The night I covered my best friend's shift at the hotel front desk... A homeless man reeking of alcohol came to book a room. My best friend had repeatedly instructed me to give him the room in the furthest corner. Thinking he might cause a drunken scene, I followed her request and handed him the key. But the next day, I was trending online, cyberbullied by thousands calling for my blood. Only then did I learn that the room was already occupied by a young girl, and the homeless man, given the wrong room number, had raped her that night. Unable to bear the humiliation, the girl jumped from the balcony and died. I tried to defend myself, but my best friend jumped out to testify against me: "I'm a receptionist at this hotel, and I can testify that she was jealous of the girl's beauty, so she deliberately gave the homeless man the wrong key to let him rape her!" Cornered by angry netizens, I fled everywhere, only to be hacked to death by the girl's emotionally collapsed family members. After my death, my best friend married my husband, and they became a loving couple. Opening my eyes again, I was back to the day my best friend asked me to cover her night shift. 1 "Front desk! Get me a room! I'm staying here tonight!" The familiar voice of the homeless man rang in my ears. I jolted awake, staring at the familiar hotel lobby decor. Glancing at the time on my phone, I was certain—I had been reborn. Reborn to the day my best friend, Zoey, asked me to cover her night shift. In my previous life, I agreed to Zoey's request and followed her instructions to give the homeless man the room in the furthest corner. It turned out that room was already occupied by a young girl. Because I gave the room to the homeless man, he took the opportunity to rape the girl. In the end, unable to bear the humiliation, the girl jumped from the highest balcony of the hotel, ending her young life. The incident escalated quickly. That very day, I was trending online, subjected to intense cyberbullying. I tried to defend myself, saying I was just doing a favor and following instructions, but Zoey, who caused me to give the wrong room number, stood up to accuse me: "I am a receptionist at this hotel, and Emily is my colleague. I testify that she was jealous of the victim's beauty, so she deliberately gave the wrong room number!" "For your own selfish desires and jealousy, you killed a girl in the prime of her life. Don't you feel ashamed? I am ashamed to work with you!" Zoey's words completely ignited the netizens' anger. I was besieged by passersby whenever I walked on the street. Eventually, I was caught by the girl's family and hacked to death. My husband, Mark, firmly stated that I deserved to die and even issued a letter of forgiveness to the girl's family. After my death, before my bones were even cold, he proposed to Zoey, and they lived happily ever after. Opening my eyes again, I was back to that day. Remembering everything from my past life, I couldn't repeat the same mistakes. So I decisively rejected the homeless man's request: "I'm sorry, sir, but we are fully booked." 2 Hearing my rejection, the homeless man at the counter said discontentedly: "Bitch, are you playing me? I booked on your hotel app, and it clearly said there were vacancies. Why won't you let me stay!" He pointed angrily at the successful booking confirmation on his phone: "Let me tell you, I'm staying in your hotel tonight! No one can stop me!" The scene of being hacked to death flashed through my mind again. I gritted my teeth and said: "I'm sorry, sir. The app is glitching. The rooms are really full!" But the homeless man didn't listen to my explanation. He relentlessly dialed the customer service number listed on the app: "If you don't give me a room, I'll call customer service and report you!" The call connected, and Zoey's voice came from the other end: "Hello, how can I help you?" The homeless man replied: "I booked a room on your app, but your front desk insists there are no rooms and won't let me check in. I don't care, you have to solve this for me!" "I'm sorry, sir. I'll handle this. Please hand the phone to the front desk staff. I'll speak with her!" Following Zoey's instructions, the homeless man handed the phone to me. I just said "Hello" when Zoey's accusatory voice came through: "Emily, what's going on? You can't discriminate against customers and refuse to give them a room just because of their appearance! I see vacancies in the system. Give him Room 301!" At this point, I had no choice but to agree: "Okay, I understand. I'll check him in now!" Seeing my agreement, the homeless man hung up. However, I didn't listen to Zoey and give him Room 301. Instead, I gave him Room 312, which was far away from 301. While operating the system, I turned on the screen recording on my phone to ensure everything I did was recorded. After the homeless man took the key card and left, I saved the video. The heavy stone in my heart finally dropped. While sighing in relief, I thought, this time, the little girl's safety and my life are preserved. During this time, my husband, Mark, messaged me several times on WeChat, repeatedly telling me to do a good job on my shift. After getting my reply, he seemed completely relieved and told me he would take me out for a big meal tomorrow. Looking at his messages, I couldn't help but sneer internally. According to what I learned after my death in my previous life, Zoey couldn't come to work today because she was having an affair with Mark. His messages were just to ensure I couldn't go home to catch them in the act and that his and Zoey's plan could proceed smoothly. Three years of marriage, what I thought was a loving couple, turned