Chapter 3Trial by Memory: Scapegoat of the Collapse

The trial was officially underway.

The prosecution presented its first piece of evidence—a clip of security footage. The video clearly captured me walking into David's office with a black bag. After placing the bag on his desk, I turned around and left.

David opened the black bag, revealing stacks of 100-dollar bills. There were ten stacks in total. In a self-righteous manner, he looked into the surveillance camera and said, "Those who have done wrong have to be punished.

"Don't go through life thinking that you can use these kinds of underhand tricks to escape justice, young man."

The spectators were immediately thrown into an uproar.

"What the hell? Isn't that bribery? What else does Aaron have to say? Was he trying to use 100 thousand dollars to buy his superior's protection? In his dreams!"

"Earlier, Wallace had mentioned that Aaron comes from a poor family. Where did he get all that money from, then?"

"Maybe he was just pretending to be poor. Who knows whether he was involved in other illegal activities in secret? Who knows? This money could have come from illicit funds."

"How shameless did the intern have to be to request having his memory extracted? I can't wait to see how he's going to clear his name."

Even though this was clearly a great advantage for the prosecution, David's expression was bizarre. He kept staring fixedly at the memory extraction machine, biting his lip unconsciously. I knew he was worried that the extracted memories would turn the tables on him.

My memory of the cash was soon projected onto the screen.

A series of knocks sounded at the door. I opened the door, and David stood at the doorway, drenched in sweat.

He rubbed his hands, appearing utterly conflicted. "Something terrible has happened at the construction site, Aaron. The overpass actually collapsed and crushed many people to death. Were you aware of this?"

"What? I've mentioned that the overpass should not be built. Why didn't you people listen to me?" I asked.

Panic took over. I was in such a rush to get to the overpass that I didn't even put on a shirt. But David stopped me in my tracks and forcefully shoved me into the room before locking the door shut.

"What are you doing?" I questioned angrily.

"Calm down, Aaron. Whatever happened has happened. It's too late for you to go over there now. I have 100 thousand dollars here. Hold onto the money for now. I heard your mom is unwell and that you're in desperate need of money…" he said while handing a black bag to me.

A cunning glint flashed across David's eyes.

As much as I wanted to refuse, he grabbed my right hand tightly, pried my fingers open, and shoved the black bag into my grasp.

"Have a good think about it, Aaron. Take this money and use it for your mom's treatment for now. If you need more in the future, I can come up with something for you. The same applies if you need to have your mom transferred to the best hospital.

"I just need you to… do me a little favor."

David assumed that he could convince me, so he turned around and walked away confidently.

I looked at the black bag in my hand and thought about it. After a brief hesitation, I picked up the black bag and, with determination, made my way to David's office, setting it back down on his desk.

The memory came to a sudden stop at this point.

I coldly stared into David's eyes, and he immediately avoided me. Panic was written all over his face, and he no longer looked as confident as he had been at the beginning.

The spectators erupted into an uproar once again, engaging in heated discussion with one another.

"My, my. I can't believe David was actually the one who gave him that money. Aaron wasn't engaged in bribery in this video. He was actually returning the money."

"But why did David give Aaron money? Also, in the memory playback, Aaron appeared to be aware that an accident was going to happen with the construction work.

"Why didn't he put a stop to the work immediately? He's not that innocent, if you ask me."

"David is definitely scum of the earth, but Aaron might not be a good person either. Didn't the witness say that Aaron is someone of bad character in the first place? Perhaps he simply put on an act to have his memory extracted during the trial."