Antarctica Proves My Innocence

The plane had just landed when I learned that my best friend Juliet, married for only six months, was planning to divorce.

I rushed to her house immediately.

As soon as I walked in, Juliet's husband Thompson pointed at me and cursed:

If it weren't for you calling Juliet every day to sow discord, why would she bring up divorce? You're just jealous that Juliet is happy!

Juliet's mother Betty also scolded me:

"Chloe, just because you can't get married doesn't mean you should wish for Juliet to divorce. Don't tell me you're trying to seduce her husband? No wonder you didn't even attend the wedding. I never thought you were this kind of person!"

I opened my mouth, completely baffled.

They said I called Juliet every day to convince her to divorce, that I actually wanted to seduce her husband?

But I had just finished a year-long Antarctic research expedition where there was absolutely no cell phone signal!

After twenty-two hours on the plane, I only received Juliet's message sent two hours earlier when I landed.

[Chloe, I just brought up divorce. Can you come to my place and keep me company? I'm a little scared.]

I was somewhat confused. Out of nowhere, why did she suddenly want a divorce?

I had been on an Antarctic expedition for a whole year and already regretted missing Juliet's wedding.

Now seeing this message, I headed straight to her place without even going home first after getting off the plane.

The moment I walked in, Thompson pointed at me and started cursing.

"Chloe, perfect timing. If it weren't for Juliet listening to you sow discord every day, why would she bring up divorce with me!"

Juliet and Thompson had a whirlwind marriage after a blind date. Although I'd heard his name, this was my first time meeting Thompson.

I was stunned by the scolding and looked around the room. I didn't see Juliet.

But Juliet's parents and Thompson were all there.

Before I could speak, Thompson cursed again:

"You just can't stand to see Juliet doing well, so you deliberately badmouth me."

"A best friend who only kicks people when they're down like youJuliet should have cut ties with you long ago!"

I frowned and retorted, "When did I ever badmouth you to Juliet? Did she tell you this herself?"

Thompson said excitedly:

"Does she need to tell me herself? She only has you as a friend. If it wasn't you on the phone, who was it!"

"When we first got married, our relationship was pretty good."

"Ever since Juliet started hiding in the bedroom every night to make phone calls, she's been deliberately picking fights with me and causing conflicts."

"She listens to you so much. If you weren't fanning the flames on the phone, badmouthing me, why would Juliet cause conflicts with me out of nowhere?"

"Chloe, marriage is between Juliet and me. It's not your place as an outsider to point fingers."

"Apologize to me right now and tell Juliet to stop this nonsense! Who gets divorced after only six months of marriage? How embarrassing would that be!"

I had been sleeping on the plane for two days and was already exhausted. Now being slandered by Thompson, I had even less patience.

"You can't maintain your own marriage, so why should I apologize to you?"

"Thompson, I'll say this one more time: the person calling Juliet wasn't me, and I never badmouthed you."

"Where's Juliet? Have her come out and confront me."

Thompson said, "She gave me divorce papers early this morning and then disappeared somewhere. She won't answer her phone either!"

After saying this, he pulled out his phone.

"Chloe, I knew you wouldn't admit it, so a few days ago when Juliet was on the phone with you, I secretly recorded it."

He pressed play, and a woman's voice rang out.

[Juliet, since he's treating you this way, just divorce him.]

In the recording, Juliet's voice sounded somewhat hesitant: "Should I really get divorced? But I've only been married for six months."

That female voice spoke up again.

[So what if it's only been six months? He's already like this. What are you afraid of? I'm here for you!]

After that, Juliet immediately made up her mind.

"You're right, I want a divorce!"

Thompson said angrily, "Chloe, the evidence is right here in my hands. How dare you say you weren't sowing discord?"

Hearing this, Betty, who had been silent on the side, also got angry.

"Chloe, just because you can't get married doesn't mean you should wish for Juliet to have a bad life too."

"Thompson is clearly quite decent and treats Juliet well. How could you say such things?"

"Don't tell me you have your eye on Thompson, so you're hoping Juliet will divorce? No wonder you didn't even attend the wedding!"

