Chapter 5 — My Alibi

Mother of An An, do you feel that An An bears no civil liability, and that perjury requires no legal responsibility either?

A flash of panic crossed her face, but she immediately regained her composure.

You must be talking nonsense. Our An An would never commit perjury. She is the most obedient child...

She is obedient, and that is precisely why she listens to you.

I interrupted her, speaking firmly. Mother of An An, you may choose to remain silent, but the court will examine the cash flow in your family's bank accounts. If an investigation reveals a large sum of money transferred today or in the future, how do you plan to explain it?

As soon as I finished speaking, the mother of An An turned completely pale. She looked at Alex in panic, losing her footing and scrambling for composure all at once. Officer Jiang had handled far too many cases of this nature; he caught the unusual shift in demeanor with a single glance and seized the moment to increase the pressure.

Madam, perjury carries legal consequences. Particularly inciting a minor to commit perjury can constitute a criminal offense if the circumstances are severe.

The mother of An An trembled violently, instinctively pulling An An tightly into her arms. Her lips quivered, unable to utter a single syllable. Alex's expression shifted as well, turning from pale to ashen. Elena had long lost her earlier haughty arrogance; she could barely stand, gripping Alex's arm with a deathly vice-grip. All eyes turned toward the mother of An An. No one wished to pressure a young child, but toward an adult like her, there was no need for courtesy. Those gazes felt like sharp, piercing thorns. Finally, the mother of An An broke under the weight, her voice shaking uncontrollably.

I... I was forced into it as well...

Zhou Meifeng!

Alex panicked so badly that he cut her off mid-sentence. Stop talking nonsense and think about An An's future. I looked at him coldly. What future? If she commits perjury today, that would truly ruin her entire life! I looked down at An An, my gaze gentle yet resolute.

An An, Headmistress knows you are a good child. Tell Headmistress, did someone instruct you to say those things today?

An An glanced timidly at her mother, then at Alex, and finally her gaze landed upon me. She bit her lower lip, her eye sockets welling up with tears as she sobbed.

Headmistress, An An is not a good child. An An lied. Headmaster Alex and Mommy taught me to say those words. The person driving the car was not you.

The moment those words left her lips, Alex's face turned as gray as dead ashes. The mother of An An drained of all remaining color, weeping bitterly as she confessed.

I had no other choice. He said that if An An did not speak this way, she would not be allowed to stay in kindergarten anymore. With just a single word from him, no kindergarten in the city would dare accept my daughter...

You are lying!

Alex shouted angrily. I never said any such thing. You are fabricating facts, that is illegal...

I have a recording.

The mother of An An's voice shook beyond control. When you spoke to me, I was afraid you would go back on your word, so I recorded it.

With that, she pulled out her mobile phone and pressed play. Alex's voice rang out from the device, clear and chillingly cold: As long as the child sticks to her story and insists that Principal Lin was driving, I guarantee that when An An enters primary school, middle school, and high school, they will all be elite key schools. Alex's expression completely collapsed. His lips trembled as if he wanted to say something, but only broken syllables escaped. Officer Jiang asked, Were there any other transactions? The mother of An An turned green. She said after this case is sentenced, she will give me five hundred thousand...

Alex's shoulders slumped, as if every ounce of strength had been drained from his body, and he nearly lost his footing entirely. Officer Jiang looked at An An, his tone no longer carrying the gentleness from before.

An An, tell us, who was actually driving the car?

An An looked at me, and I returned her gaze with an encouraging look. The little girl pressed her small lips together and pointed her tiny finger toward Elena.

It was Miss Elena, she drove the car...

Elena shrieked instantly and lunged forward.

You are talking nonsense! It was not me, you little liar!

Yet Officer Jiang intercepted her, twisting both her arms behind her back and pinning her forcefully to the ground.

Whether she is talking nonsense or not, checking the original data will tell us.

He glanced toward the other police officers. Immediately investigate the security cameras at the time the car left the school and the cameras along the route to see who was truly driving.

Elena collapsed onto the ground, gasping like a dying fish, her face completely drained of color. About ten minutes later, the surveillance footage was retrieved. The security camera at the school gate had been ordered deleted by Alex, but the cameras along the entire stretch of road clearly captured Elena sitting in the driver's seat. Before the incident occurred, she had been browsing videos on her phone and recklessly overtook another vehicle with severely impaired forward visibility, ultimately causing the crash. The evidence was as solid as a mountain; Elena looked utterly dead, completely motionless. Alex turned around, intending to slip away, when Officer Jiang's stern voice echoed from behind him.

Alex, you are suspected of tampering with surveillance footage and instigating a minor to commit perjury. Please remain here to undergo investigation.

Alex froze stiff in his tracks. Elena broke down completely, lying flat on the floor and weeping loudly.