Chapter 203
The officers went through all the messages but found no evidence that Skylar had ever asked for gifts or money.
It was always Bud who insisted on giving her money and presents.
The officer scratched his head in confusion. “This doesn’t seem to prove anything.”
“How can you say this means nothing? Officers, we were having such flirty chats, but when we met, she acted like she didn’t know me at all!” Bud slammed his hand on the table, his voice shaking with anger.
He demanded, “Don’t you think this is outrageous? She was clearly stringing me along just to scam me out of my money!”
The officer picked out the key points from Bud’s account and quickly pieced together the sequence of events.
“So, to confirm, you suspect she committed emotional deception, using the pretext of a relationship to swindle your money?” the officer asked.
Bud nodded vehemently. “Exactly! That’s precisely what happened!”
Skylar raised her hand to interject. “Officers, I’d like to say something.”
Skylar calmly explained, “Officers, that’s not my account. As far as I recall, we’re just casual acquaintances who met once, nothing more.
“I never gave him my contact info, let alone chatted with him or accepted any gifts from him either.”
Skylar unlocked her phone and showed it to them. “This is my only account.”
Bud said, “You’re lying! Freya told me you have two accounts, a personal one and a work one.
“The one you showed is your work account. You must be hiding your personal one!”
Skylar said unflinchingly, “Go ahead and message that so–called private account. Let’s verify whether the contact in your phone actually belongs to me.”
Skylar looked completely unfazed. ‘Could the contact info I have really not be hers?‘ Bud wondered.
Bud was still in disbelief.
‘Freya gave it to me, there’s no way it could be wrong!‘ he insisted inwardly.
He froze for a long moment until the officer snapped, “She’s letting you try, what are you dawdling for? Get on with it!”
Bud bit his lip nervously, then sent a message. [Skylar, can we meet up?]
Bud immediately glanced at Skylar’s phone on the table. There was no response. The screen stayed dark.
But then his phone buzzed.
He looked down and saw a reply. [We barely know each other. Meeting now feels too soon, let’s wait a bit.]
Bud gasped in shock. “How could this happen?”
The truth was crystal clear. Skylar was not the romantic scammer he had accused her of being.
The police had no grounds to detain her any longer.
The officer said, “It’s all clear now, Miss Lambert. This matter has nothing to do with you. You’re free to go.”
Bud immediately flew into a rage when he heard Skylar was being released. “She can’t leave!” he shouted.
09:20 Sat, 26 Jul
Chapter 203
He didn’t even know who was actually talking to him online. Frantically wondering how to recover the money he’d spent on gifts and transfers, he had no idea who to demand it from.
If she just walked away, he could not be compensated for his losses.
Bud shouted at the officers, “Even if she’s not the one, this whole mess started because of her! How can you just let her walk away like this?”
The officer was dumbfounded by his twisted logic. “What does this have to do with her? You’re the one who got fake contact info. You’re the one who chose to send money and buy gifts. That’s on you.”
“Like hell I care! She’s not going anywhere until she pays me back every cent!”
Skylar couldn’t help but laugh. “Mr. Fowler, if you don’t understand the law, maybe you should pick up a few legal books and fill that empty head of
yours.
“That way, you wouldn’t sound so ignorant, and your words wouldn’t be so embarrassingly uneducated.”
“Are you calling me brainless?” Bud roared, raising his hand threateningly. “I’m a graduate student from a top university! The brainless one here is you!”
AD
