Chapter 39 Lily’s pov

Chapter 39 Lily’s pov
  I sat quietly in my room, staring at the floor, my mind still heavy from everything that had happened earlier. My body felt weak, and my heart was still hurting from the humiliation and accusations.
  Even though Sebastian said he believed me, the pain from the words everyone had thrown at me earlier still lingered. Being called a thief… being judged by everyone… it felt like a heavy stone sitting on my chest.
  I hugged my knees tightly as I sat on the bed.
  Suddenly, the door burst open.
  I looked up in shock.
  Victoria and Celine walked into my room.
  Before I could even stand up properly, Victoria rushed toward me.
  SLAP!
  Her hand landed hard across my face.
  “You shameless girl!” she shouted angrily.
  Before I could react, Celine grabbed my hair and pulled me down from the bed.
  “Thief!” she yelled.
  The two of them started beating me mercilessly.
  Slaps. Kicks. Pulling my hair. Shoving me to the ground.
  “You think you can steal in this house and get away with it?” Victoria shouted.
  “You dirty girl!” Celine added.
  I tried to protect myself, but they were both stronger and angrier.
  “Please stop!” I cried.
  But they didn’t listen.
  Instead, they poured a bucket of cold water on me.
  The water soaked my clothes and ran down my face. My body trembled as the cold hit my skin.
  “You deserve this!” Victoria said coldly.
  “You should be grateful we are even teaching you a lesson!” Celine added.
  My whole body hurt.
  My arms, my back, my face.
  They kept insulting me, calling me names, reminding me of my background.
  “Child of a prostitute!” Victoria sneered.
  “Of course you would steal,” Celine said mockingly.
  My eyes filled with tears.
  I knew they hated me, but I never imagined they would go this far.
  Then Celine picked up an iron rod that was leaning near the wall.
  My heart dropped.
  Victoria held my shoulders down while Celine raised the iron rod high.
  “Let’s see if you will steal again after this,” she said cruelly.
  Just as she was about to strike my back
  “STOP!”
  The loud voice froze everyone in the room.
  We all turned toward the door.
  Sebastian and Drey stood there.
  Sebastian’s face was dark with anger.
  I had never seen him look that furious before.
  “What do you think you are doing?” he asked coldly.
  Victoria quickly let go of me.
  Celine dropped the iron rod.
  For a moment, nobody spoke.
  Then Drey stepped forward.
  “The real culprit has been caught,” he said calmly.
  Everyone froze.
  “What?” Victoria said in disbelief.
  Drey nodded.
  “It is true that the CCTV cameras in the hallway stopped working,” he explained. “But the camera inside Sebastian’s office was still working perfectly.”
  Everyone became silent.
  “The footage clearly shows Nina entering Sebastian’s office and roaming around inside.”
  All eyes turned toward Nina, who had just been brought into the room by one of the guards.
  Her face had gone completely pale.
  Drey continued speaking.
  “First, no one is allowed to enter Mr. Sebastian’s office without his permission. Nina violated that rule and invaded his privacy.”
  “Second, she stole the watch and framed her senior colleague… Lily.”
  The room became completely silent.
  Drey looked around at everyone before continuing.
  “If Lily truly wanted to steal something, she would have done it long ago. She has had access to that office for months.”
  He paused.
  “But why is it that the moment Nina enters the office… the watch suddenly disappears?”
  Nina began trembling.
  I slowly stood up despite the pain in my body and looked directly at her.
  My voice shook slightly.
  “Nina… why?”
  She avoided my eyes.
  “Why did you frame me?” I asked again.
  “Why did you do all this to me?”
  My chest tightened.
  “You deliberately stole the watch and put it inside my bag.”
  She suddenly lifted her head and looked at me strangely.
  “No… and yes,” she said.
  I frowned.
  “What do you mean?”
  Nina suddenly smirked slightly.
  “Aren’t we in this together?” she said.
  My eyes widened in shock.
  “What nonsense are you talking about?” I said quickly.
  “Yes, we are,” she continued boldly. “I stole it… and you hid it in your bag.”
  “Liar!” I shouted immediately.
  “I never did such a thing!”
  Sebastian’s voice suddenly cut through the tension.
  “Nina.”
  His tone was calm but terrifying.
  “Tell the truth.”
  She remained silent.
  Sebastian took a step closer.
  “If you refuse to tell the truth, you will learn a lesson you will never forget.”
  Nina swallowed nervously.
  “And not only you,” Sebastian continued coldly. “Your entire family will pay for your mistake.”
  Her eyes widened in fear.
  “Sir… please…”
  But Sebastian didn’t stop.
  “If you tell the truth, you may receive mercy.”
  He paused.
  “But if you continue lying, you will pay two million dollars for the watch.”
  My eyes widened slightly.
  “Your reputation will be destroyed. No one will ever hire you again.”
  Sebastian’s voice became colder.
  “And you will suffer alone.”
  Nina began shaking violently.
  Tears filled her eyes.
  Finally, she broke down.
  “I… I did it!”
  The room went silent.
  “I stole the watch,” she cried.
  “And I put it inside Lily’s bag to frame her!”
  Gasps filled the room.
  “Please forgive me, sir!” she cried desperately.
  Suddenly Celine stepped forward.
  “Sebastian, please forgive her,” she said quickly.
  “She did it out of ignorance.”
  Her sudden defense immediately made Sebastian narrow his eyes.
  “Why are you begging for her?” he asked suspiciously.
  Celine froze.
  “What?”
  Sebastian stared at her.
  “Are you the mastermind behind this?”
  “Nonsense!” she shouted angrily.
  She turned to glare at me.
  “I would never do such a thing! If I had a problem with you, I would face you directly!”
  Sebastian turned back to Nina.
  “Tell the truth,” he ordered again.
  “If you continue lying, your entire family will suffer the consequences.”
  Nina began crying harder.
  “Please… forgive me…”
  “Speak,” Sebastian said coldly.
  “I…”
  She slowly pointed toward Celine.
  “She told me to do it!”
  The room exploded with shock.
  Celine immediately denied it.
  “That’s a lie!”
  But Nina quickly pulled out a bundle of money from her pocket.
  “This is the money she gave me!” she cried.
  Everyone stared at the cash in disbelief.
  Even then, Celine still tried to defend herself.
  But Drey stepped forward calmly.
  “There is no point denying it anymore.”
  His voice was firm.
  “We already know the truth.”
  Celine’s face turned pale.
  Suddenly she fell to her knees.
  “Sebastian, please forgive me!”
  Victoria also rushed forward.
  “Please forgive her!” she begged.
  To my surprise, she also knelt down.
  But what Sebastian said next shocked me completely.
  His eyes slowly turned toward me.
  “Lily.”
  My heart skipped.
  “The decision is yours.”
  Everyone froze.
  “You will decide their punishment.”
  My eyes widened.
  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
  He was giving me the power to decide their fate.
  Celine, Victoria, and Nina all turned toward me immediately.
  “Please forgive us!” they cried.
  Even some of my coworkers started begging.
  “Lily please… forgive them.”
  “They made a mistake.”
  “Show mercy.”
  My heart became heavy.
  Just moments ago, these same people believed I was a thief.
  Now they were begging me for mercy.
  I looked at them.
  Then I looked at Sebastian.
  My mind was completely confused.
  What should I do now?