out to be him conspiring with my closest friend to push me to my death. Only after I died did I clearly see how much the two people I trusted most wanted to get rid of me. The next day, when it was time to change shifts, I packed my things and prepared to go home. Unexpectedly, as soon as I walked out of the hotel entrance, a woman in black rushed towards me, pushed me hard to the ground, and slapped me fiercely before I could react. Her expression was full of grief and anger: "Bitch, you killed my daughter!" "If you hadn't given the wrong room number and let that homeless man in, how could she have jumped off the building because she couldn't bear the humiliation!" "Go to hell! Pay for my daughter's life!" The force of her slap knocked me into the door. My ears were ringing, and I was dizzy. Trying to gather my wits, I saw two strong men behind the woman carrying a girl's body. I stood up in fright and took two steps back. This woman was the girl's mother who hacked me to death in my previous life. The girl still committed suicide? But this time, I clearly gave the homeless man a different room number. Why was the result the same as in my previous life? What the hell is going on! I felt like my brain was going to explode! 3 Before I could say anything, I saw my husband Mark and best friend Zoey appear in my line of sight and walk up to me. Mark looked at me, his face livid, and shouted accusations: "Emily, how could you cause a young life to be lost because of a wrong room number?" "How could you be so muddled!" Just like in my previous life, Mark couldn't wait to start blaming me, trying to brand me with the crime. I straightened my clothes and looked at Mark coldly: "I don't even know what happened, and you're rushing to convict me. People would think I'm not your wife, but your enemy!" My words were direct and sarcastic. A flash of unnaturalness crossed Mark's face, but not wanting to lose face, he hardened his tone: "It's all over the internet. I woke up this morning to see the news trending that you gave the wrong room number, leading to a little girl being violated and committing suicide!" Zoey, following behind Mark, also chimed in: "Emily, people have come to your door. Are you still going to deny it? The damage is done. You might as well have a better attitude, make amends, and apologize. Don't be stubborn!" I looked at the two of them coldly. The distance between Zoey and Mark was intimate; they subconsciously leaned towards each other. Do they think I'm dead for sure, so they don't even bother pretending anymore? Zoey looked at me with a hint of triumph, like looking at a defeated opponent. I remembered then, it was the same in my previous life. In follow-up interviews with reporters, Zoey firmly told everyone that I deliberately gave the wrong room number because I was jealous of the girl's beauty. Her words completely sealed my fate, leaving me no chance to turn things around. These two were disgusting. I retorted directly: "The truth hasn't even been determined yet, and you're so eager to play internet judge with the netizens? Listening to the wind and assuming it's rain, blindly following others without using your brains? Are you in such a hurry to take my place?" My words caused Zoey to panic. She hadn't expected me to choke her so bluntly. Seeing Zoey's eyes turn red from my retort, Mark looked at me even more angrily: "If you didn't do anything wrong, why would the victim's mother come to find you? Zoey is just concerned about you, and you bite the hand that feeds you. When did you become so unreasonable!" I looked at the two of them expressionlessly and retorted: "I won't admit to things I didn't do. Don't try to condemn me from the moral high ground at every turn!" Hearing my firm denial, the victim's mother became even more enraged: "You bitch, still won't admit your mistake? Fine, I'll beat you until you admit it!" "My daughter just participated in the semi-finals of an international piano competition. She had a bright future ahead of her, but lost her life because of your mistake!" "I worked so hard to raise her, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but you destroyed my only hope. I'm going to kill you!" She rushed up to strangle me. I hurried took out my phone and shouted: "Because the homeless man was drunk, I was afraid of an accident, so I recorded a video while processing the room number and check-in registration to prove I didn't give the wrong room number!" "I can prove my innocence, but I also want to call the police. I suspect the person who exposed me is connected to the truth of this matter. Plus, Zoey insisted I cover her shift yesterday. I have reason to suspect Zoey is connected to the homeless man and deliberately conspired to frame me!" Hearing my words, Zoey's face turned pale: "I didn't! Emily, don't spit blood!" I gave her a cold look: "We'll know the truth once the police bring the homeless man here for questioning!" 