"Our families have known each other for over twenty years. I never thought you were this kind of person!"

The female voice in the recording did sound like mine.

But I knew that the person speaking was definitely not me.

Hearing Betty's string of slanderous accusations, I also lost my temper.

"You can't just say whatever you want. The person in that recording isn't me."

"Six months ago, I didn't attend Juliet's wedding because I was on a business trip abroad and couldn't make it back."

"Thompson and I have never even met. How could I possibly have any thoughts about him?"

Betty clearly didn't believe me.

"Chloe, I watched you grow up. That's clearly your voice in the recording, and you still won't admit it."

"Juliet has an introverted personality. You've been her only close friend since childhood."

"She never guards against you, so she must have sent you lots of photos and videos of Thompson."

"Thompson is so excellent. It's normal for you to have thoughts about him. The blame is on Juliet for being too naive."

"All these years, I've treated you like a daughter. I never thought you'd be thinking about Thompson and secretly encouraging her to divorce!"

I laughed instead of getting angry.

"Your imagination is way too wild."

"I spent the past year on an Antarctic research expedition where there was no signal."

"I couldn't receive any messages Juliet sent, much less fall for Thompson because of them."

Hearing this, Betty's voice rose considerably.

"Antarctica? Research expedition? You?"

"Chloe, I know you're panicking because your thoughts were exposed, but you can't just make things up."

"Juliet graduated from a top Ivy League school and can only work as an ordinary clerk."

"Back then, your SAT score was mediocre and you only got into an ordinary college. How could you possibly qualify for an Antarctic research expedition?"

"You probably did some shameful work outside and didn't dare come back to your hometown for a year!"

It's true that I didn't do well on the SAT back then.

But I studied hard during college, later got into Harvard for my doctorate, and finally joined the Polar Research Center.

All these years, I worked tirelessly for one goalto join the Antarctic research expedition I'd always dreamed of.

I never imagined someone would consider it shameful work.

I pulled out my plane ticket from my pocket and said, "Stop slandering me."

"This is my ticket from just returning from Antarctica. My luggage is still downstairs."

Thompson looked at the ticket in my hand and laughed.

"Chloe, I can't believe you prepared a fake ticket to support your lie. Looks like you've been planning this for a while."

I said angrily, "If you still don't believe me, I can call my colleagues who went with me and have them testify."

Thompson scoffed, "What good is a phone call? Who knows if you coordinated your story beforehand?"

"You said you had no cell signal in Antarctica, but six months ago on Juliet's and my wedding day, I received your money transfer. That record is still there!"

"If you really had no cell signal, how could you have transferred the gift money!"

We research personnel get one day off each month.

On that day, we rest at the research station and can use the weak internet signal to send messages to relatives and friends.

After learning about Juliet's wedding date a month in advance, I specifically requested that day off so I could send her my blessings on her wedding day.

I never imagined that my thoughtfulness would now become a blade Thompson was using against me.

My expression turned cold as I said:

"I made that transfer because I specifically requested leave to rest at the research station, using the weak signal there to send Juliet my wedding congratulations."

"Thompson, I don't think you want to know the truth. You just won't admit that you did something wrong that led to the divorce, so you want to make me the scapegoat."

"As you said, marriage is between you two."

"So what you should be doing now is contacting Juliet as soon as possible, not making baseless accusations against me."

"But looking at your bad temper and how good you are at twisting the truth, it's perfectly normal that Juliet can't get along with you."

"You should just sign the divorce papers and part on good terms!"

Having his thoughts exposed, Thompson's face turned the color of liver.

I looked at Betty and continued:

"Our families have known each other for over twenty years. We know each other inside and out."

"But now you're spreading rumors about me because of a man you've only known for half a year. It's truly disheartening."

"Since Juliet didn't even inform you beforehand about something as major as filing for divorce, it shows your relationship with her isn't as close as you think."

"You should stay out of this and wait until Juliet comes back."

Betty was also somewhat embarrassed by what I said and stopped arguing with me.

Juliet's father Anderson, who had been silent on the side, also came out to mediate:

"Alright, alright, stop arguing."

