After Rebirth, I Refused to Be Their Scapegoat Chapter 05

After Rebirth, I Refused to Be Their Scapegoat Chapter 05

“Audrey, you have to listen to me!” 

*Bang.* Nathan slammed both of his palms onto our table, the violent impact shattering the hushed, elegant atmosphere of the upscale French restaurant. 

His chest heaved, his eyes shot with angry red veins as he glared down at me. 

“Chloe seduced me!” he hissed, his polished, gentlemanly mask completely ripped away as he desperately tried to save his own skin. “And I swear to 

God I had no idea the money to buy that car was to the cops, tell 

stolen! She played me! You need to go them it’s a misunderstanding, and clear my name right now!” 

I stared coldly at the man I had once trusted enough to marry. Before I could even open my mouth, Nathan abruptly pivoted. The manic, cornered–animal 

aggression in his eyes locked onto Ethan, who was sitting across from me, calmly slicing his steak. 

“And who the hell are you?” Nathan snarled, pointing a trembling finger at Ethan. “Back off! She’s my fiancé e. This is a private matter between us!” 

Ethan didn’t flinch. He didn’t even blink. He just casually reached out and picked up his crystal flute of chilled champagne. 

With a smooth, borderline lazy flick of his wrist, Ethan threw the entire glass of champagne directly into Nathan’s face. 

Nathan gasped in shock, choking on the sparkling wine. He stumbled back, frantically wiping the alcohol dripping from his eyelashes, his face turning an apocalyptic shade of crimson. “What the fuck are you doing?!” 

“Helping you cool off,” Ethan replied. His voice was entirely devoid of emotion. He set the empty flute down and picked up a crisp white linen napkin to elegantly dab at his fingers. “Besides, your spit was about to land on my ribeye.” 

“You-” 

“Did you really think you could throw Chloe under the bus and walk away completely clean?” I cut through Nathan’s impotent rage. Slowly, deliberately, I pulled my phone from my pocket, laid it face–up on the tablecloth, and tapped the play button. 

*“Nathan… please, give it to me… 

Chloe’s breathless, desperate moans instantly drifted from the phone’s speaker, agonizingly loud in the quiet restaurant. 

All the blood violently drained from Nathan’s face. Pure, unadulterated panic struck him like a physical blow. 

*“I’m not putting it in until you promise to go get it right now,“* the recorded voice replied. It was Nathan. But he didn’t sound passionate–he sounded cold, transactional, and ruthlessly calculating. *” Think about our luxury West Coast road trip, babe. Be 

a good girl. Go down to the study and get the cash.“* *“But I’m scared…“* Chloe whimpered on the tape. *“Scared of what? Audrey, that idiot, is still downstairs scrubbing plates like a maid. She won’t notice a thing,“* the recorded Nathan pushed, his tone dripping with impatience. *“Listen to me–take all your clothes off and let your hair down. Even if the camera catches a blurry shadow, they’ll just assume it‘ s that flat–chested bitch Audrey. Go! Once you have it, we can pick up right where we left off.“* 

It was the ultimate “surprise gift” I had received on my twenty–fifth birthday. 

I had merely walked upstairs to grab a phone charger. Standing in the hallway, separated from them by a thin wooden door, I hadn’t cried. I hadn’t screamed. Instead, I had calmly hit the record button. The resulting ten–minute audio clip flawlessly 

documented how Nathan had used sexual coercion to methodically manipulate Chloe into committing a federal crime. 

“I actually have to thank you. Your little outburst reminded me I still had this.” I picked up my phone, attached the audio file, and hit ‘send‘–forwarding it directly to the lead detective handling the case. 

I looked up at Nathan, whose body was visibly sagging like wet garbage. I let out a low, mocking laugh. “You‘ re no longer just the clueless, cheating boyfriend, Nathan. Congratulations. You are now the 

mastermind behind the theft of a half–million–dollar trust fund.” 

The restaurant was dead silent. The patrons at the surrounding tables were staring at Nathan with the kind of profound disgust usually reserved for toxic waste. 

Whatever inflated pride, intellect, or decency Nathan thought he possessed had just been stripped away, leaving him entirely naked. He staggered backward another half–step. His lips trembled violently, but his brain couldn’t string together a single syllable of 

defense. 

“I’ve also CC’d that file to the district attorney’s office, Ethan chimed in, perfectly timing the lethal blow.” It heavily substantiates that not only were you fully 

aware of the stolen funds, but you were the primary instigator and architect of a major felony.” 

That broke him. His spirit totally shattered, Nathan turned and bolted out of the restaurant doors, fleeing into the street like a whipped dog. 

I didn’t bother watching him run. I just picked up my silver knife and fork, returning my attention to the perfectly seared steak on my plate. 

Because I knew, with absolute certainty, I didn’t have to worry about the rest. 

Just like Ethan had warned them at the precinct, half a million dollars instantly elevated this to grand larceny. 

It didn’t matter if Vivian dropped to her knees in the 

precinct right now, weeping and begging the cops to drop the charges. The paperwork was filed. The wheels of justice were already turning, and the state prosecutor would be the one driving them. Chloe was staring down the barrel of at least a decade in state prison. And as the instigator, Nathan was going to be locked in a cell right alongside her. 

And as for my relatives? That flock of vultures who 

had rushed to defend Chloe and curse my name? 

In their bones, they had never actually cared about family loyalty. They only cared about Margaret’s inheritance. 

Now that the absolute truth was out, they would 

swarm Vivian like a pack of starving hyenas smelling fresh blood. They would tear her apart piece by piece, demanding she spit back every single cent of that half- million dollars. 

But a luxury sports car depreciates by a massive percentage the exact second you drive it off the lot. Liquidating the Porsche as a used vehicle wouldn’t 

come close to filling the massive crater they had blown into the trust fund. 

To settle a debt they could never afford to repay, those greedy, miserable people were doomed to spend 

the rest of their lives viciously tearing each other to shreds, never knowing a single day of peace again.