4 After the call, the police arrived quickly, bringing the handcuffed homeless man with them. I glanced at the homeless man, then turned to the police officer beside me: "Officer, I'd like to ask this man a few questions." The officer nodded. I looked at the homeless man and asked: "I clearly gave you Room 312 yesterday, which is far from Room 301 where the girl lived. Why did you have the key to 301 and enter to assault her?" This was something I couldn't understand after changing my actions in this life. While I was questioning him, Zoey beside me looked extremely anxious. It seemed this matter had something to do with her. Facing my question, the homeless man squinted at me and said casually: "I don't know anything about 312. I entered the room number you gave me. I was drunk yesterday. When I went in and saw that woman, I thought she was my wife. What's wrong with sleeping with my wife?" Hearing the homeless man's words, Zoey breathed a sigh of relief and immediately said to me: "Emily, what else do you have to say? He said he entered the room number you gave him. If you really gave him Room 312, how could he enter 301 with the key!" "You'd better confess quickly. Don't waste everyone's time here. Confessing early might get you a lighter sentence! Look how pitiful the girl's mother is. Doesn't your conscience hurt?" The girl's mother became extremely agitated hearing this and rushed up to hit me: "Bitch, the facts are in front of you, and you still want to argue? I'll beat you to death to pay for my daughter's life!" "You ruined my dozen years of effort. My daughter died with hatred before seeing a better world. You must go down and apologize to her!" She was about to rush over and hit me. The police reached out to stop her. I stepped back a few paces, held up my phone, and shouted: "The video on my phone can prove I didn't give the wrong room number! I gave the homeless man Room 312 and the key card for 312!" Zoey fanned the flames: "Videos can be forged. The homeless man already said he entered the room number you gave him and opened the door with the key card! Are you still struggling because you don't want the deceased to rest in peace?" Sure enough, her words ignited the mother's anger. She struggled violently to break free from the police's restraint to attack me. My survival instinct made me dodge to a safe place. During the chaotic struggle, the white sheet on the girl's body slipped down a bit. My gaze was drawn to it, and I sharply noticed several anomalies. While dodging the mother's attacks, I pointed loudly at the girl's body: "Didn't you say she died by jumping off a building? Then what is this?" Everyone looked in the direction I was pointing and gasped in shock at what they saw. 5 On the girl's body, there was a deep strangulation mark on her neck, and finger marks on her arms. "The strangle marks on her neck are already turning black, and the marks on her hands prove she struggled fiercely before she died. If she had such a strong will to live, why would she jump off a building?" I made a judgment based on the marks. This was a crucial opportunity to clear my name, and I had to seize it. So I continued: "I request the police to perform an autopsy to find the girl's true cause of death and catch the real murderer, so the deceased can truly rest in peace!" The police agreed to my request and immediately contacted the medical examiner to wait at the station. So our whole group was taken back to the police station. After we gave our statements, the medical examiner brought the results to the interrogation room: "We examined the deceased's body. There were multiple injuries on her hands and body, indicating she was cruelly abused before death. In the final struggle, she was strangled to death by the murderer. So the fatal wound is the strangulation mark on her neck." "Besides that, the head injury from the fall and other multiple fractures on her body were caused post-mortem! The skin tissue remaining under the deceased's fingernails came from the homeless man!" The medical examiner's results proved my deduction correct. The homeless man was the real murderer. Originally, raping the girl would only result in a rape charge, but with these results, he would face charges of intentional homicide! The result shocked everyone present. The girl's mother was devastated. She thought her daughter had committed suicide by jumping, but the truth was she was strangled after suffering inhumane abuse. The mother couldn't hold it back anymore. She rushed over and slapped the homeless man hard several times: "Damn you! My daughter was only eighteen! How could you treat her so cruelly!" "If this hotel receptionist hadn't wanted to prove her innocence, my daughter would have died with injustice!" The mother looked at Zoey again, as if realizing something, then walked over with a fierce look and slapped Zoey: "And this bitch who kept stirring up trouble, trying to pin the blame on the receptionist, using my daughter as a tool for gossip. Are you in cahoots with this homeless man!" At this point, Zoey couldn't care less about pinning the blame on me: "I just wanted the murderer to be caught so badly, to give the girl justice. I don't know this homeless man!" Her tone was anxious and flustered; she didn't admit any relationship with the homeless man. Just then, my phone rang. The information I asked a friend to investigate had arrived. This morning, I discovered that Zoey hadn't logged out of WeChat on the front desk computer. Inside was a conversation between her and a person named Ms. Chen. One sentence: "Rest assured, I will definitely get rid of your opponent and show you my sincerity!" It caught my attention. The time this sentence was sent was exactly after the girl checked into the hotel. So I said to the police handling the case: "I have evidence investigated by a friend. Zoey was in contact with the daughter of a local wealthy businessman, Mr. Chen, a few days ago. Mr. Chen's daughter happens to be an international piano competition contestant just like the deceased girl. They were competing for the same promotion spot!" "Zoey wanted to curry favor with Mr. Chen, so her sincerity to Mr. Chen's daughter, I suspect, was letting the homeless man rape the girl!" I handed the video sent by my friend to the police. It clearly showed Zoey communicating with the homeless man.
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