"Juliet isn't the type to joke about divorce. Whatever happened, let's wait until she comes back to discuss it."

But just as I walked to the sofa, preparing to sit down and watch TV while waiting for Juliet to return, Thompson walked over to Juliet's parents with a grave expression.

"Dad, Mom, there's something I didn't want to say out of consideration for face, but since things have escalated to this point, I have to say it."

"Actually, both Juliet and I are victims in this matter."

Juliet's parents looked somewhat confused and asked, "What happened?"

I looked at Thompson's wretched expression as he tried to squeeze out tears, and an ominous feeling welled up inside me.

Sure enough, the next second I heard him say:

"Actually, during this time, besides calling Juliet every night to convince her to divorce, Chloe has also been sending me harassing messages behind Juliet's back."

"At first I didn't say anything, considering everyone's dignity, not wanting to make things too ugly."

"But since Chloe has this attitude, I don't need to keep hiding it for her anymore."

I scoffed and said, "I send you harassing messages every night? Do you have evidence? Don't make things up without proof!"

At this moment, the news on TV had started reporting on the Antarctic research team's return home.

I pointed at the TV screen and said:

"I already told you, I spent the past year on an Antarctic expedition. Out of 365 days, I had no cell signal for 360 of them. How could I possibly harass you every day!"

"You don't believe my plane ticket, but surely you believe the news on TV. In a moment, I'll appear on this news broadcast!"

Seeing how certain I was, Juliet's parents were somewhat convinced.

They prepared to sit down and watch the news about the research team's return with me.

But Thompson put on an appearance of deep distress and said:

"Dad, Mom, don't be fooled by her. She's just stalling for time."

"Let me just say it directly! During this time, Chloe not only secretly sent me messages pursuing me, but also sent me those kinds of videos!"

As he spoke, he pulled out his phone and held it in front of Juliet's parents.

I looked confused and was about to move closer to see what video it was.

But before I could see it, Betty suddenly flew into a rage and shouted:

"Chloe, you shameless woman! You actually sent Thompson videos of yourself without clothes on!"

"Juliet treated you as her best friend, but you were a wolf in sheep's clothing!"

"Seducing your best friend's husbandare you even human! I'm going to beat you to death, you shameless woman!"

Seeing Betty's arm about to strike my face, I quickly stepped back.

Anderson's old face turned red, and his eyes were full of disgust as he looked at me.

"Chloe, I really didn't expect you would do such a thing!"

The sudden turn of events left me somewhat unprepared. I looked at Thompson and didn't miss the triumphant smile on his face.

I strode up to him and snatched his phone away.

But before I could see what was in the video, Thompson lunged at me, trying to attack.

He deliberately shouted, "Dad, Mom, this is bad! She's grabbing my phone to destroy the evidence!"

I quickly hid the phone behind my back and firmly gripped Thompson's wrist as he swung at me.

Then, using his own force, I twisted his hand and yanked it hard, making him slap his own face.

You've got to be kidding. I'm an elite member of the research team's field investigation group. Even five more Thompsons wouldn't necessarily be my match.

Thompson was stunned by the slap I made him give himself, then immediately insisted I was acting out of embarrassment.

"Dad, Mom, look! She's even resorting to violence to destroy evidence!"

"After all these years of treating her like a daughter, you've been deceived by her. She's not a good person at all."

"Dad, Mom, quickly help me stop her!"

"If she deletes the evidence, Juliet definitely won't believe that Chloe betrayed her. Then she'll only be determined to divorce me!"

Hearing this, Juliet's parents exchanged glances and made up their minds.

Then, the three of them surrounded me together.

"Chloe, we don't want to get physical with you either. Just hand over the evidence quickly."

"We can't let you deceive Juliet anymore!"

My expression turned cold. I felt utterly disheartened.

Just then, the sound of the door lock turning came from the entrance.

Juliet walked in carrying several documents. Seeing the three of them surrounding me, she shouted:

"Dad, Mom, Thompson, what are you doing?!"

At the same time, the news anchor's barely contained excited voice came from the TV:

"Now approaching us is Dr. Chloe, the leader of the Antarctic research team's field investigation group!"