Fear enveloped Tori’s face when she saw Katrina sitting in the police station, and she reflexively hugged her arms when she sensed at chill.
How is this possible? How did Katrina get arrested? Didn’t she say it was foolproof?! Wasn’t she confident of not being caught?! It has only been less than three hours since Josephine’s scandal was out, and Katrina has already been arrested! She even sold me out! Thank goodness the cops didn’t mention my full name.
However, the words ‘female news anchor’ and ‘Alford’ made her panic, for she was the only female news anchor whose surname was Alford in the station!
Tori held her chest as uneasiness arose within her. What’s to become of me if Katrina’s been arrested?! Just then, her phone rang. Seeing it was an unknown number, she took a deep breath and answered it, “Hello, who is this?”
“Is this Tori Alford?” the caller went straight to the point. “This is her speaking. Who is this on the line?”
“This is the city police department. We need you to come and cooperate with us on a case and give a statement,” said the female voice on the other end of the line.
“Now? But it’s already nine, Tori said, thinking her social status should give her some leverage. “The station is available 24/7. Someone will be available to take your statement. I suggest you come now.”
“C-Can I go tomorrow?” Tori tried to bargain. “We will personally go to you if you don’t come on your own. Your choice! Goodnight, Miss Alford.” With that, the caller hung up.
Tori bit her lip in anger. It seemed that her social status didn’t carry much weight with the police. She quickly thought of someone she knew and made a call for help. “Thomas, I’m in a bit of trouble. Can you help me out?”
After getting the other person’s agreement to help her, Tori finally walked out with her bag. However, she found her colleagues staring at her as soon as she came out, and there were whispers and finger-pointing wherever she went.
No one normally dared speak ill of her behind. her back. But this very day, she became a public target. “It’s her, isn’t it? She’s the one the statement is referring to.”
“It can only be her! Is there another anchorwoman with the surname Alford in our station?” “To think she’s an accomplice in Josephine’s scandal! Poor Josephine.” “Tell me about it. I feel so bad for looking down on Josephine now.”
When Tori entered the elevator, she could even feel her female colleagues’ disdainful gazes on her. A bold one even deliberately asked her fellow female colleague. “Say, who do you think is Katrina’s accomplice? Do we have an Alford anchorwoman in our station?”
“Of course, we do! Do you not know?” “Sigh! I swear these people have nothing better to do! To think they continue to frame other people when they’re already news anchors!”
“You can say that again. The wicked are still wicked no matter how pretty they look.” Alas, Tori could only suck it up even when she had been insulted indirectly. Now, she finally realized what Josephine was capable of.
After leaving the station, Tori ultimately drove straight to the police station, and when she arrived, the man she asked for help held Tori’s hand with ill intentions from inside the car. “Don’t worry, okay, Tori? I’ll take care of this. This is nothing! Go give your statement and leave the rest to me.”
Tori endured the disgust of being taken advantage of, for the man in the car was in his sixties, and though he was well-dressed, he exuded an old man’s smell that she couldn’t stand. She would’ve rather died than ask him for help before this. But now, he was her only ticket out of this, even though she knew she would have to pay the price.
“Go on, go and make your statement. We’ll talk when you come out.” It was evident what the man was implying. However, Tori was genuinely fearful. She worried she would end up in jail because of Katrina. That way, her reputation would be ruined. How could she continue to survive in television in the future?!
