On the screen was a photograph of a small glass vial, half-empty, containing a clear liquid. It sat on what looked like her closet floor, tucked behind several shoe boxes.
"That's not mine," Shuyin denied immediately, staring at the image. "I've never seen that before. I don't know what that is."
"The contents of this vial," Inspector Wang said coldly, "match exactly the toxin found in your grandmother's system. It was hidden in your personal space, in your private closet. How do you explain that?"
"I can't explain it because it's not mine!" Shuyin's voice cracked with desperation, "Someone definitely put it there! Someone is setting me up! My family left right before this happened. Don't you think that's suspicious? They all left and...."
"Your family left for a scheduled vacation," the second officer interrupted. "We've confirmed their travel plans were booked two weeks ago. The timing is unfortunate, but hardly suspicious."
Two weeks ago. Before the wedding was cancelled. Before everything fell apart. Which meant... which meant this had been planned. All of it had been planned.
"Miss Lin," Inspector Wang's voice cut through her spiraling thoughts. "Given the severity of this crime, the clear evidence of premeditation, and the high-profile nature of this case, the prosecutor's office has decided to fast-track the proceedings. You will be formally charged, arraigned, and tried today under the emergency protocol for cases with overwhelming evidence."
"Today?" The word came out as barely a whisper. "That's not... you can't... I need a lawyer. I need time to..."
"You will be provided with legal representation," the Inspector said. "But the evidence is clear and time-sensitive. The public needs to see that justice moves swiftly, especially in cases involving the wealthy and privileged."
The wealthy and privileged....
The words were like a slap to her face, they had already decided she was guilty. They had already decided this was about a spoiled rich girl killing for money.
"Miss Lin Shuyin," Inspector Wang stepped closer, and she saw the handcuffs in his hand.
The metal gleamed under the fluorescent lights. "You are under arrest for the murder of Lin Wei Zhang. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law...."
"No!" Shuyin tried to stand, to back away, but the officers were faster.
"No, this is wrong!"
"This is all wrong! I didn't kill her!"
"I would never hurt her! She was the only one who loved me! The only one who...."
But the Inspector was already moving, his hands professional and efficient as he pulled her arms behind her back.
The cold, hard metal of the handcuffs snapped around her wrists with two sharp clicks that sounded absolutely final.
Like a door slamming shut, like it was the end of everything.
"Please," Shuyin sobbed, twisting to look at the doctor who still stood by the door.
"Please, tell them! Tell them I was crying when I brought her in! Tell them I was trying to save her! Tell them!"
But the doctor looked away, uncomfortable... He said nothing.
"This is a setup!" Shuyin screamed as they began pulling her toward the door. "My family did this! They framed me! They killed her and they're framing me! Please! Please, you have to investigate them! They left right before this happened! Please!"
"Everyone claims they're being framed, Miss Lin," the second officer said tiredly, as if he'd heard it all before. "Save it for your lawyer."
As they led her through the hospital corridors, Shuyin could see people stopping to stare at her.
Nurses whispered to each other behind their hands. Doctors paused in their rounds to watch. Security guards muttered into their radios. The word was already spreading like wildfire through the building.
Murderer.
The socialite killed her own grandmother, for money and for inheritance.
The grief over her grandmother's death was now tangled with terror and disbelief so profound it felt like drowning.
This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real. She was in a nightmare, and any moment she would wake up. Yes, this was just a nightmare....
But the handcuffs were real. The officers' hands on her arms were real. The stares and whispers were all real.
She looked back once, down the long white hallway that led to the emergency department.
The hallway where she had run beside her grandmother's stretcher just hours ago, begging her to hold on. That hallway now felt like a tunnel leading straight to hell.
Betrayed by her fiancé. Abandoned by her family and now framed for the murder of the only person she had ever truly loved.
Lin Shuyin was completely, utterly alone.
As they approached the hospital's main entrance, Shuyin could hear something through the glass doors. A roar, like an angry ocean.
The officers exchanged glances, and one spoke into his radio. "We're bringing her out now. Is crowd control in position?"