where Miss Smith was eating and assaulted her," the detective reminded her, his voice steady. "The attack was unprovoked. That’s why Miss Smith pressed charges against you, correct?"

Patricia didn’t answer. She simply clasped her hands in her lap, maintaining eye contact.

"So," the detective continued, leaning his arms on the table, "it’s not impossible that someone who assaulted a person without reason would attack again—especially if that person had pressed charges against them."